Throughout my career as an Apparel Developer, I’ve traveled a great deal of times for my job. Starting in 2010, I took at least one trip every year to places like Istanbul, Medellin, Hanoi and many trips to the Guangzhou area of China. I found my breaking point in 2018, which was the year that I did fourteen trips in twelve months, heading home to see my husband between every single one. I think it was June of that year when I broke down in the middle of a sandwich shop, just so exhausted and jetlagged. I completed all of my commitments that year though, and I’m glad to know where my limit is now.
Traveling for work in my profession is extremely different from traveling for pleasure. Visiting manufacturers and suppliers to hold meetings and meet overseas vendors in person is crucial to building a rapport with these partners. Sometimes, we’ll wake up in the morning and drive two hours to our first destination, so we can hold meetings and have lunch with one group. Then, we’ll get back in the car to drive another hour or so to hold afternoon meetings with a second group, who will then of course want us to join them for dinner. The people are always extremely hospitable and treat us with respect and kindness when we are in their home cities. They love showing us a good time and helping us to learn about their culture, language, food and drink of choice. We are constantly considering our words and actions to make sure we’re not accidentally behaving in a way that would be offensive in a foreign country, and you pretty much always have to be “on.”
I love traveling like this. I thrive in the challenge of squeezing the most out of these long days abroad, so that I can build relationships and help our businesses thrive together. I’ve learned more about other customs and societies through my co-workers than I could ever dream to learn on my own, and although it can take a toll on your body to travel around so much, I’ve never regretted a single trip.
Packing for a work trip is also wildly different from packing for a leisurely vacation. Even if you work in a casually dressed environment in your home city, traveling abroad to negotiate costs and build professional relationships is always better received in business attire. I’ve experimented with packing all sorts of different business outfits to maximize my luggage space, daily choices and “just in case” options. Believe me, getting invited last minute to a local Mexican fútbol match would not go over well in a business suit. Being prepared and having those extra garments can make or break a trip.
A few of the biggest mistakes I’ve made traveling for work are always about forgetting something crucial, and I hope that I can prevent you from making them, too, by sharing my miscalculations here:
On my very first trip for work, which was to Istanbul, I forgot my laptop charger. My boss ended up helping me get it overnighted from our US office to Turkey so that I could actually work the rest of the week. It felt like such a rookie mistake.
On my latest trip to Italy, I forgot my wallet. MY WALLET! I had my passport in a separate luggage pocket, so I was still able to fly. But my coworker had to put everything on his credit card for us and I had no way of doing any personal shopping while I was there. (It was just before Christmas-time. I was so bummed to not just do all of my family gift shopping in Italy!)
On a different trip to Italy, I forgot to bring my outlet converters, so I had no way to charge my phone, laptop or tablet. Luckily, our business meetings were held with partners who shared any spare converters with me and some of the hotels provided a loaner. But I ended up seeking out a local electronics store to find my own after a couple of days.
To this day, I have two key practices to prevent future mishaps:
First, I use a business travel checklist that a friend and I made back in 2014. It’s honestly only the trips when I forget to pull out the list that something is forgotten. And I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring my way through these mishaps, but they are certainly disruptive. On top of that, seeming forgetful or irresponsible is not the right impression you want to make on a business trip. Trust me.
Second, I have created a “travel drawer” in my closet, where I keep all of the essential items for business travel all in one place. All of my travel toiletries, packing cubes, outlet converters, wireless chargers and even decks of cards all bundled together for easy access.
I am working on putting together a free downloadable version of my “travel for business” checklist to offer to all of you on my website soon! I’ll be sure to send out an update as soon as it’s buttoned up and ready to go.
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