Traipse around Virginia? That’s hard work (7)
I believe the answer is:
travail
'hard work' is the definition.
(travail can mean hard work or effort)
'traipse around virginia?' is the wordplay.
'traipse' becomes 'trail' (both can mean to walk slowly).
'around' indicates putting letters inside.
'virginia?' becomes 'va' (US state abbreviation).
'trail' placed around 'va' is 'TRAVAIL'.
'that's' is the link.
(Other definitions for travail that I've seen before include "Painful or laborious effort, like childbirth" , "Hard labour" , "Use of physical or mental energy; excessive labour..." , "painful exercise" , "In old use, the pains of childbirth" .)