Packing Light For Business Travel

 

All of the travel guides recommend it, and with airlines charging fees for checking bags, everyone is trying to do it – but how do you really pack light? Last year, I flew over 75,000 miles for business meetings and a thousand more for fun. When I travel for meetings, I never check luggage. I pack my carry-on bag and my personal item (laptop bag) and zip on and off the plane. Furthermore, I want my trips to be efficient and that means having everything I need – and some things I just want - close at hand.

 

Most of the time, I use a Costco brand carry-on bag which has several compartments to separate various items and fits in the overhead compartment on all except the smallest of planes.

 

In the large main bag, I pack:

·         Up to 5 shirts, underwear, handkerchiefs, and socks (less if I am staying fewer than 5 days)

·         1 pair pants

·         1 sweater if I am going somewhere cold

·         Electric razor

·         Toiletry bag containing

o   Cough drops

o   Pepto-Bismol, Claritin, Aspirin   

o   Sewing kits, Band-Aids, Q-tips

o   Travel towel, lint-free shoe shine towel

o   Small tape measure

o   Toothbrush, toothpicks, floss

o   Travel hair brush and comb

o   Deodorant

o   Prescription meds and vitamins

o   Breath mints

·         In the pockets, I keep

o   Hands-free cell phone headset and charger

o   Power chargers for my cell phone and camera

o   Small notepad

o   2 Power Bars

o   Thin magnifying card

o   Laundry detergent and fabric softener for 1 load, in Ziploc bag

o   A number of spare, clean Ziploc bags in varying sizes

o   A plastic laundry bag

·         Small point-and-shoot camera

 

In the front pouch, I pack

·         Travel umbrella

·         3 books

·         1 quart sized Ziploc bag with all of my liquids and gels (as mandated by TSA)

o   3 oz toothpaste, in refillable container (much more affordable than the travel sizes)

o   3 oz shampoo

o   2 oz hand sanitizer

o   Newskin liquid bandage, hand lotion, Neosporin, Chap Stick,

o   4 days worth of Dayquil and Nyquil gel caps

·         Snacks (either trail mix or beef jerky)

 

In the small front pockets I pack

·         Electrical tape (smaller than duct tape J )

·         Assortment of pens (different colors and a Sharpie)

·         Power Bar and a chocolate bar

·         Handi-wipes

·         Post-it notes

·         Batteries for headset

·         Breath mints

·         Business cards

 

In my laptop bag, I pack

·         Laptop & power supply

·         Security cable to tie down laptop

·         Wireless mouse and batteries (both AA and AAA)

·         Notepad

·         Power Bar, chocolate bar

·         Chocolate muffin

·         USB sticks, air-card (for network access over cell phone service)

·         Itinerary

·         Book (the one I am currently reading)

·         Business cards

 

I also use carabineers to clip on

·         A small Pelican Case containing my Bose noise-canceling headset and batteries

·         A refillable water bottle

 

That’s it. I wear my jacket and cell phone so I have easy access to them on the plane and they do not take up any space in the luggage. However, unlike those who truly pack the least amount possible, I have everything I need to handle bad weather, extended layovers, and minor problems such as a missing button.

 

For trips where I have to dress up, I switch to a garment bag instead of the carry-on and pack the suit and shoes instead of the sweater.

 

Clearly, this is not a small list – and I could eliminate many items if I had to (e.g., I really only need one sewing kit and probably don’t need the towel). However, it all fits in my carry-ons and I have ready access to anything I need. I have found that rolling clothes helps save room in the suitcase and allows for more items to be comfortably packed – I am not sure why, but it works well.

 

It would be easy to eliminate things you don’t think you will use on a given trip, but I find being prepared for the unexpected has advantages. You can also reduce the number of clothes you pack by using quick-dry clothing that you can wash in your sink. This tends to be relatively easy if you have access to water, however I only do that when I expect to be on the road for multiple weeks without easy access to a laundry (e.g. on our trip to Africa).

 

Of course, for adventure travel, or even trips where you need a variety of clothing options (e.g. from suits to hiking equipment), you will probably need to pack a broader variety of things and therefore check your luggage.  Otherwise, for standard business trips this should work fine.

 

With a little planning, you can enjoy your trips and keep your travel fees down!

 

Terence

City Escapes Nature Photography

 

P.S. – A Woman’s Perspective

 

As a woman and a photographer, I pack differently than Terence does.  For example, I have a greater variety of liquids that must fit into my one-quart bag, from conditioner and hair-styling products to sunscreen and liquid make-up items.  I also take such things as saline solution for my contacts (which does not have to fit into my one-quart bag, but will need special screening by TSA screeners), a hair dryer, a straightening iron, baby powder, etc.  These extra items do not mean, however, that I cannot also still get everything I need to fit into my two carry-on approved bags.  I simply have to be organized and discriminating about what I choose to bring, especially if I am also bringing my camera gear.  (My camera gear takes up a bag all on its own, leaving me with one carry-on sized bag in which to fit everything else.)

 

I often have to bring an extra pair of shoes, either dress shoes for a special occasion, or hiking boots for a shoot.  In order to save room in my suitcase, on the days I fly I choose to wear the biggest, heaviest pair of shoes I am bringing.  This often means that I am wearing my hiking boots on the plane.  Though my everyday slip-on shoes would be less hassle, I choose instead to opt for more room in my suitcase.  This does come at a price, of course: it is easier and faster to go through the security checkpoints at the airport wearing the slip-ons rather than my hiking boots.  Nonetheless, the extra time and effort is worth it to me.  Note, however, that many people make the exact opposite choice, Terence among them.  You will simply have to decide which works best for you.

 

Some people believe that it is impossible for a woman to carry everything she needs for a week-long trip in carry-on luggage, but I am here to say that such a belief is simply not accurate.  It may require a bit of time and planning to get it right, but it most certainly can be done.

 

 A special note on TSA and airline requirements:  all lithium batteries, regardless of size or purpose, must be included in your carry-on luggage; none may be packed in your checked bags.  On the other hand, no knives or multi-purpose tools may be included in your carry-ons; all must be checked.  I keep a multi-purpose tool in my camera bag.  Therefore, if I am traveling to a place where I cannot easily borrow one, I must either remember to remove the m-p tool from my bag, or check a bag with the m-p tool in it.  And, of course, any time that I take a full-sized camera tripod with me, I must check it.

 

Jodi

 

City Escapes Nature Photography Newsletter - May 2010

CITY ESCAPES

Nature Photography, LLC

 

 

Newsletter

May, 2010

 

 

 

Make Time to Enjoy Nature

 

In light of the recent Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the 30^th anniversary of the Mt. Saint Helens eruption, we would like to remind everyone to go out and actually enjoy and experience the beauty of the natural world.  These events are reminders that our landscape is constantly changing, literally overnight in some cases. Such landscapes are rarely destroyed forever; Mother Nature is nothing if not resilient.  They are, however, deeply altered for long stretches of time, in some cases requiring hundreds of years to return to their previous state, in others becoming something entirely new, never returning to their previous state. 

 

Many disasters are so devastating that the ecosystem affected is fundamentally destroyed.  While another ecosystem will eventually take the original’s place, what was once there is gone forever.  This is the most serious danger of the oil spill, and why so much effort is required to stop the oncoming devastation.  With other disasters, while the damage is extensive, the changes are not always entirely negative, and do not result in the complete devastation of an entire ecosystem.  The Yellowstone fires, for example, while destroying a great deal of forested land, also reinvigorated and renewed that same land, clearing the way for new growth and fertilizing the soil.  And they left in their wake a completely different kind of beauty.  Nonetheless, those who might have wanted to see the Park in its pre-fire glory suddenly found themselves out of time.  Were you one of those people?

 

You do not, however, have to take a long trip to a far away place to enjoy natural beauty.  Wherever you are, there are bound to be some elements of the wild, even if they have now been tamed.  Trees, shrubs, and/or cacti are ubiquitous, finding their way into cities and towns as well as the countryside and deserts, and all offer their own unique version of splendor.  A multitude of superbly hued and wonderfully smelling flowers are common, even if only in your neighbor’s yard.  Birds of all sorts roost, nest, and migrate all around us, filling the air not only with the colorful flutter of their graceful wings, but also the musical notes of their calls, songs, honks and tweets (the original tweeters!).  I have seen herds of deer in the middle of a city as large and bustling as London, been amazed at the size of a resident flock of swans in Hamburg, and eyed coyotes mere miles outside of Houston.  And yet, I have also met people living in Salt Lake City, a town that is closely bordered by glorious mountain ranges, who never notice the mountains on their daily travels.  They know the mountains are there, of course, they just never pay any attention to them – which means they miss seeing the peaks light up at sunset, and dramatic storms getting caught on the jagged edges of the mountain rims, churning in place. 

 

We urge you to pay attention to all of those natural wonders that you see, not only on vacations, but perhaps especially in your day to day life.  Nature is full of wonders and beauty, and it waits only for us to notice and appreciate it.  Don’t wait until a disaster forces you to notice it; you will miss so much if you do.

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

We would like to wish all of the mothers out there (ours in particular!) a wonderful Mother’s Day!  We hope that your families spoiled you rotten in celebration, as you have so often done for us.

 

 

May’s Fun Fact

 

Think nine months is a long time to be pregnant?  Try being an alpine salamander: they are pregnant for up to 38 months!  The average gestation period for this 5.5 inch salamander is two years, but the higher up on the mountain slopes the female salamander lives, the longer she carries her young before birth.  It is thought that the higher altitudes provide less food, as well as shorter periods of warmth for the salamander to be active.  This requires her to remain pregnant until she has had enough time and nourishment to completely develop her young, which are not laid as eggs, like most amphibians, but born as fully-formed salamanders.

 

 

If you have any questions, or suggestions for future newsletters, please email us at: relationships@cityescapesphotography.com

 

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CITY ESCAPES Nature Photography, LLC

www.cityescapesphotography.com

509-396-5154