“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.” Diane Von Furstenberg
When I was headed to the airport after one of my many tech related committee meetings recently, a young committee member who was with me asked me how I maximized my travel points what travel hints I had. I gave several off the top of my head and they started writing furiously. This got me to thinking.
Most of my career I traveled. My work took me all over the country and back again. I still travel most of the time covering legal tech and just plain tech for this blog and more recently for Above the Law.
As a result, I learned, often the hard way, about reducing hassles and maximizing the travel experience. But most importantly I have learned how to reduce the hassles and enjoy the experience of travel, an experience I still love. Even in the face of changing schedules, delays and cancellations that happen from time to time.
So, I decided, as an old fart (I mean experienced business/legal traveler) to share some of what I learned over the years. Once I started, I realized that had enough for two top ten lists. One was composed of several well-known and perhaps obvious suggestions. The second one which I did after the first one I realized contained less obvious ones many of which I learned myself.
Most aren’t tech related although some are. But hey the whole purpose of tech is to make what we do easier. So maybe these tips will help you enjoy your travels and come to love it, even if it’s work related. Quick disclosure, these are my tips as a male; I think most will work for women as well.
Many of these have appeared elsewhere and I hope those who initially thought of them don’t mind me circulating them to my legal tech audience. Here’s my first ten tips for traveling. A second of ten will follow.
My Basic Top Ten
1. Don’t check your bag if you can possibly help it. Its axiomatic. When you check your bag three things can happen and two of them are bad. There’s something delightful about walking off the plane and heading directly to your destination. No fuss, no muss.
2. Pack light (enables number 1). Take less things and more money as someone once said. And use either packing cubes or compression bags. I have come to like the cubes better: they are less trouble and last a lot longer. Also, if you forget an article or two of clothing, you can always pick something up at a second clothing store and then donate back when you leave.
3. Wear your heaviest stuff on the plane like jackets, jeans and shoes. Again, this takes up less space. Wearing a jacket on the plane will save space in your roller bag and if the plane is chilly as it sometimes is it’s nice to have.
4. Keep a bag packed and ready to go. Yes, you have to buy extra stuff. But if your bag is packed and ready to go, you’ll save time and make it a little less likely you will forget something. Plus, your outfits will be pre coordinated (see number 5).
5. Have shirts and pants that can be interchangeable with one another. Use merino wool shirts and light weight pants that can be rolled up. I usually keep four shirts in my bag along with workout clothes and toiletries. I also have pre packed merino underwear and no-show socks. (I use the no show socks except in the dead of winter mainly because they too take up less space.) Use one of the merino shirts for your workout. All these things can be washed in the sink; keep a small bottle of Dr. Bonner’s Castille soap in your pre-pack. It works well. The key is space and flexibility: if your plans change you have the clothes and soap you need to keep going.
6. A savy good friend recently clued me in on this one. If you travel a lot, don’t waste money on refundable tickets. Most airlines will let you cancel or change and then use the value of the ticket for future flights. This also lets you book early, and you can even have multiple flight plans with different times and locations for maximum flexibility. Just don’t double book on the same airline.
Most of the premium cards let you board with an earlier group so there’s a better chance there will be overhead space.
7. Get an airline credit card or cards that gives you club access. I have several: they aren’t cheap, but I value my time so if there is a delay or I arrive too early, I can get a comfortable seat, have some food and drink and get some work done. Look at the airline(s) you most use to decide which ones to get. Most of the premium cards let you board with an earlier group so there’s a better chance there will be overhead space. See number one.
8, Get TSA pre check and Clear. (TSA Pre-Check allow you to keep your laptop in the bag and has a special line. Clear allows you to move through even faster and often you don’t need to even show your ID). Clear has gotten some bad press recently for having longer lines that the TSA pre-check one although they seem to be getting better. The cost is not that much and many cards will reimburse you. It takes some of the stress particularly out of early morning flights.
9. Download the right apps. Here are some that can make the difference between order and chaos:
- The most important one is Flighty. It gives you information about flights and delays often before the airline does. And it tells where your plane is coming from and the time if its departure and arrival for the day of your flight. It will tell you the kind of plane you will be flying on You can then look it up on ChatGPT to see the size, seating arrangement and whether you have to gate check roller bags (no use scurrying to board sooner only to find there isn’t space for anyone’s bag.
- TripIt is another app that does some of the same things but not quite as well. It also keeps track of your accumulated points although I haven’t found that feature to work well either.
- Another great app is CardPointers. It helps you select what credit cards to use to maximize point accumulation and insures you take maximum advantage of the many offers the credit card companies provide like signing bonuses and the like.
- If you have Clear, get the app. It’s got all kinds of useful features not the least of which it will tell you when to leave to safely catch your flight.
- If you’re concerned about turbulence, there’s an app for that or at least to let you know what may be in store for you. It’s called Turbulence.
- Another good app is SeatGeek. It helps you select the best seat.
- While not an app, there are three blogs and newsletters I read all the time: One Mile at a Time, The Points Guy and Johnny Jet. Both are full of information about airline and credit card offers, cancellations and random news.
10. Let’s talk about technology. (Disclaimer: I’m an Apple guy). I recently bought a 13 inch MacBook Air with an M4 chip. It’s small and light weight and does just about everything I need. I used to take an iPad but honestly right now the laptop is just as convenient and does more. I also carry the new light weight and new small Kindle for reading. I have Airtags for my roller bag and backpack. ( I know, I don’t need them quite as much since I’m not checking a bag, but you never know). I carry an Anker portable battery, so my iPhone doesn’t die at an inconvenient time. Finally and maybe most importantly, AirPods Pro. They are small, lightweight and sound reasonably well. And they have a decent noise cancelation feature for when a) the baby behind you wails incessantly or b) the person next to talks non-stop. I used to use over the ears earphones but any way you shake it, they take up too much space that could be used for other things
So that’s the first ten that covers the basics that hopefully will ease the stress and help enjoy life on the road. I’ll be back with my second ten that will help you enjoy your travel even more in a few days. I hope these are helpful🙂.