Travel Made Easy
By Nancy Kruschke McKinney

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, the process can be stressful and sometimes even overwhelming. Before you pack your bags for the next trip, check out these ideas for making travel easier.

Checklists

1. Packing list - items you always pack in your suitcase (clothes, toiletries, etc.). Be specific - if you always take the blue suit, light blue shirt and red spotted tie, write those items on the list. This will make your packing go more quickly.
   
   
2. Travel list - include flight information, hotel information, etc. Again, be as specific and detailed as you can to eliminate any guessing games.
   
   
3. You may want or need to create checklists for each type of trip you take (day or week, business or personal, driving or flying, hotel or tent, etc.). You will most likely pack differently for each kind of trip.

Pre-packing

1. Toiletry bag - have duplicates of the items you use on a daily basis (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc.). Keep these items packed in a travel bag. This eliminates forgetting any daily necessities. Upon returning from your trip, make sure you restock any items that are low or gone. Restocking at the end of a trip keeps the packing time to a minimum.
   
   
2. Brief case - if you travel for business, keep an extra briefcase packed with such items as: pens, pencils, tape recorder, tapes, markers, sticky notes, notebook paper, business cards, etc. When you know you're going to be on the road, you don't have to take time to assemble all of the materials you may need. All you have to do is grab your extra briefcase and you're on your way. And once again, repack this brief case at the end of the trip.

Itinerary

Prepare four (4) copies of the itinerary: one for yourself, one for your assistant, one for your spouse, and one for the hotel desk where you will be staying. The itinerary should include: hotels and appointments; names, office addresses and phone numbers of those you are going to be meeting with.

Expenses

If possible have one credit card only for business expenses and put all of the receipts together in one place such as a separate compartment in your wallet or calendar. This will make it easy to complete an expense report if one is needed.

Paperwork

To avoid returning to an oversized mound of paperwork, try any one or combination of the following. Ask your assistant or a co-worker to process routine mail, logging each item and the action taken. Appoint a back- up person to whom your assistant can turn if something comes up that he or she can't handle. On a daily basis, review mail, memos, calls, etc. over the phone and dictate responses or refer them to a colleague. On your part, e-mailing, dictating or writing summaries or notes regarding the meetings you've attended will reduce or eliminate additional time spent on these files upon return to your office.

Plan for your return. Try to return either late afternoon so you can wind down like a normal day, or early morning so you can go directly to the office like any other day.

Whether you travel for pleasure or business, putting some of these steps into place can reduce the amount of time you spend packing, reduce the stress of not knowing if you have everything and increase the success of your trip. Happy Traveling!!

Nancy Kruschke, owner of Successful Organizing Solutions (S.O.S.) is an organizing coach, consultant, and speaker. Nancy can be reached at 608-441-6767 or Nancy@SOSorganize.net or visit www.SOSorganize.net.