On your cell phone, rename your significant other’s contact listing to read – Firstname, Lastname-CallForEmergency (so that they know who to call if someone finds you injured). Take 10 or so feet of duct tape with you in your travel kit, wrapped upon itself in a nice, compact fold that looks like a wallet. Use it for lots of things (closing pesky hotel curtains, lint brush, cup holders for airplane seatbacks). While on longer flights, draft emails you’ve meant to write offline, either in Outlook, or in a text editor for web-mail users. Watch internet TV without wifi by using a browser that downloads the content, like FireAnt. Free entertainment on long flights. Always weigh time vs. money vs. ease of use- It might take longer to get a bus, but a taxi might cost more, but in the end, the taxi’s probably faster to the mark. Make good early first impressions with tipping (valet, room service, etc), and you can ride that good will for the duration of your trip, even if you tip a little less the rest of the stay. Spend the extra few bucks on your cell phone for the GPS service. It makes travel in all those other cities so much easier, and you fret less. Use a service like Twitter to keep in contact with folks while traveling, sending updates and whereabouts via SMS. It lets family feel connected, and it helps colleagues figure out where you are. Take along healthy energy bars for the plane and for emergency situations. That way, you’re never in that “I’m starving” or nauseous state. Recharge often. You never know when you’ll go a long time without “juice.”
What are some other travel tips, the tiny kind, that you’d share with me. I am, after all, traveling. –Chris Brogan is community developer for Network2. He tries to write often here at Lifehack.org, and keeps a blog at [chrisbrogan.com]
