Business pro’s guide to hassle-free travel (free PDF)
Seasoned road warriors know many useful tricks that can reduce travel headaches. This guide offers tips and suggestions from professionals who have logged a lot of business travel miles.
From the guide:
I’m writing this article from an airplane headed down to Mexico City on a business trip, one of the 100+ flights I take for business each year and have been averaging for most of my career. I’m often asked how to make business travel easier, so if you find yourself staring at increased travel in the near future, I hope you find a helpful tip or two here.
Manage your mental state
While the external stresses of travel are often outside your control, how you manage them is completely within your control. If you let an unplanned delay throw you into a state of panic or rage, travel can become unbearable. When faced with anything from unending delays to slow-moving crowds, pay attention to your stress levels and take a deep breath, listen to music, or otherwise maintain your calm, and you’ll find travel much more bearable regardless of what’s thrown your way. This is especially important in unfamiliar environments. I’ve been threatened with deportation, found myself in Beijing back alleys and completely lost, extorted, and dropped off at the wrong location with no way to communicate with my driver, but a deep breath and a smile ultimately allowed for recovery.
Minimize swapping key items
If you’re going to be traveling routinely, it’s worth buying duplicates of key items and leaving them in your travel bag versus remembering to repack them after using them at home. For me, these are things like laptop and phone chargers, toothbrushes, and basic toiletries. I rarely forget these necessities since I have a travel set that’s always in my suitcase or laptop bag.