Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Business Trip Travel Prep

I’m currently on a business trip. I love business trips
because I love to travel, I love my co-workers and I love my job. But I don’t love the pre-trip prep. You would think I’d know the drill by now, but I still manage to forget something, hurt something or generally screw something up.

The following is the closest I’ll probably ever get to having a travel prep system. Here are my…

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts of Business Trip Travel Prep

10. DO pack lightly when flying, but DON’T bother when
driving. I like to have wardrobe options when I’m traveling. So if I don’t have
any packing restrictions, why not bring all those options along?

I’d like to say I pack like this..

But when driving, I actually pack like this…

9. DON’T wear brand new shoes for the first time on a business trip where you’ll be standing and/or walking all day long. I learned that the hard way.

8. DO pack Bandaids. (See #9.)

7. DON’T. Forget. Chargers. (And if you have them, keep backups in your car.)

6. DO check the weather forecast in the city you’re traveling to. It may be short sleeve weather where you live, but it’s not worth risking a frantic search for fashionable and appropriate outerwear at your destination.

5. DON’T wait til the last minute to pack. Unless you like making
late night runs to the drug store for travel contact solution and make-up removal wipes.

4. DO plan ahead to make the most of your trip. Arranging child care, especially during the week, is challenging. So when I can make the proper arrangements, I plan to make the most of my time away. Do I have a friend who lives in the vicinity of my business trip? Make up your guest bed, friend, because I’m coming to visit! Is there a cool concert one night I’m in town? Sign me up for tickets! Is there a cool place to go running? Lace up your running shoes and bring your camera, co-workers! (See photo. That’s me about to run the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.)

3. DON’T forget to inform your kids’ teachers that you’ll be out of town, especially if the kids will be left in the care of a man (sorry men, but you just do things differently than us women). As a former teacher, I appreciated being informed of any changes in a family’s daily routine. It explained forgotten lunch boxes, mismatched clothes, sleepiness, tardiness, dirtiness and minor to major behavioral problems.  Plus, they know who to call in an emergency.

2. DO clean your house before you leave. Business trips aren’t just business trips for me. Usually they also double as mini vacations (have I mentioned I have the coolest job ever?). I come home with the perfect combination of fatigue, recharged batteries and good mood. I don’t want to kill that buzz by coming home to a mess. It’s worth the last minute tidying.

1. DON’T mysteriously injure your foot to the point that you
have to go shopping for new shoes because your foot is too swollen to squeeze
into your pretty shoes and just the thought of wearing your standard 3-inch
heals makes you want to call an orthopedic surgeon. Sigh.