For those of us that have to travel for work, the weekly travel is a huge part of the week. Whether it’s a driving commute or flying, travel takes up a huge chunk of time, and wears on you mentally. Unless you handle the travel and have control over it, then it can really cause major job discontent and drain you mentally and physically.

If you are just traveling for a day or two to a meeting, then it’s mostly travel logistics that causes the headaches. In this situation you want to make sure you get some things figured out before-hand. Planning is the most crucial thing to do.

-Make sure you know your flight/rental/train info. Have it collected somewhere, either in a binder or on your PDA.
-If you’re flying to a meeting that you definitely cannot miss (should you really ever miss any meetings?), then make sure you don’t schedule a flight that is the last possible one out of the airport for the day. In case you do a fuck-up or something happens, you want to have a backup plan.
-Make backups of your meeting materials and take it with you. Maybe even make a third backup and leave it with someone at the office who can send it to you if you lose your materials and your backup.
-Pack light and smart. If it’s a day trip, don’t pack so you have to check your bags. There’s always the chance that your bag will get lost or tossed around.
-Wear the clothes you plan on wearing to the meeting. In case of delays, you want to be ready to show up on time without having to stop and change.
-Plan for usual airport shenanigans.

For longer regular travels, the day-trip advice still applies. However, you have to make it a part of your week or else it will wear on you. Come up with a system that works for you, and use it to help you prep for the travel.

Until we figure out a way to stay home and rake money, travel is one of those things we have to deal with. Hit the road.