The last work trip that I went on was a complete roller coaster of meetings and presentations. I don’t even remember a single moment of peace I had because I was constantly anxious about how the next presentation would go. My point is that these trips are not always fun as you are so stressed out about work.
But the original poster (OP) didn’t really register this, for she insisted on joining her husband on his business trip. Well, after being hit by jetlag, she wanted to go back home, and he was also forced to leave.
More info: Reddit
The poster of this story was newly married to her husband, and after four months, she felt that they weren't spending enough time together
Image credits: prostooleh / Freepik (not the actual photo)
So she insisted on joining him for his business trip for a week, he was hesitant as she might get bored, but he agreed in the end
Image credits: autumn893
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
But instead of a week in Berlin, they ended up traveling 5 countries in 9 days and the poster was severely jetlagged and insisted on going back home
Image credits: autumn893
Image credits: pch.vector / Freepik (not the actual photo)
They argued but, eventually, her husband complied and said that she shouldn't be complaining as she had invited herself
Image credits: autumn893
When he had to go on another business trip, he banned her from accompanying him even before she could ask him
In today’s story, Reddit user autumn893 mentioned that it had been four months since she had been married to her husband and she felt like they were not spending enough time together. And to make up for the missed time, she insisted on joining him on his business trip.
Of course, he was skeptical about it because she would get bored while he simply focused on his work. However, he agreed after she insisted. But she would later come to regret this decision, because a week-long trip to Berlin turned into a nine-day trip where they had to travel to 5 different countries!
And it all resulted in the poster being jetlagged all the time, so she complained to her husband that she wanted to go home as she couldn’t keep up with his schedule. Well, it bubbled up into an argument where he mentioned that she shouldn’t be complaining as she was the one who had invited herself.
However, he finally complied and had to leave the trip earlier than he would have done had he gone on his own. Now, after having learned his lesson, when he got news of his next business trip, he told her that she couldn’t go with him, even before she could ask him about it.
Well, OP vented on Reddit about it and she faced massive backlash from netizens!
Image credits: Pew Nguyen / Pexels (not the actual photo)
They were horrified that she would impose herself onto him in this manner as it was not a vacation but a business trip where he needed to take care of work. They hoped that her stubbornness, although it wasted his time and money, didn’t impact his work. To get expert advice, Bored Panda reached out to Apoorva Kale, an industrial and organizational psychology practitioner.
She said, “Business trips with spouses can be tricky since the main focus would be the work rather than personal travel that might sometimes create stressful situations specifically for the person who needs to work and also be responsible for the companion tagging along. This might also affect the work quality.”
Folks also expressed their worries about the burden that the man had to shoulder. Someone even commented that jetlag, work, and a cranky wife could’ve led to a breakdown for the man. They just couldn’t justify why the wife would put her husband in such a dreary position.
Apoorva also emphasized that in such a situation, the most common impact would be stress, resulting in frustration and anxiety, which will eventually affect the person’s capability to perform at their work and then keep up with their partner's needs, ending in excessive emotional burnout.
Quite a few people pointed out that the couple should’ve established clear boundaries before embarking on the trip. They believed that it would’ve saved them a lot of trouble. Even Apoorva stressed that it’s definitely important to set healthy professional and personal boundaries when it comes to work and personal relationships being entangled.
“In the given situation, it would have been better if the trip expectations were clearly defined and communicated with each other,” she added. Well, it seems like a good thing that the husband set a clear boundary for the next trip and asked her not to join him. Netizens were also quite relieved to hear this.
What’s your opinion about OP and the whole scenario? Jot down your thoughts in the comments below!
Netizens declared that she was in the wrong and didn't hesitate to express what a tough time she gave her husband
