Travel for Success

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Travel for Success Helping entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals boost productivity through purposeful travel every 6 weeks. Work smarter. Live better.

Welcome to Travel for Success – where productivity meets purpose. I’m Jim Carmichael, a commercial real estate entrepreneur, author, and business owner who discovered something powerful:
🔥 The most productive weeks of my year happen right before and after I leave town. In 2022, I committed to a strategy—leave town every 6 weeks, reset, recharge, and come back sharper than ever. Since then, I’ve grown multiple companies, improved my health, and helped others do the same. This page is dedicated to helping you:
✅ Build a business that runs while you’re away
✅ Reclaim your energy and mental clarity
✅ Use travel as a strategic tool to level up your life
✅ Learn how to plan trips that fuel success (not drain you)

If you’re an entrepreneur, executive, or growth-minded professional, this is your space. Whether you're looking for tools, inspiration, or proof that stepping away can actually move you forward—you’ll find it here. Because success doesn’t come from grinding 24/7—it comes from stepping back, refocusing, and showing up better than ever. Let’s travel for success—together. 🌍✈️

San Diego bound. Dana Point was nice, we'll be back.
10/10/2026

San Diego bound. Dana Point was nice, we'll be back.

TRAVEL DOESN'T HAVE TO BREAK THE BANK.Want to leave town every six weeks?Start with what you can afford.A weekend road t...
10/04/2026

TRAVEL DOESN'T HAVE TO BREAK THE BANK.

Want to leave town every six weeks?

Start with what you can afford.

A weekend road trip.

A nearby city you've never explored.

An extra day attached to a business conference.

A short getaway with your spouse.

The destination doesn't have to impress anyone.

The purpose is to experience something beyond your everyday routine.

Here's my challenge for this weekend.

Find three places within driving distance.

Compare the costs of spending two nights in each location.

Choose one that fits your budget and your calendar.

Don't go into debt trying to create an abundant life. Build experiences that make sense for the life you have today.

Where would you go for an affordable weekend getaway?

When the lobby of the hotel is on the 70th floor. This is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.
10/03/2026

When the lobby of the hotel is on the 70th floor. This is the tallest building west of the Mississippi.

This is our longest trip ever. Four cities packed with work and time for some R&R in between. Follow along for this adve...
10/03/2026

This is our longest trip ever. Four cities packed with work and time for some R&R in between. Follow along for this adventure and improvement events happening over the next three weeks. First stop Los Angeles.

Yesterday, I challenged you to consider leaving town every six weeks.Today, we're going to take the first step toward ma...
10/02/2026

Yesterday, I challenged you to consider leaving town every six weeks.
Today, we're going to take the first step toward making that happen.
Open your calendar.
I'm serious. Before you finish reading this post, look at the next six weeks and identify a time when you could get away.
It doesn't have to be a vacation. It doesn't have to involve an airplane, an expensive hotel or an entire week away from your business.
Start with two or three days if that's what your schedule allows.
The important thing is to actually schedule it.
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs and business owners make is treating personal time as something they'll get around to when everything else is finished.
I've got news for you. Everything else will never be finished.
There will always be another client, another transaction, another meeting and another problem requiring your attention.
If you wait until your calendar is empty, you might be waiting the rest of your life.
That's why I approach travel differently.
I don't view it simply as time away from work. I view it as part of how I structure my life and business.
Some trips involve conferences, networking and professional development. Others create opportunities to spend time with family, experience new places or simply change my environment.
The common denominator is intentional planning.
Here's your assignment for today.
Choose a destination. Identify your departure and return dates. Put them on your calendar.
You don't have to book anything yet. But you do need to make the commitment visible.
Once those dates are on your calendar, you can begin figuring out what needs to happen in your business to make the trip possible.
Don't start by listing all the reasons you can't leave.
Start by deciding when you will.
My question: Have you identified the dates for your first six-week challenge trip?
Let me know in the comments.
Live Life Abundantly.

10/01/2026

We've spent the last month talking about why periodically changing your environment can improve the way you think, lead and live.
Now I want to challenge you to do something about it.
Open your calendar and find a date approximately six weeks from today.
Block out some time.
It doesn't have to be a week.
It doesn't have to involve an airplane.
And it certainly doesn't have to cost a fortune.
Maybe it's a three-day weekend.
Maybe it's a business conference.
Maybe you visit another city and work remotely for a few days.
Maybe you finally take that trip with your spouse that you've been discussing for the last two years.
The destination isn't nearly as important as the decision.
But here's where I want you to approach this differently.
Don't simply schedule the trip.
Use the next six weeks to prepare your business and yourself.
Identify three responsibilities you currently handle that someone else could potentially manage.
Choose one process that needs improvement.
Have a conversation with someone on your team about developing their decision-making authority.
And start thinking about what you want to accomplish by changing your environment.
Are you looking for fresh ideas?
Better relationships?
Strategic thinking?
Professional development?
Or simply time to reflect on where you're going?
Give the experience a purpose.
Then, when you return, evaluate what you learned.
What worked?
What didn't?
What happened while you were gone?
What do you want to change?
That's how travel becomes something more than a temporary escape from your routine.
It becomes an intentional part of how you operate.
This is the philosophy I explore in Travel For Success.
If you've been following along throughout September but haven't actually done anything differently, here's your opportunity.
Put the date on your calendar.
Then start preparing.
I'd love to hear where you're planning to go.

09/30/2026

I'm going to do something a little different today.

I'm going to ask you to buy my book.

Not because I wrote it.

Because I genuinely believe the ideas in it are worth considering if you're a business owner, entrepreneur or professional who has spent years building something successful but struggles to find time to enjoy it.

Over the past month, I've shared lessons about leadership, delegation, productivity, business systems, relationships and intentionally changing your environment.

All of those subjects are connected.

And that connection is what led me to write Travel For Success: How To Increase Productivity By Leaving Town Every Six Weeks.

Here's what I want you to understand.

This isn't a travel guide.

I'm not suggesting you abandon your responsibilities, take expensive vacations or spend half your life sitting on a beach.

I'm suggesting something much more practical.

What if periodically leaving your normal environment could help you become a better business owner?

What if preparing to leave forced you to develop stronger systems?

What if your absence helped your employees become more capable?

What if meeting people outside your normal circles exposed you to opportunities you otherwise wouldn't encounter?

And what if intentionally making time for travel improved your relationships and your quality of life?

These are questions I've explored through decades of business ownership, commercial real estate, investing, conferences and travel.

I haven't perfected the process.

I'm still learning.

But I've experienced enough to believe these lessons are worth sharing.

That's why I wrote the book.

If you're constantly busy, struggle to delegate, feel indispensable or keep postponing the things you want to experience, I wrote this with you in mind.

I'd like you to read it.

More importantly, I'd like you to challenge yourself to apply what you learn.

Because the objective isn't to finish another book.

It's to make meaningful changes in how you operate and how you live.

Get your copy of Travel For Success today.

Find Travel For Success on Amazon

And if you've already read it, please consider leaving an honest Amazon review. Your feedback helps other readers decide whether the book is right for them.

09/29/2026

I've spent a lot of time this month talking about productivity, leadership, delegation, travel and building a business that doesn't require your constant attention.

But there's another part of this conversation that I think is even more important.

What is waiting costing you?

Not financially. At least, not entirely.

I'm talking about the experiences you keep postponing.

The people you keep meaning to visit.

The conferences you want to attend.

The places you've talked about seeing.

The ideas you haven't had time to explore.

And the life you keep promising yourself you'll enjoy once you've accomplished the next big thing.

I understand ambition. I've spent decades building businesses, investing in real estate, negotiating transactions and pursuing opportunities.

And I'm not finished.

But I've learned that there is a dangerous assumption buried inside ambition.

We assume we'll have more time later.

We'll travel when business slows down.

We'll spend more time with family after the next deal closes.

We'll enjoy ourselves once we reach the next financial milestone.

Here's the problem.

There's always another milestone.

And the years don't stop passing while we're pursuing them.

That's one of the reasons I began intentionally changing my environment every several weeks.

Sometimes it's a conference. Sometimes it's business travel. Sometimes it's personal.

The important part is that I stopped treating those experiences as something I would eventually get around to doing.

I started making them part of my life.

That's ultimately what Travel For Success is about.

Yes, I discuss productivity, leadership, delegation and business systems.

But those things serve a larger purpose.

Creating the freedom to live while you're building.

If you've spent years telling yourself you'll make time someday, I want you to consider something.

Someday isn't on the calendar.

You have to put it there.

09/24/2026

Another objection I completely understand:

"Travel is expensive."

It certainly can be.

Flights.

Hotels.

Restaurants.

Rental cars.

Activities.

Take a family halfway around the world and you can spend a lot of money very quickly.

But that's not what I'm suggesting people do every six weeks.

One of the biggest misunderstandings about Travel For Success is assuming every trip has to be a vacation.

It doesn't.

The purpose is to periodically change your environment.

That creates a lot more possibilities.

Drive two hours to another city.

Turn a business trip into an extra day.

Attend a conference you've been meaning to attend.

Visit friends or family.

Work remotely from somewhere different.

Take a long weekend.

Combine business and personal travel when it makes sense.

The destination isn't the strategy.

Changing the environment is the strategy.

I think that's important because otherwise this philosophy becomes something only wealthy people can practice.

That's not what I wrote.

You don't need first class airfare.

You don't need a resort.

You don't need Europe.

You don't even necessarily need an airplane.

You need enough distance from your normal routine to interrupt it.

And here's another consideration.

We usually calculate the cost of going somewhere.

Hotel: $X.

Gas: $X.

Meals: $X.

But we rarely calculate the cost of never changing anything.

Burnout has a cost.

Bad decisions have a cost.

Weak relationships have a cost.

Lack of perspective has a cost.

Building a business that completely controls your life has a cost.

I'm not suggesting anyone spend money irresponsibly.

Quite the opposite.

Design the experience around what you can reasonably afford.

But don't assume intentional travel requires luxury.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is get in the car and go somewhere different for a couple of days.

09/23/2026

"I can't leave my business."

Of all the objections I've heard to the Travel For Success philosophy, this may be the most important one.

Because my response isn't:

"Leave anyway."

My response is:

"Why can't you?"

That's where the useful conversation begins.

Is there nobody else who can make decisions?

Does critical information exist only in your head?

Do customers only want to deal with you?

Are processes undocumented?

Does your team lack authority?

Do you have someone you don't trust?

Are you personally doing work someone else should be doing?

Or have you simply never tested what would happen if you weren't there?

Those are very different problems.

And staying at the office doesn't solve any of them.

It hides them.

If you genuinely cannot leave your company for several days, I'm not suggesting you book a flight tomorrow and hope for the best.

I'm suggesting you treat your inability to leave as information.

Start fixing the reasons.

Train someone.

Document the process.

Delegate the responsibility.

Establish authority.

Cross-train employees.

Create backup plans.

Develop leaders.

Then test it.

Leave for a day.

Then two.

Then several.

See what breaks.

Fix it.

Try again.

That's one of the biggest business lessons behind Travel For Success.

Travel isn't just the reward you get after building a better business.

Sometimes the desire to travel gives you a reason to build the business better.

Your goal shouldn't be disappearing.

Your goal should be creating an organization that doesn't require your constant physical presence to function.

That's not abandoning responsibility.

That's leadership.

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Covington, KY

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