Travel Tips, For Your Business Trip — Published September 19, 2019 | 4 minute read
It’s good practice to chart and extend these preferences to the whole trip: the rental car you’d like to book; preferred cuisines and when you (and/or colleagues) like to eat; snacks to keep handy. The attention to detail will keep your mind at ease while keeping any coworkers content throughout the travel.
When charting your own preferences, ask more seasoned coworkers what they like or what they wish they would’ve known as they started traveling for business.
Pack Efficiently
Before you begin making your packing list, plan to travel without checking a bag, if possible. This saves time and prevents any lost luggage snafus. The flip side of traveling with just a carry-on bag, or a carry-on and a personal bag, is it forces you to optimize your packing. This involves meeting toiletry guidelines, folding clothes in a way that saves space, wearing your bulkiest shoes (and packing lighter ones if applicable), and storing any reading materials on your phone or electronic device.
Optimization also refers to quality. If there are business outfits you particularly like--or others have singled out as being sharp--make sure you include them. It’s a great way to build confidence on the road in a “look good, feel good, play good” manner.
Understand the dress code or recommendations prior to packing. Business casual could mean button-up and slacks to one person, polo and khakis to another. Rather than pack for both, ask before you leave.
Traveling for business can be an intimidating proposition. For one, these trips often come with short notice, which puts strain on budgeting the travel. Events like conventions or corporate retreats, on the other hand, offer a wide range of activities to the point where an itinerary can overwhelm even a seasoned traveler. And that’s saying nothing of the booking. Business travelers not only want the best rates, but also an easy way to track their journey from home to the airport to the hotel, and back.
BusinessTravel.com is a great place to start to ease the burden of traveling for business. Before you get to locking down an itinerary, however, there are several helpful steps to take to make sure your next business trip will be a successful one.
Outline Clear Goals for the Trip
Staying productive at home, the office, or on the road comes down to having clear tasks to complete. Think of your daily to-do list. Whether you track progress on a whiteboard, with post-it notes, or using an online service like Asana, there’s no better satisfaction than crossing things off.
You can, and should, do the same for a business trip. And while it’s important to set goals specific to your business--from generating an X number of leads, to collecting X number of business cards--you can gain a sense of accomplishment by listing and completing routine tasks. These could include getting to your airport terminal an hour before takeoff, reading 50 pages of a book (for business or otherwise), and unpacking your luggage upon arrival at your hotel to set up a home office of sorts. Such practice can keep travelers task-oriented outside of familiar environments.
Keep track of podcasts to listen to or articles to read. Save them in a “trip” folder. As you complete them on your trip, delete them from the folder.
Know What You & Your Coworkers Like
To thine own self be true. When booking business travel, think about what you want in your ideal airline or hotel room. That might be a specific brand or entertainment option as it pertains to flights. Maybe you prefer a hotel close to the meeting spot, regardless of its level of luxury (within reason). A coworker may prioritize a full fitness center over free WiFi, whereas someone else may prefer the latter over anything else.
