There is a line from a Willie Nelson song: “On the road again…”
I just can’t wait to get on the road again
The life I love is makin’ music with my friends
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
The song seems relevant to my current voyage to Long Island New York, except I don’t produce music 🎼 and don’t really want to be on the road again.
After a two year hiatus of being on the road for business travel, I have two weeks of back to back trips for a brand-new client; a global manufacturer of digital imaging equipment.
Any business traveller knows he/she should be prepared for socialising with the novice civilian travellers like the Disney and the beach 🏖 vacation types while on a trip. The following are my tips for newbie travellers:
- Skirt the airport security lines. If you can afford it, invest in TSA Pre-Check or CLEAR access pass. It’s worth it. Shorter lines and you don’t have to take off your 👠 👟 or get your 💻 out of your 💼 to pass through security. On Oct. 4, 2011, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) launched an expedited screening pilot program called TSA Pre-Check. Customs and Border Patrol has partnered with TSA on this Department of Homeland Security initiative, which is designed to help TSA focus resources on higher-risk and unknown passengers while expediting the process for lower-risk and known passengers whenever possible. The Known Traveler Number is a unique number assigned to “known travelers” from whom the Federal Government has already conducted a threat assessment and has determined do not pose a security threat. If you have to get in the “regular” security check line, I always avoid the line with families travelling with kids or the elderly.
- Sign up for a 🏨 rewards program to get loyalty points for your stays. The larger hotel chains such as Marriott and Hilton have excellent loyalty plans and multiple locations to choose from. These hotel points add up, and you can use them for future personal travel or vacations, and their accommodations tend to be well kept and updated.
- For ground transportation, I typically use Uber if the client is in a city and rent a 🚙 if the client is in the suburbs. Taxi cabs I try to avoid because they are seldom well kept and some drivers give you a hard time if you are using a 💳.
- Where to eat 🥘 is one of the choices one has to make when on the road. Back in the day relying on the hotel concierges was a must. But now with Yelp, it’s easy to find quality places that fit into the expense budget.
Travelling doesn’t have to be a burden if you plan ahead. Share your pre and post travel tips in the comments section below.
Featured Image by Kelvin Zyteng on Unsplash