Life as a global road warrior is not all that glamorous. It's early Sunday and when most of my co-workers are hopefully enjoying a well deserved sleep-in I'm packing for a 2-week trip to Europe. I just moved from strategic planning and business management at Yahoo! to international marketing and one of my first tasks is to meet up with fellow marketeers across the world - starting with Europe.
Packing for 2 weeks is a challenge. There is a lot of things I need and everything needs to fit into my 22" carry-on so I can move light and quickly through airports and cities. Avoiding checking-in luggage can save up to 1-hour per flight and since I'm going to visit 6-7 countries that will save almost a whole day.
The great news is that it's summer time and travelling during this part of the year is easy. There is no need to bring any jackets, gloves or sweaters. Only shirts and jeans will work great across all European business cultures during summer time. But I'll pack a suit for more formal occassions.
It's all the gadgets that takes a lot of space and weight. I usually bring my BOSE headphones, the iPOD, the VoIP headset, the IXUSi camera, my TREO 600, the computer and all the associated cords, chargers and extra batteries. I'm looking at cutting down the cords to a bare minimum by using retractable cords from Zip-Linq.
What really helps is that I know London, Paris, Munich, Milan, Madrid and Stockholm really well and speak 4 out of the 6 languages. It feels more coming home than going away when I'm in Europe. It's everything from knowing how to get from A to B, understanding the culture, handling jetlag well, be disciplined and focused to get stuff done and enjoying what you do.
I've learned that travel comfortably and successfully is all about having a plan and a backup plan if things shouldn't work out. It might sound obsessive-compulsive but it works and keeps you focused on getting the job done.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment