I love going to industry conferences – meeting up with old friends in a fun city, getting re-energized from inspiring keynotes speeches, and endless learning opportunities.
But the early mornings, late nights, action-packed days, and travel time can take a toll!
So, if you’re like me and want to feel energized throughout your conference and to be ready to get back to work afterwards, here are three travel tips I’ve come to learn, often the hard way…
1. Choose an aisle seat so you can stay hydrated on your flight
The air on flights has significantly less humidity than what you’re used to, causing you to become dehydrated. Dehydration saps your energy, puffs you up (do your shoes feel tight?), and even increases your risk of a respiratory virus, which this is the last thing you need before a high energy conference!
Before getting on my last flight, I pretty much dehydrated myself to avoid having to get up during the flight. Wrong move on my part – I felt awful! To avoid this, drink a healthy amount of water before you board your flight to ensure your body is already well hydrated. In his article 5 changes I made to improve productivity while traveling, Jason W. Womack also suggests drinking eight ounces of water for every hour of your flight and booking an aisle seat, so you’re able to get up as often as you need to. (He also notes you’ll get off your flight quicker with an aisle seat. Bonus!)
2. Just pack a carry-on!
When you’re heading to a conference, sometimes you’re only away for a few days. If this is the case, and you can manage it. Paul and Danny (Method CEO and COO) recommend traveling light with carry-on luggage. I know this because they challenged me to do so when we last traveled together! The verdict? I loved it! We could get off the airplane and be on our merry way without impatiently waiting at the luggage carousel. This made such a difference to our schedule and significantly cut out the irritation I often experience at an airport. Less stress = more energy!
3. Write down your hotel room number
When I was with the Method CRM team at QuickBooks Connect, I was running back to people’s hotel rooms to grab Method swag, advil and candy for the Hackathon team, or party favors for our social event. There were several times I found myself running between different hotel floors, with several different hotel room key, but couldn’t remember the room number I was meant to go to. In fact, one day I was trying to get my own key card to work, and was using quite animated language when it didn’t, only to realize I was at the wrong room!
So, as Dorie Clark recommends in her Entrepreneur article on business travel, record your room numbers in your phone or in your notebook – the last thing you want is to blank on your room number (or try and get into someone else’s, in my case) after a long day of sessions and maybe a few cocktails. Conferences are a blast, so I hope these tips will help you enjoy your next one energized and healthy. If you’re looking for even more tips on business travel, I’ve provided a few more great articles to check out below. Otherwise, happy travels!
[Feature image by FreePik.com]
