Business Travel- Pack Like a Pro

Business Travel

Pack Like a Pro

Rich Karlgaard, 02.09.11, 06:00 PM EST http://ow.ly/45cCX
Forbes Magazine dated February 28, 2011

Business travelers have this in common with pro athletes: They must learn to play hurt.

Business travelers have this in common with pro athletes: They must learn to play hurt. Can't play hurt, you're not a pro. Here's a test: Can you deliver a keynote speech or one of those bet-your-job client presentations at 3 a.m. (on your body clock) on four hours of sleep while battling a cold, a hangover, a dislocated back, dry mouth--in a room that feels too hot, the lights too bright?

If you can't, you're strictly an amateur.

Road warriors must prepare themselves for the worst. Assume that you will catch the flu on the first day of a ten-day business trip. That you will have too little sleep. That your bad back will flare up on a crummy hotel bed. That you will have diarrhea or it's opposite. That the stage lights will give you flop sweat or a migraine. That your audience will be bored, even hostile.

How will you cope?

Accepting the inevitability of occasional disaster is half the battle. A prepared mind removes the panic. The other half is bringing the right weapons. As a 200,000-mile-a-year traveler, I never leave home without the following pills and potions. All are over the counter.

To sleep: melatonin and valerian.

To wake up: green-tea pills, five-hour energy bottle.

Hangover cure: cocktail of water, Gatorade, Red Bull and Alka-Seltzer.

Focus booster for the big speech: 12-hour Claritin-D, gingko

For everyday health: multivitamin, omega-3, lots of water.

For bad back, muscle sprains, migraine: ibuprofen, roll of KT tape.

To stop a cold or flu: immune-system booster such as Wellness from Source Naturals, bag of salt so that you can gargle with salt water.

For digestive health: colon cleanser, Pepto-Bismol tablets.

To prevent flop sweat: Mitchum cream antiperspirant. Dab some cream on your forehead and neck the night before. Wash it off during your morning shower. You won't sweat, even in a hot room.

To prevent blisters or chapped lips: tube of Carmex.

To look well dressed:Wear only dark suits made of hard worsted wool, tailored or made-to-measure. Buy four pairs of pants with the suit. For a five-day, four-city trip, it is better to take one good dark suit with four pairs of pants than two average suits that will look rumpled by week's end.

To avoid gaining weight: Eat a high-bran, high-protein, low-sugar breakfast. If the hotel has free apples, take two. Don't eat the nuts on the airplane. Never eat between meals. Never eat cocktail party snacks. If you drink, drink "white" booze like vodka and white wine. Eat two-thirds of the dinner served to you. Eat one-third of the dessert.