Battery empty and suitcase dented, orientation lost and in addition this terrible jetlag: Who is on the road for business, can not use breakdowns. “Travel Hacks” make travelling easier. Pack wisely, scan documents, bring along a hotspot – a few simple tricks will help.
“Life Hacks” are what bloggers call clever little solutions to problems that can be used to crack everyday problems. For example, a shirt collar can be ironed with a hair straightener at lightning speed, toothpaste can be used to clean car headlights or cream cakes can be cut with dental floss.
In the meantime, there are also collections of “travel hacks” to help travellers – many of which are aimed more at backpackers or people on a tight budget. But what are the best travel hacks for business travellers?
An hour-long train ride is imminent, the battery from the mobile phone has just run out… If train drivers want to work with a laptop on the train or recharge their mobile phones, they should make sure when making reservations that they get a place with a socket. Where and whether there is electricity in the wagon varies depending on the type of vehicle, year of construction and route.
Backup on the move: Mail yourself your travel documents
Before departure you should scan all your travel documents once: Passport, booking confirmations, travel and location plans. Save the documents on your smartphone and send an email with attachments to yourself to make it easier if you really lose something or get it stolen.
Roll instead of fold: The most effective way to pack
Rolling instead of folding, tissue paper for your jacket and the heavy stuff downwards – on YouTube there is a wealth of sometimes very amusing instructional videos on the subject of packing suitcases. Here are the best:
Jacket without creases: BreuningerFashionTV explains how to get shirts and jackets safely to their destination on business trips. There are minus points for the fact that the shoes go empty into the suitcase – if you stuff the socks into it, you have more space in the suitcase and save the shoe trees.
Tips from the flight professionals: One of the best suitcase packing videos comes from Heathrow Airport – a well explained animation.
A backpack and a room full of clothes: The “Master-packer” shows how to get the latter in the former. Worth seeing. (This is the video you see at the top of the page.)
If you have arrived at your destination and your suit wrinkles despite careful packing, hang it up in the shower at the hotel and turn on the hot water for a while. The steam smoothes the wrinkles.
Electronic helpers: packing lists on the smartphone
Get used to keeping your packing lists electronically – for example with apps like “My Travel Planner” for the iPhone or “Pack the Bag”, for Android there are for example the recommended “Suitcase Packing” and “PackingPro”. Create lists for your various destinations and travel durations (“One week Munich”, “Overnight in Paris”). Very important: If you miss something locally – enter it in the relevant list before you get it. Then you won’t have to be angry next time.
Leave your travel bag always packed in its suitcase. Toothpaste, aftershave and nail scissors shouldn’t be packed and unpacked over and over again, this costs unnecessarily precious life time. If you get these things twice, then you don’t have to search for them every time you leave.
Security checks at the airport: Checking fellow passengers
At the security check, don’t pay attention to the length of the queue in front of you, but to who is standing there: “Avoid anyone who looks like a deer in the spotlight,” writes US travel author Damon Lavrinc.
Because newcomers to the world of travel, who have a hard time picking their coins out of their trouser pockets or discussing pocket knives and drinks bottles forgotten in their hand luggage, hold up the shop for a long time – just like people with children.
For orientation: view airports and train stations online
Especially if you have to change trains quickly or have to meet deadlines, it can be worthwhile to take a virtual tour of the airport or train station before you arrive.
Google Street View has recently been launched to give you a glimpse of the terminals at numerous airports – a total of 16 in Europe, Asia and America. Examples include Mexico City, Eindhoven, Alicante and Tenerife. There is no German airport yet.
