How much more salary would you ask if you had to travel?

Do they pay for food, shelter, travel, etc while you're there? Is your travel time paid for (from when you leave your house to when you get to your destination)?

Are you in a romantic relationship and will your SO be happy with your traveling?

Personally I'd say no freaking way 20% is worth it even if they pay for everything. I would miss the hell out of my family and traveling is exhausting.

 

I don't believe risking ruining my marriage is worth the extra cash. So I'd decline.

 

If you're single and they pay for everything, 20% might be worth it. But again like Xerobull said, Traveling is exhausting.

 

Obviously it's a personal decision. Some people love to travel, even married guys. Personally I hate traveling. I did it for a year and that sucked. Now with a kid I would hate it even more.
So no, 20% is not enough. Not sure even 50% is enough for what is essentially a full-time travel gig.

 

That would get old real fast...don't think it would be worth just 20%

 

Traveling for work like you've described (think consultant) is very different from leisure. No way is 20% enough for me. I'm surprised your SO is encouraging you.

 

Do you have to go Cleveland, or do you get to go to Bangkok where ladyboi(y)s are plentiful??

 

I did the mon - fri thing but I only did it for 2 weeks out of the month. I will admit that it never really got too annoying because i would have that 2-3 week stretch when I was at home. The traveling and living out of a suitcase part wasn't that bad as you develop a routine. However, i think not having that break would have driven me nuts.

 

the Mon-thur thing can get old. Living in a hotel room sucks, and your'e probably not going to go to many exotic locales (not like you get to travel to to different countries traveling like this)

You will most likely go to work, then spend the rest of the night in your hotel room watching TV and ordering takeout food. If you like your coworkers, then I guess you can go out to eat with them at night.

It's up to you though, if this lifestyle for you is worth the extra 20% pay then go for it.

 

How much does 20% represent?

 

Get rid of your apartment and save $$.

 

So you get Friday off totally or Friday back in home town? Also, I would consider it if I think the job is a leaping point to something better a year or two from now.

 

I have a potential opportunity with an international firm I'm looking at that includes 25% travel. I know what they're offering and I want 23.5% more as part of the travel if presented with an offer. That's my number anyway.

 

I can't say what's worth being on the road 4 days out of the week, really more if you consider "gotta travel tomorrow, gotta get ready, can't do that thing tonight" and "decompressing from an exhausting trip" time, but I've done it before (not in a very, very long time). It gets old after a while. You get tired of the hotels. If there's a fairly strict travel budget, you get sick of the same hotels that fall within that budget. You begin to run out of "new" places to stay. The cable in your room, with its limited selections, gets old. You get sick of dealing with wifi connections that are up and down, and if you lose it, sometimes the night manager at the place you're staying might say, "Gosh, the fellow who knows how to deal with that won't be here until in the morning!" And so on, and so on. If you have to fly Southwest very much, get to know a good chiropractor. Southwest is fine for the odd short trip now and then, but dealing with them on a regular basis is actually a form of torture. I keep expecting the UN to investigate at any moment.

In other words, you should fly business class, stay in excellent hotels with broadband like a hose, have a high per diem, eat very, very well (up your exercise routine!), and be prepared for a major disruption of your social life. So what's that worth? Most people are lucky to have 1st class options for business travel, unless they are highly paid professionals, and then they should expect it. I really disliked doing it, although not as much when I went to a destination with good nightlife. If you're young, and go to the same groovy places on a regular basis (San Francisco and New York spring to mind), you might get to know a couple of chicks you can call ahead of time to arrange a rendezvous, and put that per diem to good use, but what are the odds of that?

Me? I'd want more than 20%.

Just saw the above. Really, you have to decide whether it's worth it. That's a decent bump, but what if you begin to dread going after 6 months? Can you ask to cut out the travel and keep your job? It could get complicated pretty fast. Just be prepared. You'll probably be expected to nut up and take it for at least a year, maybe more, but it could also help you get ahead. You should ask about that. Ask what accepting this will do for your future, and how long you are expected to travel. A year? Two years? More? It's a big decision. Good luck!