Guest-post from Road Warriorette: Business Travel Tips Part 1

I am thrilled to have Road Warriorette as a guest-poster, not only for one but for two posts! I started reading her when Chris Brogan paid homage to her when he launched his new travel blog “Man on the Go”  and I am hooked.

Road Warriorette is a professional woman who travels for work, a lot, from her home base in Texas. Because of her extensive travel experience, the Road Warriorette wants to share valuable tips and tricks she has learned, in hopes to teach the world about how to be good fellow travelers.

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When you find out about that first business trip, anxiety can ensue. You have questions about what to take, how to pack, what suitcase to get, what you need on the plane, etc. When I first started traveling for my job four years ago, there were no resources for women business travelers. The only article I could find had a tip about not putting on your nylons—yes, they said nylons—until you arrived at your destination because if the plane crashed they could catch on fire. Seriously.

Here are my top tips for travel, business or otherwise. Some of these tips are specific to women, but most are gender-neutral. My goal every time I fly is to minimize hassles to myself and my fellow passengers, and I created this list with that in mind. I hope these suggestions make your next trip go as smoothly as possible!!

Don’t overpack

• Bring clothes that fit into one color scheme, i.e. black or brown. This way they all match, and you can pack fewer pairs of shoes.
• If you can at all avoid it, don’t bring anything that wrinkles or that you have to iron. Ironing will just waste time and stress you out
• I bring my own shampoo/conditioner because I travel so much if I use whatever random products the hotel puts out my hair gets mad; a couple of great sources are 3floz.com and Sephora.
• Eagle Creek packing cubes are helpful for the small items (underwear, socks, hose, etc); they will help you save a ton of space.
• I have three small bags for my toiletries–one for liquids (that gets taken out at security), one for non-liquids (toothbrush, deodorant, etc), and one for make-up. This allows me to fit them in my suitcase wherever they will go instead of taking up a lot of room.
• Use spare contact lens cases for small amounts of liquids, such as face soap, moisturizer, eye makeup remover, etc.
• Here is my full packing list. Carrying-on for a four-day trip is very doable!

Be prepared for security

• Have your documents ready to show the TSA agent before you get to him/her.
• Throw away any bottles of water or other too-large liquids before you get to the X-ray line.
• Have your plastic bag of toiletries and laptop in an easy to reach location so you can grab them quickly.
• Take your shoes off and clean out your pockets. Ideally, put your change and cell phone, etc., into your bag so that it’s not scattered in a bin.
• Keep your boarding pass in hand—some airports need to see them, some don’t.
• Once you are through, grab all of your stuff and move off to the bench near you to put your shoes and belt on, your laptop back in the bag, etc.
• I have a full section on going through security, but here is my article “How To Travel Like An Expert”

Come back tomorrow to catch Part 2!

Any folks out there traveling for business who have additional tips to add?