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[–] Tabbynya ago 

Extensive travel means putting in travel time to your work, then putting your hours in. The pay is higher because you're being reimbursed for your journeys. That means it can go either way, sometimes the extra money will cover your travel completely and then some, while sometimes it makes you worse off having to pay extra just to get to work. Work out how much it would cost you to commute there and then do the maths :)

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[–] tryingthisout [S] ago 

No, the pay is higher because the salary is higher. Reimbursement is separate from the salary. I will make much more money guaranteed. My question is, will I be forced to stop working out regularly, eating healthy, and sleeping enough to do so?

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[–] Hide_Yo_Wifi ago 

You might sacrifice sleep on the days you travel but you definitely should be able to continue eating healthy and work out regularly. It's all about discipline. I would probably take the job at a 50% pay raise.

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[–] khalkhapolabear ago 

It's a matter of your priorities & preferences. Do you need or want that extra money? If not, why bother? Also, do you like to travel? You are the only one who can weigh those things for yourself.

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[–] tryingthisout [S] ago 

My concern is balancing my health against the benefits this position offers. I can't make a decision unless I know what it's going to mean to travel all the time. If there is a way I can do it AND be healthy, I will. From my experience, that doesn't seem possible. That's why I am asking for input from people who have done it.

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[–] khalkhapolabear ago 

Well, it's your choice. If your only concern is about health, I would ask someone in the field about it.

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[–] LetsBeNakedOutside 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Don't most hotels have a gym? Most did places list calories. For 50% more pay, I think you could figure out a way to stay healthy.

[–] [deleted] ago 

[Deleted]

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[–] tryingthisout [S] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

It would probably look good, but I'm not willing to treat my body poorly to get it.

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[–] uptherepubic 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Did it for a year and half. It totally sucked. Living out of suitcase gets tired fast.

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[–] tryingthisout [S] ago 

What was the outcome? Did you take a lower paid position to stop traveling? What sorts of problems did you have that you didn't anticipate?

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[–] uptherepubic 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

No, the traveling ultimately stopped on its own. I missed a lot of things like local sports, favorite places to go and seeing friends. Plus, managing staff in three cities was stressful.

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[–] 4255982? 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I travel a fair amount, here are the things I'd say:

  1. Hotel gyms are fairly nice and open most of the time - so a workout schedule is easy to maintain if you have the will.
  2. Hotels are sometimes hard to sleep in because each one is different than the last.
  3. Eating healthy can be done, but requires discipline on your part. It's easy to eat poorly.
  4. The amount of time wasted on planes and in airports will cut into work time and you'll have to follow up late at night/weekends to stay ahead.
  5. Air travel is stressful simply because it sucks. However you will rapidly acquire status which actually does help to cut down on the stress a bit with better boarding, bag handling, upgrades etc...

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[–] Realirony 0 points 2 points (+2|-0) ago  (edited ago)

I work in clinical research and have a few friends that are CRAs which travel 3-4 days a week. Their morning and evening commutes aren't in cars, they're in airplanes. If you have to fly more than 2-3 hours each commute, it's probably going to affect your sleep.

They live out of hotels while on site and use the hotel gyms, eat catered food at the sites or order out. You won't be able to cook unless your hotel has the amenity.

The reason the pay is higher for a CRA is because of this shit they have to deal with. I could do a CRAs job, but I don't make their salary because my position is lower stress on my body. If I had to assume, the high travel job is higher salary for the same reason, more body stress through air travel, sleeping in hotels, eating out at site, etc.

You could do it though. You could pack foods that are healthy or find microwave dishes that aren't compete garbage. I know one or two CRAs that are healthy even while traveling, but it's a little more effort because of being remote. Have to hit grocery stores prior to travel or once you've landed (using taxi or rental car during your own free time while on site). Or if you do eat out on the company money, you could limit yourself to cut calories. You might feel more exhausted than usual because you have less free time to sort of drop work since you'll be housed in a hotel in another city. But if you love travel and seeing new places, you could use free time to roam around the city and take in the sights. If you're lucky then your job will have you traveling to cool cities or exotic countries. If unlucky then you'll be going to meh towns where the highlight of the town is the local mall

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[–] tryingthisout [S] 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

What types of hotels do they stay in? I've never stayed at a hotel that had a squat rack, even barbells for that matter. My current company puts me in nice hotels when I travel (Hampton) when available, but in more remote areas sometimes there is only one choice of a hotel, and it's a shitty Best Western or something.

How long have your friends done this for? Do they burn out? Do they plan to continue doing it?

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[–] LetsBeNakedOutside ago 

You could always look up bodyweight workouts, or get a gym membership at a nation wide place, so you'll have a better chance of getting to a full gym? You could also buy week/day passes at the YMCA, they have squat racks? That party increase should be more than enough to cover it.

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[–] Realirony 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

The hotels are the usual rub of the mill ones. Unless they are attending super important kick offs, which is when the company will splurge on 5 stars. But for 90% of travel they stay in Hamptons, Hiltons, Hyatt, etc. The places where if they have a gym its cardio equipment, some dumbbells, and cable machines. If you squat every week you won't find that unless you get a membership to a gym that its national and allows you to enter any of their chain locations. Which you can probably find honestly.

They have been doing it for about two years now. They said it was fun, different, great pay, and a good change of scenery for the first year, but now it's just wearing on them. If your job is anything like a CRA you eventually end up going to the same cities every year, and you get used to it and the excitement just becomes a regular job feeling.

Most CRAs I've known never stay in the position longer than 3 years or so. Mainly because you burn out so hard and it gets really old after the first year. Plus, in clinical research, you keep moving to find better positions, you never stay in one place too long. They enjoy the work and extra money, but they move back into an office job not long after the 2nd or 3rd year