Travelling for business can be tough. You have to deal with airports, hotels, delays and even though you are away from the office, you must continue doing your job. Before heading to the airport for your next business trip, take a look at our favorite tips and trips, on making business travel less of a hassle, maybe even fun.
Before you depart, decide which of your gadgets will serve you best on the trip, and pack accordingly. Do you need your laptop for heavy-duty writing projects , or will your smartphone and tablet be enough? Depending on the focus of your trip, you may be able to lighten your load and leave some devices at home.
Similarly, Sara McCord suggests to:
[...] consider investing in a few items that will make you more productive. For example, I used a Logitech keyboard cover so I could really type on my iPad mini while traveling, and it made a huge difference. Portable MiFi devices can also come in handy. If there’s some item that will help you work better, think of it as a tool in your arsenal.
your normal sleep schedule. Obviously a three-day trip to Japan may make sticking to your home schedule difficult, but if you are staying in your time zone try to stick to your normal wake up times. This will help keep your focus throughout the day.
travel drinking habits are just as important as they are overlooked. [...] Usually on the road, you're exercising less and have less stress release, while experiencing more stress. [...] But in stressful situations, you don't want to drink alcohol. It drains the body of B vitamins and adds calories.
look for where the airline personnel—pilots, attendants, etc.—are eating, and follow their lead. Second, go for protein over carbs, because it takes longer to digest and burn, and therefore lasts longer. Third, always choose bottled water as your preferred beverage (never soda, it messes with your tummy). Fourth, if you’re at a loss for what to eat, go with the always-safe chicken quesadilla.
Matthew also recommends bringing down the noise.
Forget the expensive, noise-canceling, bulky headphones. Get some[...] soft foam disposable earplugs. There are five good reasons why these trump other solutions: they’re far cheaper, far less bulky (thus easier to pack), easy to replace, takeoff- and landing-friendly (non electronic), and you can actually sleep comfortably wearing them because you don't have to wrangle big earmuffs.
Bring a tennis ball with you when you're traveling. [...] It's great to roll under your feet and even under your thighs to keep you from getting stiff/sore. It's small, inexpensive, and easy to replace.
Don’t allow being away from home to stop you from getting your sweat on. Call ahead to make sure the hotel you’re staying in has the type of workout equipment you like.
In the same vein, The New York Times points out that
At almost any hotel gym you’ll at least find a treadmill or StairMaster where you can do cardio. For strength training, do body-weight exercises like squats, planks or dips off the side of a chair in your hotel room.
We would also suggest running outdoors, swimming, playing tennis, or simply going for a walk, whenever you get a bit of spare time.
There are three big advantages to business travel. First, it takes you to places you would not visit on holiday. Without work trips, I doubt I would have experienced the manic futurism of Shanghai or the unanticipated stylishness of Bogotá. I do not think I would have made it to Chicago, surely America’s most undersold city”, says the author Michael Skapinker.
