Everyone talks about the big things in travel, I want to bring up a few of the smaller items that people so often omit or don't even know about, the creature comforts that make travel not just easier but a pleasure. Her is my top 12 items that could change your perspective......
1) The difference between a 5* hotel and a 1* is invariably their sheets - I turn the worst bed into a luxury with a 100% Silk Travel Liner. It comes complete with a pillow pocket so that even my head is lying upon the finest silk and it all fits in a 3x2" 6oz bag.
You can buy one for $60 from REI - http://www.rei.com/product/695429
2) Never check a bag again or borrow an iron. Use Space Saver Vacuum Bags are the best way to pack for travel, they will compress your clothes to 1/4 or 1/8th the size, they will leave the clothes wrinkle free and the airport TSA staff wont open them and mess up, touch or expose your clothes/ dirty laundry in public. I always carry 3 - 1 clean, 1 dirty and a back up.
You can buy them for $20 from Bed Bath & Beyond
3) Rain X Wipes - These could and will save your life, grab one and give your windows a quick wipe before you set off and for the next 3 days, no matter how much rain or snow fall you will be able to clearly see your way - make sure you get wipes as TSA will remove the liquid.
4) Buy your own GPS - It will cost you from $150 for a basic system up to 350 if you want traffic - this will take a lot of the stress out of finding your job, your hotel and your way late at night in the dark. If you work it out renting units will be more costly within 10 days. I also program my job and hotels prior to leaving home or in the airport or even on the flight so that I dont have to deal with it when I arrive and I know what time I will arrive
5) Energizer battery charger - plug it into your phone or your computer and use normal batteries to get you by!
6) Dry Cleaner Secret - Put any suit or piece of clothing in a tumble dryer for 20 minutes on medium heat and it comes out like new
7) Yak Trax are indispensables in snow and ice if you don't want to end up on your ass or looking like one! Slip them on over and pair of shoes for perfect traction in any conditions. Visit http://yaktrax.com/productspro.aspx but shop around you can get a pro for as little as $16.95
8) The dreaded 4S's may seem like an excerpt from the 7 deadly sins to you but to the frequent air traveler 4 SSSS 's in the bottom right hand corner of your ticket means extra special attention from the TSA. Your going to get everything searched and its gonna take and extra 10-50 minutes to get through security as a result..... Avoid this like the plague, adding an airline frequent flyer program and talking to your airline can reduce how often you face this problem, especially when you have last minute, one way tickets!
9) Clinical Strength Deodorant makes sure you make it through a long harrowing and often energetic day without any telltale wet patches or odor - add anti odor, anti bacterial, cooling undershirt for the perfect finish and finish with a 50ml bottle of EDT aftershave for that fresh scent.
A little more Expensive but these items make a huge difference for me:
9) IPOD Shuffle/ Noise Canceling Headphones/ Eagle Creek Travel Pillow/ Eye Mask - primarily used as white noise to block out the crying babies, engine roar on props and insulate me from the rest of the world for a little while. The travel pillow has a great pocket it folds up into and also allows you to carry all your travel items in one place - i keep my mask and ipod etc in there all the time.
10) Tom Bihn Empire builder suitcase and Brain Cell are the perfect briefcase and laptop combination. Whilst expensive the pockets are so well thought out it makes work and travel a breeze, the padded laptop case means you can drop your bag by mistake and get away with it. It will also ride ontop of your work case effortlessly.
11) You will think i am mad but quality pays for itself - Victorinox 22" Carry on plus Suit Carrier is expensive but should it break for any reason the company will get a brand new bag to you within 24 hours for free and that is for life. Expect to go through 2 lesser cases a year, so go figure, little extra upfront saves a lot of hassle in the long term.
12) Tablet notebook computer- laugh at me all you want but 20% of my jobs are a go as soon as i pull the computer out and start writing on the screen like a notepad. It saves you carrying pads of paper and writing up your notes later - use all the free time you have for the recognition training and it will virtually never make a mistake.
I hope this helps ease the woes of Travel
Copyright Jonathan Rose 2009 - Creative Commons License
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