Road Warrior

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I will be starting a new job that will be 75% travel, and would appreciate any tips on how to do this with the least amount of anguish. So far I have:
Sign up with every airline/car rental, but concentrate on 1 or 2
Carry extra underwear in your laptop bag
I use a classic-sized organizer and do not want to give it up, other than that anything goes.
Your insight is welcome
 
Make sure your home life is set up so that things don't collapse while you're gone. If you're single, make sure your mail gets taken in (or get a PO Box), your plants get watered, your pets get fed, etc. If you're married, figure out how to handle administrative conversations -- bill paying, grocery shopping, etc. -- remotely. When you're home, you want to spend quality time with your spouse instead of getting bogged down in that stuff.

Take care of yourself while traveling. Figure out how to take your exercise routine with you, eat healthy meals at reasonable times, etc. Wash your hands often and be really paranoid about food-borne illnesses. Being sick is bad enough, but being sick 3000 miles from home is really horrible.

Pack a "go" bag with duplicates of your absolute necessities. (Medications, contact lenses, toothbrush, clean underwear, cash for cab fare.) Keep that in your laptop bag, carry on, or wherever it will be impossible to leave behind.

Get a travel alarm or traveling clock radio. *Always* use it, not the alarm supplied by the hotel. This one sounds trivial, but it's amazing how much a familiar alarm sound can help you orient yourself in a strange place. For the same reason, if you travel internationally invest in a world band radio to keep you in touch with home.

Katherine
 
Unregistered said:
Carry extra underwear in your laptop bag
Click to expand...

I travel a lot for business myself, so I usually read these types of posts. I gotta tell you, that's the first time I've heard that one...

I suppose those extra 'wears could come in handy, fortunately, I've never had the need.

My advice, learn to travel light, finding out and bringing only the essentials. You'll be carrying everything with you if you are flying, so it will make a difference over time.

I guess that why I never thought to bring extra underwear.....

Good luck
 
I learned the extra underwear thing one time when my checked suitcase didn't make it with me. I usually also take a t-shirt in my computer bag. Of course all this goes out the window if the trip is short, and I'm taking all my clothes in a carry-on.
 
I checked out the "one bag" site and found it very good - it was full of helpful and interesting suggestions.

For me, the basic issue in travleing is to figure out hwat you DON'T need and then work backwards from there. This is actually more difficult than it first sounds, but once you get past that obstacle it becomes easier to plan for any trip.

Don't check baggage when outbound unless absolutely necessary. I've traveled with people who insist on checking bags unnecessarily and can tell some really aggravating stories about the problems they've caused, time & effort misspent, and meetings or schedules disrupted. I've read that the odds of your bag being lost are as high as 1 in 200, which means that on average at least one passenger on most flights has a chance of being disappointed; your odds of being that person are zero if you carry-on. If you must check a bag, knowing the 3-letter abbreviation for your destination is helpful, and take the time to be sure the bag & your claim check bear that abbrev.

Finally, it's gotta have wheels. If it doesn't have wheels, there should be a way to attach it to something that does.
 
I have too much to carry and no free hand for an umbrella - so I got a very lightweight, HOODED raincoat. It stuff into a t-tiny zipper pouch I can cram into my laptop case. It took forever to find it, but find it I did, from Travelsmith. I am a woman with fairly long hair but I need to look neat and professional. I use a large, paper planner. I carry it and am not ready to give that up. So the umbrella had to go. Jane
 
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