15 Tips to Help You Travel Smarter, Not Harder on Your Next Work Trip  

Air travel these days can be a stressful affair. Fitting a week’s worth of outfits (and shoes) into a carry-on, fighting traffic, getting to the airport on time, and surviving security without an issue can all be stressful. Below are a few tips to help ease the pain and make your next trip smoother and more successful.

• Plan Ahead: Before leaving for your trip, make a list of the days you’ll be traveling and the activities for each day, and then select appropriate outfits for each day. Remember to pack proper shoes! (Nothing is worse than showing up in a pair of heels when the plan calls for trekking around a theme park.)
• Mix and Match: This tip is key! Pack in one color family (i.e., all black). Choose bright-colored accessories or accents to change the look (i.e., jewelry, shoes, scarves, bags, etc.). This will allow you to mix and match your clothing, and no one will be the wiser!
• Pack in Order: Pack shoes at the bottom of the suitcase (they weigh more), and stuff socks and underwear inside shoes to save space. Also, rolling clothes takes up less space, but you may want to look into Packing Cubes as they work great as well. (It’s so nice to have everything wrinkle-free and organized upon arrival.) Pack dry cleaning on top (folded in half) in the clear bag it comes in from the dry cleaner since the clothes won’t wrinkle that way.
• Double Duty: Choose clothes that can be both worn at a daytime meeting and, with a quick lipstick change and some additional jewelry, can be happy-hour-with-colleagues ready. (Example: Wear a black dress with a blazer and heels for a daytime meeting; then switch out your work tote for a clutch, add heels and fancy jewelry, and you’re ready for happy hour!)
• Ditch the Extras: Save space for extra clothes or shoes (or even a cute purchase while on the trip) by ditching toiletries. Borrow what your friends have, use what the hotel offers, or buy it when you get there.  If you’re traveling in the United States, remember that these items must fit in a gallon-sized clear plastic bag unless the luggage is checked.
• Minimize Makeup: Pare down makeup to just the essentials. Take only what you absolutely need. To minimize the space that a makeup bag takes, look into getting travel sizes of makeup and be really thoughtful when packing (i.e., small quad of nude eyeshadows that will go with everything, trial-sized mascara or blush, etc.).
• Sign Up for Pre-Check: Frequent flyers can sign up for the TSA pre-check, which allows passengers to move through security without removing shoes or juggling laptops or toiletries. Both domestic and international options are available.
• Always Pack a Pair of Flats: They’ll be worth it. Talaria has some great options!
• Don’t Forget Your Personal Item: Pack a carry-on personal item with water (air on a plane is very dry), healthy snacks, and a scarf (in case the plane is chilly).
• Ditch the Books: Load up a Kindle with multiple reads to avoid lugging around books on the trip.
• Upgrade Your Apps: Be sure you’ve got enough Podcasts to keep busy, as well as apps like Travelocity’s offline maps app (which can download city maps to the device in case reception is lost or data gets shut down).
• Travel Binder: Having a printout of hotel confirmation, flight info, and addresses and directions plus restaurants and/or attractions is helpful. Also, adding a page-protecting sleeve for things like international driver’s licenses and photocopies of passports is helpful, too.
• Special Tips for International Trips: Make sure everyone in the group has a copy of each other’s passports and knows where the consulate for your country is.
• Battery Pack: It’s worthwhile to invest in a Mophie or other battery pack since charging docks at the airport may or may not be available. A pack also allows charging on the run while sightseeing or traveling.
• Travel Credit Cards: Depending on how much you travel, you may want to look into signing up for a travel credit card to receive rewards or cash back. Some even cover rental car insurance or ticket insurance. Some airline-affiliated cards even offer a free checked bag for travelers ticketed together.

Whether traveling on business or taking that much-needed vacation, follow these tips to make the travel experience less stressful.