Travelling Abroad On Business? - Some Useful Advice

Many people have to travel as part of their job or business. This is a necessary practice, but can be a strain and can affect your health and working efficiency. There are ways to combat this and relieve some of the stress involved in the line of business travel.

Tell everyone you leave behind you won’t be bringing them back any presents, if friends expect presents to be brought back, then perhaps they don’t deserve them. It is a business trip after all, you are working it's not a holiday and you can explain that.to them. Think of yourself for a change and your leisure time should be spent relaxing not shopping for presents to bring back all the time. If you do shop, just shopping for your most loved ones.

The last thing you want is to look tired after arriving at your destination and meeting potential business clients. If you take with you eye masks and earplugs you will get that much needed sleep en route without being disturbed or distracted. I find that wax earplugs are the best, you can find these in sports shops in the swimming section. These are really worth the little money they cost for the peace and quiet to sleep through. A blow-up pillow is also a very useful item to take with you and takes up very little space in your hand luggage, or even in your jacket pocket.

There are many reasons for a flight being delayed. This means that you will be waiting hour upon hour in the plane for whatever reason. Your body needs a regular source of food to keep you at your peak and most airlines food is basically no more than a chemical based snack. If you have a supply of good healthy food as a backup this will see you through well. A healthy cereal bar and a couple of pieces of fruit will make the different between you feeling good or feeling drained at the end of the day.

When you are staying in a hotel the alarms and wake-up calls just can't be relied upon. Before you set off have your own alarm system with you. It can be a small travel clock, a cheap digital watch with an alarm setting or even a stopwatch. If you have a pager check out the alarm system on that and get familiar with it. The last thing you want is to rush and forget things because third party alarm system fails you.

Carrying too much luggage is a burden and not always necessary on business trips. A good tip is to dress up in you business outfit if you have a meeting straight after arriving. Amongf other things it acts an insurance in case you luggage is lost - this has happened thousands of times, to thousands of people don't think you are excluded; just don't take the risk. Pack the least amount of clothes and shoes you think you can survive on. This way you will also save on tips having to be giving with help with you luggage from porters.

A very simple bit of advice is to take mainly dark clothing for the simple reason that unlike light coloured clothes they don't show up stains, wrinkles are disguised and drak clothing is always fashionable both in leisure and business.

Clothing includes footwear. The question is how many shoes do you need to take? The answer, two pairs, one for business one for casual. You will always be wearing one pair, so you only need pack one set. Don’t bother with slippers; just take a thick pair of socks to wear in hotels instead.

Communication is important and a good tip is to send faxes back home to communicate if you are in a different time zone. Not only that a fax is cheaper than you think it is definitely cheaper and more practical than calling by telephone at an unearthly time. It also adds a personal touch if you send it handwritten. In fact, this is quite romantic nowadays to send handwritten messages through the fax medium. If you leave the hotel fax number with friends and family they can contact you. Email is the other unromantic option you can normally set up an email account for nothing for your children and send them lots of massages and attachments. Pack a digital camera, and send digital photographs of you destination – it’s free don’t forget.

I hope these tips give your trip a much easier time and will improve your overall experience.