When you travel for business, it’s easy for the lines between work and leisure to get blurry. You might attend meetings, plan strategy, and then squeeze in an activity or two for fun. There’s nothing wrong with that — as long as you clearly separate business expenses from personal ones.

I recently had a great reminder of this during a strategic planning trip with my business partner, who also happens to be my wife.

A Real Example: The Alligator Tour That Wasn’t a Business Expense

On this trip, we spent most of our time working, planning, and talking through the direction of our company. Our hotel stay? Business expense. Our meals while discussing strategy? Also business.

But at one point, we decided to take an alligator tour — something purely for fun.

And because it had absolutely nothing to do with the business, we didn’t expense it. We put it on our personal card and enjoyed the experience without trying to justify it as “work-related.”

The same thing applied to a sunset cruise we took. Great time, totally personal, not a business expense.

How to Keep Your Expenses Clean and Clear

The principle is simple:
If the activity doesn’t directly support the business purpose of the trip, it shouldn’t go on the business card.

A few easy guidelines:

• Business expenses: lodging, meals where work is discussed, transportation to and from business-related activities, event or meeting costs.

• Personal expenses: entertainment, recreational activities, sightseeing tours, and anything done purely for fun.

Keeping things separated is not only the right thing to do — it also protects you if you’re ever audited and keeps your books clean.

The Bottom Line

Mixing business and pleasure on a work trip is totally fine, but mixing the expenses isn’t. When in doubt, use your personal card for anything that doesn’t clearly support the business purpose of your travel.

It’s simple, clean, and saves you headaches later.