5 Best Practices for Working On The Road
Business travel: You either love it or hate it. Maybe your trips take you to far-flung destinations like Paris or the British Virgin Islands. Or maybe, like the rest of us, you find yourself frequently hoofing it to Omaha and Newark (no offense to either of those locations).
Regardless of where you go, you probably have a few rules to live by, gleaned from a handful of head slapping “Did I really just do that?” moments of the past. Take note of my best practices list before your next trip.
1. Check the Weather
The weather is an easy thing to forget. I live in Scottsdale, Arizona, where temperatures rarely drop below 75 degrees. So when booking a last-minute trip to Chicago in February, it pays to remember your jacket. Otherwise, like me a few years ago, you will find yourself feeling a serious chill while walking off the plane at O’Hare and promptly asking your tax driver to take you to the nearest Macy’s so you can liquidate your credit card on warm clothes purchases. Lesson learned.
2. Don’t Rely on Airplane Wireless
First, choose a flight that will have wireless vs. one that won’t (this is usually indicated when booking). Since this amenity is relatively new, it doesn’t always work, so bring backup. Print off a few documents in need of review before leaving your office just so you can stay productive while in the air.
3. Always Carry-on
I am fundamentally opposed to checking luggage, regardless if my trip is scheduled to last two days or two weeks. I’m not a fan because of the length of time it takes to check a bag and the cost airlines charge today for bags (upwards of $100 in some cases).
Chiefly, though, I don’t like checking bags because of the nervous anticipation I feel once landing at my arrival city. Inevitably, I find myself walking to the carousel with a strong sense of dread in the pit of my stomach at the thought that my bag will not arrive at all. Not worth it. I frequent the travel-size cosmetics aisle before every trip for this very reason.
4. Drink Water in the Air
Lets say it’s a Friday afternoon at the end of a long week and you’re boarding a three-hour flight to a weekend meeting. You settle into your seat and order yourself an alcoholic beverage. Then you notice that your plane has working wireless, so you think: Why not send a few client emails?
This is a recipe for disaster. No, I’m not going to following that statement with a personal anecdote, but I strongly recommend sticking to water when flying on business. Emails while under the influence are never a good idea and neither is stepping off a plane to meet a work colleague while you’re feeling a little tipsy. Save the booze for your personal trips.
5. Charge Up in Advance
There are few things worse than feeling engrossed in a project while on board a flight and then, out of nowhere, losing power to your computer. Especially if you are on a long trip (maybe one that includes planes, trains, taxis, buses ... you get the idea), charge all of your digital devices before you leave.
While these are my top tips, I know there are many more lessons to be learned. What pieces of business travel advice would you add to this list?
