Travelling with work - Tips and Tricks
I've been doing a bit of travelling outside of Ireland with my job lately and thought it might be a good idea to list a few tips for potential travellers if you find yourself suddenly sent abroad!
Firstly I got a good tip from a colleague - get signed up to whatever loyalty programmes you can, Hotel, Car Hire etc and use them when you book to get free uprades and other benefits.
There's always the timing of flights vs project attendance to work out. If you're full time on a project some customers won't mind you turning up mid morning on a Monday and leaving mid afternoon on a Friday to catch flights etc but for the first week or two you're better off travelling on the Sunday and leaving Friday night until you get the lay of the land, see how the project goes and discuss with your Project Manager and customer. See if remote working is possible so you can get home on a Thursday night perhaps and get some washing done while queueing repetitive tasks or compiling reports on Fridays in more comfortable surroundings with less distractions (at least in my case!).
Eating healthily is more of a challenge of course when you're travelling and not cooking for yourself. Picking what you eating and where you eat is often a compromise between convenience and starvation! Check tripadvisor for the top 5 restaurants in your area and get out for a walk every other day to clear the head. Sometimes the customer canteen does breakfast and dinners that are more reasonable than the Hotels and have healthier options than traditional fare elsewhere. Pub grub I found varies and inevitably the local isn't great but if you travel you can find the best places but be warned, they can change hands or have a different commi chef so if you're coming back after a couple of months beware!
Car Hire is interesting as I've gotten 4 different cars so far that my own at home feels wierd every time I drive it now! The sat nav's I've not been impressed with so I purchased a phone holder with a suction cup to attach to the windscreen (got this in the airport at Dixons) and it's been working wonderfully since. Google Maps has a nice drive mode but doesn't feature speed cameras but once you get used to it the recent history is very useful to repeat recent trips. It also shades itself in black at nighttime. Just make sure you have charged your phone, have roaming data and don't forget your phone holder when you hand the car back. One thing that's missing is an ice scraper on cold mornings. I'll have to find a small one I can bring, using the hotel card can cause it to break! The car rental companies should really include it...finally check if it's a petrol or diesel and see if filling up before you bring it back is worth it or if it's nto much differance pay the fee to teh car rental to do it for you. It can depend on milleage so find out.
I found the following one on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Swedish-Ice-Scraper-Original-Yellow/dp/B009SKM7Z4
Watch out for the heating and TV in the Hotel room. The heating is usually on full blast and at nighttime I find it hard to sleep so cooling it down as soon as I get in is important. The TV in my room a few times has a large white standby light but for some reason at 3am one morning it started blinking and woke me up - cue towel now to cover it before I go asleep or find a way to turn it off if you've access to the power socket!
My friend is sensitive to noises so the air conditioner is always a problem but I've not found that myself. I was put beside a stairs and there were 4 flags outside on a stormy night so I asked for earplugs and kindly they moved me to a different room. If you are there for the week that can ruin your stay and you've to work the next day so unless they are full keep an eye out for room numbers at the top of the corridoor which can have everyone muttering past your door and the sound of lifts all night! Once you figure out the room numbering you can catch it at checkin or if you're checking in online sometimes certain hotel chains let you choose your own room, just beware, they don't always honour this when you arrive to get your key!
I prefer to check a bag as this means I can keep a small backpack with my valuables, laptop, kindle etc with me and it's very easy to fit it under the seat in front of me. A spare pair of underwear is recommended, Toiletries you can always get from the Hotel or a local Boots if stuck and your bag goes missing. This means during boarding I'm not competing for overhead locker space to save money and can take my time, it makes for a less stressful experience with Ryanair in particular.
Keep your Passport and car hire details to hand with a written address list (customer address and hotel address) until you get familiar with the route. Also keep your security badge if given one handy because if you leave it at home you're stuck for the week with visitor passes, so when you're finished with it, keep it in the backpack or you WILL forget it one week! I've been in one situation where I forgot my passport and only discovered it after approaching security. Cue one fast taxi trip back home! Use a checklist for travelling, put things on it you may forget at the last minute and keep a bag ready packed with basics you can afford to leave it there.
I've started using Hailo for booking Taxis and it's handy as it sends reminders and tells you where the taxi driver is and when they arrive. I can also do the payment in the app so there no cash and no fuss. Working out when to leave the house can be tricky. Too early and you can end up arriving at the boarding gate two hours early. Too late and you find when you arrive there a huge tour group and a sports club with 80 kids in front of you at check-in! I've been to the airport one week and took 10 minutes to drop my bag and get all the way through security, and the next week it takes 40-50 minutes! Watch out for the 30-40 minute closure of check-in desks, even if it's no fault of your own you'll be stuck!
Bring books, bring movies and do a little study if it's not been too crazy a day. Get that fresh air and practice mindfulness. Book an excursion into the West End and see a show to break up the week if you're close to a City where that is an opportunity. Or a football match. Get active, find out if the Hotel has a Gym or access to a local one, or a swimming pool? Use the stairs instead of the lift and walk to the local restaurants if it's safe to do so! Keep in touch with loved ones, email, text often and count teh days down to returning home, there's nothing like coming in the door and putting your bags down when you're arrived!
