Just in case you hadn't worked it out, I travel fairly regularly for business. In my case, it is mainly overseas, but I also fit in the odd domestic business trip as well. As we wind down for the end of the year, and I am on the tail end of my last business trip for 2009, here are a few useful tips and observations I've picked up over the years from my travels.
They are not in any particular order, but hopefully you might find some of them useful.
Use packing lists. I use a base one that covers all climates/trip types and I simply ignore what I won't need. I have it on the PC, so I can print it out and go for it, which allows me to pack at short notice if required without the risk of forgetting anything major. It also has some tasks listed on it, such as turn on my "out of office" message before leaving.
Maintain a travelling toiletry bag and top it up after each trip, then you can just grab it and throw it in your suitcase, ready to go.
Explore different packing techniques. I found a way of folding shirts, pants and jackets on coat hangers in my suitcase that really works for me. They pack quite thin, and I simply pull them out when I get to my destination, give them a flick with my wrist and hang them up, quickly and with few wrinkles. I know other people who use a bundling technique where shirts and trousers are placed inside one another and a jacket on the outside, which is then all folded up into one large single bundle. Another friend of mine still swears by rolling his clothes, like the way some backpackers do. Try googling and you will find a stack of different ways to fold and pack clothes, and chances are there is a way that will help you get more in with less wrinkles or be able to pack more quickly than you do now.
Also, a steaming shower is a good way to get rid of any major wrinkles your clothes have picked up along the way, and can also help freshen up a suit after its been trapped in your case for a while. Its amazing what a difference letting your clothes hang in a steamy bathroom for 10 - 15 minutes can make.
I tend to travel with one piece of check in luggage for my clothes and a carry on bag or small case for the laptop, paperwork etc. Some hardcore travellers do the carry on thing only. Either is fine, but I prefer to have a couple of extra clothing options rather than just one basic outfit with a spare shirt and having to make do with the same clothes for all occasions. It really isn't that inconvenient to pick up your suit case at the end of each flight and get it to where you are staying.
Carry your medication in your carry on. It is easier to keep up with your regular dosage requirements if your checked in luggage goes astray enroute.
Take advantage of usb charging. Use your laptop or if you want extra capacity, take along a small usb charger such as the
apple one for your phone, Blackberry, handheld gaming, ipod, camera or batteries. Much easier than packing a single charger for every single gadget in your travelling kit.
Scan heavy business documents and store on your laptop for reading. Only take print outs for meetings where you won't have access to your PC. Maintain a small file of must have monthly reports, forecasts, inventory levels etc which is compiled every month as a separate spiral bound copy for meetings as required. Can be ditched at the end of the trip if you need extra space for shopping.
Buy cheap novels from second hand book stores or garage sales for the trip and ditch them after you have finished them. Again, it gives you some space and/or weight towards the end of the trip for shopping. I also like hiding my finished ones in hotel rooms for someone else to find.
I like movies and foreign TV can sometimes totally suck, so keep a couple of favourite flicks on your laptop or ipod/psp. I also pack a
small media player in my main suitcase for some chill time when I am not working, but some hotel TVs won't accept having other devices plugged into them, so my laptop also helps out in that regard.
Maintain routines. If you are a regular exerciser, keep it up on your trip. Similarly if you like to meditate or spend regular thinking time on things. I do a weekly review in the office, checking my calendar, inboxes and project files a la GTD, so I do my best to maintain this when away and not let little things slip through my fingers. I also keep a red folder in my travel bag which acts as an inbox for things to be processed later, either on the trip or when I return home.
Stay on top of your expenses on a regular basis. It is too easy to shove a receipt in your wallet and later forget what it was for. A few minutes at the beginning or end of each day is easier than spending hours in the office days trying to figure out if you have captured everything. If I incur an expense that does not issue a receipt, such as subway tickets in some countries, I send my self an email on my Blackberry so that I can process this later and make sure I do not forget it.
There's nothing wrong with comfort food from your home country when you need a break from local cuisine, but most countries have some delicious specialties that will remain unknown to you unless you give them a try. Having said that though, I have been known to attack a burger or a decent steak like a madman after 7 days of straight sushi/sashimi in Japan, and I typically eat at a Hard Rock at least once in most places I go to. I like the food, and as I am a music junkie, I love the atmosphere as a place to chill out, no matter where I am in the world.
Try the local beverages too. I make it a habit to try the local beer everywhere I go, and there are some real beauties to be had!
Have a couple of reminders of home/family with you, perhaps photos on your phone or laptop. It's amazing how useful they are at reminding you why you do what you do when you are tired, lonely or homesick when "on the road".
There are three letters that can make your travelling in strange locations so much easier. GPS. Get it on your phone, or make sure your next phone has it. My Blackberry runs Google Maps nicely, and while there are some global roaming charges associated with using it, I have lost track of how many times I have come out of a subway somewhere via the wrong exit, and can not recognise any of the landmarks, so I whip out my phone, let it get its coordinates, enter where I want to go, and then I can start heading straight there. If you are planning to do any serious driving though, hire a car with a navigator included or bring your own. They handle this task better than a phone.
I wish I could tell you that I have the easy answer to jetlag, but I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't exist. There are some things you can do to minimise the impact, but just like how a night shift worker can not typically change from day shift to night shift without taking some time to adjust, as a traveller you can not expect your body to snap ahead or behind by 8 hours or so without feeling it. I find if I do the normally recommended things like setting my watch to the destination time before take off, and try to have my meals and a nap in sync with where I am going rather than where I have come from, it is not so bad. Once I have landed, if it is day time I spend time outside walking around in the sun light to get my body clock used to the idea that it is time to be up. I also stick to the local meal times and bed time as much as possible. If I must nap during the day because I am tired, I stick to a 15 minute power nap only, and use an alarm to get back up.
There also have been some studies that found that if you fast for 12 - 16 hours before breakfast time in the destination time zone, and then eat your three meals on the first day you are there, it really helps you reset your body clock. I have generally found this to be true as well, but it can be hard to pull off if you have skipped a meal on a previous flight, and start to get really hungry in that 12 hour period before local breakfast time if you can't sleep.
The key thing is, if business travel is a regular part of your life, make it work for you, as an integral part of the whole you. If you treat it as an extra, it will always be just that, and before you know it you will be sick to death of travelling, and it will become painful and tiring. Instead, accept that you now one of the many people out there who spend a reasonable portion of their life travelling to new locations, and embrace it, enjoy it. It is a lot easier to travel and get things done once you accept that travel is part of your normal life, and you maintain your routine while you are doing it.
