Traveling Authorities
I dropped my mom off at the airport this morning. She was off to New York to have a book presentation to celebrate her recent founding of a publishing company. While at the Chicago O’hare airport, I had to wait for my step-dad who was on another flight returning home from work in Florida. I had to hand him some things he needed before we went off in different directions. Before he landed, I had around three hours to kill. So, I took up the opportunity to get some work done on my laptop. I found a marble countertop area to sit at in the entrance of a restaurant at the Hilton across the street. Fighting sleepiness in the early hours of the morning, I got to work and drowned out all distractions in the noise of peoples’ chatters, the clattering of silverware at dining tables, and the radio playing the classics of the mid-20th century. It was peaceful and relaxing.
As the morning went on, more and more people began to fill the restaurant, so many of whom were dressed in a clean fashion. Business suits and dresses, Bluetooth headsets, dark leather notepads and binders, and modern-looking luggage bags that rolled alongside the footsteps of hard-working individuals traveling for work. I wondered about how many individuals there must be who all travel for work; to attend meetings, to train, to give lectures, or to run companies in other parts of their nations or the world.
I thought there must be so many that it would be difficult to put a number on it. Although it would certainly take time calculating all the people in positions needing to travel for work, there are organizations, such as the Global Business Travel Association, who do calculate these figures. And so, upon doing research, I discovered that there are 488 million people who travel for business annually in the United States, either in the skies or by roadways. This means that on average, 1.3 million business trips occur each day. I highly recommend looking into the facts and statistics - it’s super interesting! For example, in 2018, traveler spending accounted for $1.1 trillion, which generated a total of $2.5 trillion in economic output. Business travel makes up a huge portion of the U.S. GDP (28.4% in 2015). Because of such enormous outpouring of wealth into the economy, traveler spending supported a total of 15.7 million American jobs.
Did you know that each household would be paying $1,340 more in taxes without the tax revenue generated by travel and tourism?
It’s amazing to know how many professionals are traveling for work, to help run companies or to fulfill roles within their areas of expertise; all of whom are authority figures by one definition or another. Authority, as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is “the confident quality of someone who knows a lot about something or who is respected or obeyed by other people.” From experiencing firsthand some of the highest quality products and services we interact with on a daily basis, such as Apple, Tesla, Google, Amazon, Squarespace, Facebook, Whole Foods or Trader Joes, or even Starbucks (for all you frappe lovers), I can definitely say that none of these things would be possible with the absence of individuals who are experts within their fields.
I know one thing for certain, these traveling authorities have my respect. Similar to all the hard-working people in the world, traveling authorities are the ones who get up early in the mornings, or late at night for the sake of accomplishing necessary work; work that runs the world - from one company to the next. They are the ones who sacrifice their sleep, late nights watching TV, gaming, playing sports with friends or family, dates with their other halves, barbecues, relaxing at home with their kids, movie nights, and more. These are some of the things that come to mind when thinking about what is given up by the millions of traveling authorities.
This is just my observation and appreciation for the hard-workers out there who do the things many people wouldn’t do. Personally, I am inspired by driven people, who day-in and day-out give their best efforts in their line of work. And, I hope that others can appreciate these things as well.
Learn more travel facts from the following sources:
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