What Business Travelers Do for the Kids

  • We videotape bedtime stories for the kids so we can read to them even when we're on a business trip. I call them every night, send them faxes and bring lots of presents.
    Nancy Reaven, President
    Strategic Health Resources

  • We always phone home twice a day and bring home something. Right now, we're collecting bears from wherever we go.
    Sharon Pomerantz, Public Relations
    Virgin Atlantic Airways

  • I bring my sons pins from every state and buy them local crafts that represent the area where I'm traveling. They have a collection of things from all over the world. I call twice a day to wish them a great day in the morning, and see how the day went in the evening, and I describe where I am, telling them things like, "I'm in the middle of Nebraska and there's nothing where I'm standing except for farms and cows."
    Jeff Teitelbaum, International Technical Support Specialist, Nikon

  • Before I travel, I buy a small, child friendly travel book filled with pictures and facts about where I am going. My 7 ½-year-old son reads and finishes the book while I am away, and when I get back we talk about all the places I visited, and he learns about different sites and cities at the same time.
    Michael Martin
    Showtime Networks, NYC

  • I always travel with a picture of my daughter and keep it on the night table next to the bed.
    Carolyn Schoemer, Real Estate Broker
    Coldwell Banker.

  • When I was in Japan for the Olympics, I called them from the opening ceremonies, and, since we use digital cameras, I sent them photos via e-mail. And, I bring them t-shirts.
    Monte Lorell, Managing Editor - Sports
    USA Today

How Hotel Executives Stay in Touch with the Kids:

  • I travel with a cardboard cut-out of "Flat Stanley" (a character from a children's book) in my briefcase. Then, I'll have a picture taken of Flat Stanley and me with the pilot of the plane, and at places I travel. For "show and tell" at school, my wife put the photos that I sent home into a scrapbook for my first-grader.
    Hoyt Harper, Senior Vice President
    Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

  • When my son was young, I used to leave little notes in his lunch bag and under his pillow and put a map on the refrigerator - geography! It's important to plan your life. I can remember fighting my way onto a plane to get home in time for my son's baseball game, and getting there in time to see him hit a home run to win a championship game.
    Sue Brush, Vice President
    Westin Hotels & Resorts

  • We always show our three-year-old son where we're going on the map, telling him. "Here's where we are, here's where we live and here's where we're going."
    Kelly Welch, Director of Advertising
    Four Points Hotels by Sheraton

  • I always e-mail and sometimes send something goofy. I'll also send digital pictures showing them where I am.
    Jay Schwartz, Strategic Sources
    Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Source: Sheraton Hotels