Do you long for the glamour and excitement of the high-powered, jet-setting business traveler? Well, consider for a moment the peacefulness you feel in the airport departure lounge as you await your vacation flight to some interesting or exotic destination, anticipating the relaxation and the fun that lies ahead.

Then think of the guilty pleasure you feel when you emerge briefly from your reverie to notice the harried businessmen and businesswomen scurrying through the terminal as they rush to make their flights to Toledo, Tulsa, Tallahassee, or some other mundane metropolis.

For some, business travel is the spice that makes a job intriguing. But for many others, it’s a burden to be endured, a necessary evil that disrupts family life and grinds down both body and mind. Jet lag. Connecting flights. Shaky commuter planes. Airline food. Weatherwoes. Miserable airport traffic that can cause you to be late for your appointment or your flight. It’s enough to make some frequent fliers long for the moment they can plant their feet firmly on the ground and their seats firmly behind a desk.

This is not to say that business travel always is a drag — far from it. A handful of trips a year can offer a welcome break from the monotony of the workaday office. In addition, business travelers meet new colleagues, make new friends — and often establish a network of contacts that can be valuable in a future job search. The willingness to travel often is a sign to the employer that you’ll “pay your dues” to the company; some bosses see it as a test of loyalty and commitment.

Business travel also can benefit your private life. Most corporate travelers accumulate frequent flier miles on their individual accounts, a perk that can pay off down the road with free airline tickets, rental cars, and hotel rooms that can be applied to personal vacations (if there ever is time for a vacation). For those enterprising or flexible enough, business travel schedules sometimes can be reworked to allow for visits with far-off family and friends, or a little sightseeing. For instance, instead of forcing a worker to fly out Friday morning and returning later that night, many bosses will allow you to stay in town a few weekend days, if you so desire, and perhaps fly back on Sunday — although the employee likely will have to foot the bill for expenses incurred beyond those related to business.

A welcome trend in the business world is the growing popularity of destination resorts that cater to conventions and large corporate gatherings. Savvy executives know that holding the annual branch managers’ meeting in Aspen or Palm Springs — rather than at corporate headquarters in, say, Pittsburgh — can be a big morale boost. There’s nothing like a little skiing or golf to lift spirits and liven up those boring seminars.

More often, however, business travel leaves little time to experience the ambiance and take in the special sights of particular destinations. Marathon meetings with clients can leave executives with a desire to do little other than head back to the hotel, order up room service, and hit the sack early. What’s more, the growing world-wide popularity of office complexes near large airports means that on a three-day trip to “Munich,” you might never get closer than 20 miles from the Bavarian delights of that colorful city. Looking for local color at one of those small, quaint hotels? Given the international expansion of the big hotel chains — and the barter deals companies increasingly are negotiating with such chains — your room in suburban London might look an awful lot like the bland digs on your last trip to Chicago or Charlotte. The best most business travelers can do is sample a restaurant or two; the normal itinerary — back and forth from airport to hotel to office to airport — usually won’t give you a real feel for a city or a region.

Business travel comes in a wide range of styles — from road trips in one’s own car, with sleepovers at the roadside budget motel, to first-class airline and hotel accommodations with service staff that pampers the traveler and goodies that flow freely. But even the beneficiaries of the most luxurious business travel — for instance, professional athletes, who fly on chartered or team-owned planes and stay in four-star hotels — can grow weary of the grind. A rookie NBA player probably will revel in the attention lavished on him by obsequious hotel staffers and flight attendants on the team’s private jet. He’ll probably love the nice per diems for meals, and he likely will enjoy sampling the nightlife in each city he visits. On the other hand, veterans who have seen and done it all usually grow jaded in regard to the fast lane of life on the road, and long to get back home to their families.

The jobs discussed on this list are meant to serve as a representative selection, not as a comprehensive list of careers that involve travel. Obviously, the individual circumstances will dictate whether a particular employment situation involves travel. Indeed, even positions you wouldn’t expect to entail taking a trip or two can offer that opportunity. For instance, waiters and waitresses aren’t normally counted among the globe-trotters of the working world — but it’s certainly not unusual for a large, specialty chain that is launching a new restaurant in another city to send experienced staffers from an established location to the new site on a temporary basis, to help train personnel and get things organized for the opening.

So take a look at this list to get an overall feel for the nature of business travel. You may not find the particular field you are considering; if not, try to find a similar one, which in some cases may approximate the travel opportunities.

You may be someone who loves to fly and to stay in hotels; on the other hand, you may despise traveling or be unwilling to risk the loss of family time business excursions often require. Whatever the field, however, the guiding principle of business travel is: smaller doses usually are better.