Navan

We asked Navan travel consultant Sarina David, based in our 📍Bangalore, India office, to share some of the knowledge she’s picked up from helping countless business travelers get from point A to point B—including a layover in point Z—with minimal turbulence.

Here’s what she had to say:

“I remember this one passenger, I could tell he was already exhausted even before the trip began. It was a really important business trip for him: back-to-back meetings, two cities, barely any time in between. And he kept saying, ‘It’s fine, I just need to get through it.’

But when I looked at his plan, it felt relentless—no breaks, no buffer, just constant moving. I suggested we change a few things. Nothing major: just a little more time between flights, a hotel closer to his meeting, and small breathing spaces. And sure enough, one of his flights got delayed. Normally, that would have thrown everything off, but this time it didn’t and he made it to his meetings free of stress. And after the trip, he told me something that stayed with me. He said, ‘For the first time, I didn’t feel like I was chasing my schedule.’

We forget that business travel isn’t just about being efficient, it’s about how you feel while you’re doing it. So, if there’s one thing I always tell my passengers now, it’s to leave a little room for breath, because sometimes that’s what makes the whole trip work.”