Save time and money—and have a little fun, too—when you combine personal travel with professional purpose on your next business excursion.

By: MATT ALDERTON

Christine Deussen is used to traveling. Growing up, her father—an archaeologist—regularly moved her family abroad in the summertime to Europe, where he worked. Many of Deussen's earliest memories are therefore of foreign people and places. In fact, her first tooth grew in on an overseas flight to Italy, much to the chagrin of her parents.

"I've been 'on the road' since I was a small child," Deussen says. Now 39 years old and the president of New York-based Deussen Global Communications, her 5-year-old strategic marketing company, she still travels often. In fact, she's on a plane every two weeks for client meetings and trade shows, most frequently in Paris, London, Chicago and Miami.

Spending so much time in transit can be tough, Deussen admits. It can also be rewarding, though—so long as you allow yourself a little fun in the midst of your mobile meetings.

"If I am in Paris for a Thursday meeting, I'll often take Friday off, also spend Saturday in the city and then come home on Sunday," Deussen says. "As I work almost every Saturday and Sunday when I am in New York, I actually owe it to myself and the company to take the odd Friday off, in order to remain fresh."

Indeed, business travel gives Deussen and many like her the chance, oddly enough, to finally take some time for themselves. Often, it's an opportunity to get recharged and refreshed away from the daily grind. Sometimes it's even a chance to bring the family along for some extracurricular fun. Either way, for the time-strapped small business owner—who's lucky just to take a lunch break, let alone a vacation—business trips can be an ideal time to squeeze in some long overdue rest and relaxation.

Evaluate Your Destination

Before they get overly ambitious about turning business trips into vacations, business travelers must first decide if their destination is worthy of their personal time and money.

According to nationally syndicated family travel columnist Eileen Ogintz, creator of TakingtheKids.com, the most worthy destinations are interesting places where one's mind won't have to be 100 percent focused on work. For example, if you're in a new city for a trade show that only requires your presence for a couple of hours a day, then that's an ideal opportunity to bring your family along and do some sightseeing. On the other hand, if you're somewhere that you've been before, or if you're traveling in order to interview for a job or make an important sale, it's probably best to keep your mind completely trained on business; save the recreational component for trips where you'll have more time and more interest.

Wholesale Vacations Consultant Deidre Logan, president of Chicago-based Easy Club Travel, considers several factors—costs, activities, length of stay and accommodations—in deciding whether or not a business trip is vacation-worthy. If you've got the time, the money and a nice place to stay, she suggests, it's probably worth staying, even just an extra day in order to decompress after your meetings.

Logan likes to bring her teenage daughter with her on trips whenever possible. For her, then, the most vacation-worthy trips are also those where her daughter can stay busy while she's working. "Ideal situations for combining work and pleasure are when your meetings are in locations that provide supervised activities for minors during your meeting times," she says.

Plan Carefully

Whether they're traveling alone or with their family, small business travelers are most successful at mixing business with pleasure when they take the time to thoughtfully prepare for their trip, according to Ogintz. "You can grab a little time for the family or yourself," she says. "The trick is to carve out that 'me' time when the work is done."

Doing that requires not spontaneity, but rather planning. In other words, you've got to know in advance of leaving home when you'll be working and when you'll be playing. What's more, you've got to make sure that your travel companions know, too.

To that end, consider creating a schedule for your trip and then sharing it with your family, if you plan on bringing them with you. "Stick to the schedule and make sure your family understands your schedule before you leave," Logan advises. "Taking this step will help avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings. It will also help keep you from having to explain yourself repeatedly instead of doing what you went to do."

Of course, don't schedule only your activities. Schedule your family's activities, too, paying special attention to your children and how they'll spend their time while you're in meetings. "Make sure the family is otherwise engaged when they're not productively involved with you," Logan says.

Ogintz agrees and suggests staying in a hotel where you can have your own workspace, away from the family. "Stay in a suite hotel," she says, "so that you can close the door and work while [your kids] watch TV and play in the other room."

Stay Productive

Of course, just closing the door on your family for an hour at the hotel isn't enough to ensure you stay on task when you need to. To truly stay productive when you're mixing business and pleasure, you've got to set boundaries and keep your priorities unequivocally straight.

"Schedule your time enough to be completely devoted to business during your business hours—whatever they are," Logan says.

While she loves to have family along for the ride, Deussen has trouble making time for fun in the midst of working. She therefore recommends that busy travelers save the recreational component of their trips for the end, rather than trying to integrate them in moments of downtime. "I, personally, tend to have a packed schedule with no time between meetings," she says, "so it is better for me to start the personal part when work is over for the week."

Still, if you're able, Logan recommends alternating between work and play. "I suggest [spending time with family] between meetings and [at the back end of your trip], if you can handle it," she says. "Family visits can be wonderful diversions in between the pressure cookers of meetings and seminars. If you can't do both, I recommend time at the end [of your trip] just for your family. Even if it's only an extra day, families always appreciate the time you devote only to them."

Honor Thy Family

Indeed, families treasure quality time. If you bring them with you in your travels, then, be sure to make time for them—even when it's "work" time, says Logan.

"Very often, family can be legitimately helpful," she points out. "They can help make sure you have what you need for your presentations, they can pass things out for you, have copies made for you, send and receive faxes for you, etc."

Plus, she adds, if you treat your family members as independent contractors, paying them for their time and keeping accurate records of the work that they do for you, you may be able to deduct their fees and a portion of their travel expenses from your taxes. "It really can be a win-win situation."

Even so, don't spend all your time as a family working. Remember that your trip is part pleasure, too.

"It is important, at some point, to close the door on work and live for the moment," Deussen says.

Her advice to small business travelers who want the best of both worlds on the road: "Remember that you are privileged to have your company, and privileged to have your family. Honor and enjoy both—wherever you are in the world."