OFFICE SELECTION
Monday flight.
Thursday flight home.
Repeat for three years.
That is still the picture many candidates carry into consulting.
The reality is less predictable than the stereotype.
How much you travel can depend on your firm, office, client, project, sector, team norms, and what the work actually requires.
That makes “How much does this office travel?” a useful question.
Just not a complete one.
Two consultants in the same office can live completely different weeks
Imagine two PhDs join the same consulting office.
One works on a local healthcare client and walks into the office several days a week.
The other joins a project serving a client several hours away and travels regularly.
Same employer.
Same home office.
Very different lives.
The staffing model can beat the map.
Before assuming that choosing Toronto, Boston, London, Chicago, or another office determines your travel schedule, understand how teams are staffed and where that office's clients are located.
For a deeper picture of what being on the road can actually involve, read Traveling as a Consultant: What It’s Really Like.
“Less travel” does not automatically mean “more time”
This is the twist candidates often discover later.
Removing a flight does not remove the work.
You may spend less time in airports and hotels while still working long days from the office or home.
That can still be a major quality-of-life improvement.
But it is a different improvement.
| What changes | What you may expect | What may actually matter |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer flights | Shorter workdays | More usable personal time, not necessarily fewer work hours |
| Local clients | Home every night | Commute can still be substantial |
| Remote work | Maximum flexibility | Team and client norms still shape the day |
| Heavy travel | Constant misery | Some people value concentrated team time or travel benefits |
| Limited travel | Easier lifestyle | Project intensity still varies |
Travel and workload are not synonyms.
That distinction matters when comparing offices.
PhDs may underestimate one part because academic travel felt completely different
Conference travel is episodic.
You prepare for weeks, fly somewhere, present, network, come home.
Consulting travel can be operational rather than exceptional.
Packing, transport, meals, hotel logistics, and client-site routines can become part of an ordinary week.
That changes how you should evaluate it.
Do you care about sleeping at home?
Predictable evenings?
Being physically near a partner or family?
Avoiding long commutes?
Or do you mainly care about total hours?
Those are different constraints.
For a fuller picture of how mobility interacts with the broader job, continue with Management Consulting Travel Lifestyle.
The question to ask consultants is surprisingly specific
Do not ask only:
“How much do people in your office travel?”
You will probably get some version of “it depends.”
Instead ask:
“What did your last three projects look like?”
Where was the client? How often were you on-site? Did everyone travel? Was it weekly, occasional, or mostly remote?
Then ask the same question to several people.
Patterns beat policy statements.
You are trying to understand the lived staffing model, not obtain a guarantee.
Because there probably is no permanent travel schedule waiting for you.
There is only your next project.
And then the one after that.