Business Travel - Packing Tips

Do you ever get bogged down with packing for a business trip? Do you find yourself overpacking, unsure of what items you should or should not be taking, or do you just have trouble finding the right way to organize everything? Well, maybe I can help. I travel over 200k miles annually and I consider myself a pretty good authority on the do’s and don’t s of packing and travel in general. In this post I’m going to review some of my favorite strategies for packing.

The Basics: keep it small, keep it light, and keep it organized.

The first thing that all seasoned business travelers understand is that carrying your luggage onto the plane isn’t just a nice option - IT IS ESSENTIAL! Here are the main reasons:

• It saves time at check-in (especially if you get your boarding pass online prior to airport arrival) and it eliminates the time necessary to retrieve bags at your destination.
• It eliminates the stress and worry associated with potential tampering or even theft.
• It gives you easy access to all your personal items en route. A book perhaps, or on a longer flight your shaving supplies and a fresh change of clothes.

But, with all the recent security changes it’s getting harder and harder to know exactly what you need to do every time you want to move your bags through security. There are now strict rules that govern how you must handle specific types of specific. Among these are liquids and gels - some of the most common items found in every basic shaving kit.

If you plan on carrying your luggage on the plane, here are some things you might consider:

• Find a nice shaving kit with small clear three ounce bottles to put your hair gel, mouth wash, etc

• Carry on your bag with your clothes and pack a very small bag with all of your sundries and check the small bag. if you lose your liquids it is much easier to buy hair gel in a foreign country than a whole new wardrobe

Here are some common questions that I get about travel:

• Should I use a roll-aboard or a suitor? - With the new security rules the smaller the bag the better. So when packing you may want to think about using a suitor when your business travel is limited to one or two nights. When you are traveling for more than two days you should consider a roll-aboard. Roll-aboards will give you more room for packing extras like running shoes, work-out clothes, or a pair of jeans for a casual evening out.  But, remember, you may not always find space for your bag on the airplane… so think ahead.
• What if security pulls you aside? What should you do? - If this happens to you, make sure that you have your liquids in a clear zip lock bag (no Gallon sized bags…. they really frown on this). Have your laptop out and available for the security person to view and test if needed. It’s always best to be very nice to the security personnel… your focus is to get through the extra secruity to make it to your flight.

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