Pack for a Business Trip

Packing for a business trip requires forethought and planning. Know where you are going and what you will be doing. Take only those items that you need, less is more. All clothing should be interchangeable and appropriate for business settings.

Steps

  1. Plan itinerary. Plan your itinerary, where are you going and what are you doing. Organize the itinerary in order of the travel in a folder with all reservations, tickets, and documents.
    • Know flight times, hotel addresses and phone numbers, and car rental reservation numbers in addition to the names and places of the business meetings.
    • Plan any non-business activities (site-seeing, visiting).
  2. Prepare.
    • Research local customs that need to be observed.
    • Obtain passport and travel documents, if necessary.
    • Obtain an amount of travel cash, less than $100.00 USD. Airports are horrible to exchange monies.
    • Purchase travel-size toiletries.
    • Check the standard power outlet configuration. Purchase outlet power adapters, if necessary.
    • Check the local public and religious holiday schedule for the location and time of year.
    • Check the weather for the location and time of year.
  3. Pack luggage. Choose luggage that is one size smaller than believed you need, for clothes.
    • Pack one pair of underwear and socks for each travel day.
    • Pack an extra pair of shoes for non-business activities.
    • Pack coordinated shirts and trousers. Take one less pair of trousers and one less shirt than believed to be needed. All clothes should be neutral in color to maximize matching. Every item should match every other item (including ties). T-shirts should be nice enough to be worn with sport coats.
    • Pack travel size toiletries. Skip the fancy toiletry bag and use a zip-lock plastic bag.
    • Pack a winter coat in luggage, if needed. The coat can be retrieved from the luggage at the end of flight.
    • Pack a water-tight plastic bag. These are useful for wet clothes or storing messy items in your luggage.
    • Evaluate if a smaller luggage piece can be used.
  4. Pack a briefcase or travel bag. Choose a briefcase or travel bag to carry work material and itinerary. This bag should remain with you at all times. Never check it at the airplane.
    • Take all work material in the briefcase.
    • Pack a digital camera in briefcase.
    • Pack any medications in briefcase.
    • Pack a book or other reading material in briefcase.
  5. Dress.
    • Wear a comfortable business outfit for travel to reduce the number of packed items.
    • Wear a sport coat. The sport coat serves multiple purposes. It has multiple pockets to store documents. The sport coat is excellent for different temperature variations during travel. The sport coat is acceptable in a wide range of business situations. The sport coat signals to airport authorities that you are traveling on business and can assist in passing through authorities.
    • Wear a pair of business trousers that are wrinkle resistant.
    • Wear appropriate comfortable business shoes. Try to wear shoes that slip on. This will speed time at the airport security check.
  6. Leave unnecessary personal belongings, such as keys or library cards that could be lost.
  7. Wear a comfortable business suit for travel and carry travel size toiletries to save space.



Tips

  • Soft style luggage and briefcases are more adaptable to carrying more items and fitting into tight places.
  • Most hotels offer hair blowers, contact the hotel to see if a hair blower is available.
  • Ideally, luggage should fit in an airplane’s overhead bin. The airlines are cracking down on this, but it is still appropriate for buses and trains.
  • Luggage and briefcases are available with extendable handles and wheels. However, keep both bags light enough to be carried.
  • Plan to carry both briefcase and luggage for long distances.
  • Plan to use the hotel’s dry cleaning services. These are usually completed in a day and allow clothes to stay fresh looking.
  • Do not take more than one piece of luggage, no matter the length of stay.
  • Ship heavy, bulky, or unneeded items back to your house or business.
  • Accommodate all your belongings in one luggage that can fit in an airplane’s overhead bin.

Warnings

  • Be aware of the customs of different cultures.
  • Check official government web sites for political warnings.
  • Be aware of the airline travel restrictions on such things as pocket knives and bottles of fluid.
  • Watch the itinerary for tight plane change-overs, especially when clearing customs.
  • Be aware of the airline travel restrictions and customs of different cultures.

Things You'll Need

  • Cash.
  • Outlet adapters.
  • Multifunction power charging devices for cell phones, PDA's etc (USB/AC/cigarette lighter style)
  • Brief case.
  • Luggage.
  • Travel size toiletries.
  • Zip-lock plastic bags.

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