Packing for business travel

[Bradford]

Just found out my next job assignment and it seems I will be travelling to San Diego for several months and only flying home on the weekends. It's suit and tie every day on the job, but I'd like thoughts on the appropriate amount of clothing to pack from those who have experience with business travel.

FYI - we'll likely fly in Monday mornings and fly out Friday evenings.

My initial thought is:

3 suits (wear 1, pack 2)
5 dress shirts
5 ties
1 pair of jeans
2 pair dress shoes (brown, black)
1 pair casual shoes
Socks, underwear, etc.

In thinking about it though, I wonder if it would be more versatile to replace one of the suits with a sportcoat or blazer and a pair of slacks that might do double duty for casual/evening attire.

I've never really travelled extensively or regularly before, just 2-3 day trips now and again, so I appreciate any advice you might have.

In addition to my own suitcase (garment bag), I'll also have a wheeled attache for my business laptop and papers and I'll likely use my own messenger bag to take my personal laptop so I can Skype my kids and family.

 

[furo]

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was: "Better to have and not need rather than need and not have"

 

[Scrumhalf]

You don't need 5 shirts. Take 3 and wash/dry your shirts every night in your hotel room. They will dry overnight and should be ready for use again for day 3. Also get quick drying underwear from a site like exofficio.com - they dry in 4-5 hours. Again, 3 sets should be more than adequate for pretty much indefinite travel durations as long as you are willing to wash every night.

Washing your clothes is really easy. I got a flexoline (flexible clothesline), woolite liquid detergent multi-packs and a universal sink stopper from magellan.com. You can wash all your clothes in your sink and hang them up for drying. I did a 2 week Europe trip recently with pretty much 3 shirts and 3 sets of underwear and didn't have any issues.

BTW, you can do a 5 day trip EASILY without checking in luggage. Read the articles on onebag.com for ideas on luggage and packing. I have a RedOxx Air Boss - it is a bit spendy (about $200) but it was the best investment I made. I did the 2 week Europe trip without checking in luggage.

 

[Bhowie]

Shame you can't rent a furnished apartment or get monthly rate for a hotel room. Would make it easier to just leave your stuff there.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Here's a list of items that will enable you to travel light: 1. Get good luggage. Read onebag.com for ideas. 2. Get quick drying underwear. I got the following from ex-officio: Briefs: http://www.exofficio.com/product_det...7-e3fbae5d940f V-neck Undershirt: http://www.exofficio.com/product_det...7-e3fbae5d940f 3. Get stuff to clean your clothes in your hotel bathroom: Clothesline: http://www.magellans.com/store/Cloth...reTL461R?Args= Sink Stopper: http://www.magellans.com/store/Clothing_CareTL469?Args= Woolite Soap 10-pack: http://www.magellans.com/store/Clothing_CareTL484?Args= I carry an old toothbrush to help clean collars, etc.

 

[furo]

In my opinion, trying to pack extra light to be able to fly without checking a bag is silly, especially considering these are week-long business excursions, not overnighters for a conference.

If you are in the business workplace, you should be wearing a different shirt every day of the week; taking shortcuts to save a few minutes at the airport is an unnecessary trade off in this situation.

 

[gdl203]

Originally Posted by Bhowie

Shame you can't rent a furnished apartment or get monthly rate for a hotel room. Would make it easier to just leave your stuff there.

If he'll be staying at the same hotel every week, chances are that he can still do that - better hotels will also take care of the shirts cleaning and have them fresh and ready when he's back on Monday.

 

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by furo

In my opinion, trying to pack extra light to be able to fly without checking a bag is silly, especially considering these are week-long business excursions, not overnighters for a conference.

If you are in the business workplace, you should be wearing a different shirt every day of the week; taking shortcuts to save a few minutes at the airport is an unnecessary trade off in this situation.

LOL.. what is silly is waiting for your bags with the rest of the fools at the checkout carousel...

Did you even read what I wrote? Nobody is advocating re-using smelly clothes for multiple days. I am suggesting that spending 15 minutes to wash your shirt and and your underwear in your hotel room is a way to travel light and with less hassle. It can easily done with NO compromise to your personal hygiene.

 

[Big Bird]

Originally Posted by gdl203

If he'll be staying at the same hotel every week, chances are that he can still do that - better hotels will also take care of the shirts cleaning and have them fresh and ready when he's back on Monday.

+1

If you are staying at the same place for four nights a week for several months I am sure the hotel will do their best to help you. I travel two or three days every week and I stay in the same hotels. They know which paper I want in the morning etc and I always get the same room.

/BB

 

[lawyerdad]

I think that bypassing one suit for the blazer/trouser combo, if that's acceptable to wear during the work day, is a good idea. To each his own, but my preference would be to pack five pair of my regular, comfortable underwear rather than three pair of "quick-dry" underwear in the hopes of saving the negligible amout of space that would be taken up by two pairs of undies. In fact, I usually throw a couple of extra pairs of underwear and socks in, because they take up virtually no room and I'd rather have one more than I need than one less than I need.

I don't know your exercise regimen, if any, but you might want to take that into consideration -- even if it's just a single bathing suit for swimming laps in the hotel pool.

 

[globetrotter]

Brad, the way I see it, that is less "travel" than commuting" - like people said, you can leave stuff in San Diego. when I worked in India that's what I did, I left my clothes and my toiletreis in hotels that I stayed at alot. if you are staying at the same hotel, leave your clothes there. or, drop your shirts off on your way to the airport at a laundry, and leave your suits to be pressed. pick them up on your way back.

I try really, really hard not to check a bag. I can do a 3 week trip without checking a bag. but, honestly, if you are going to one destination for 5 days, checking a bag isn't that bad - airlines usually lose your bag for 24 hours or less, so your stuff will (99%) find you.

good luck

 

[furo]

Originally Posted by Scrumhalf

LOL.. what is silly is waiting for your bags with the rest of the fools at the checkout carousel...

No. What is silly is having to wear the same shirt to work twice in the same week, especially when it's the same people you see in the office.

Did you even read what I wrote? Nobody is advocating re-using smelly clothes for multiple days. I am suggesting that spending 15 minutes to wash your shirt and and your underwear in your hotel room is a way to travel light and with less hassle. It can easily done with NO compromise to your personal hygiene.

And I'm suggesting it's better to have and not need, i.e. check the bag and have plenty of clothes to make it through the week without having to recycle a uniform. If this was a traveling salesman, it wouldn't matter, but since he's in the same workplace each day, wearing the same thing twice in a week is unsat.

 

[gbrown_nyc]

I don't understand the fascination with not checking bags. I travel beaucoup and most of the time I check my bag unless I'm doing an overnighter. It's just not worth the hassle of schlepping the thing on the plane and then trying to cram it in some overhead. Yes, I stand and wait at the luggage carousel but given the entire travel process is one giant time sink 15 extra minutes is no big deal.

And yes I understand airlines lose bags. I spent 6 years flying across the Atlantic every second week with BA and they lost my bags with alarming regularity. I didn't mind that much, they would deliver the bag the next day and apologize profusely. I'd send them receipts for whatever I had bought (once it was for a fairly decent suit) and they'd pay up.

To the OP another strategy, if the hotel won't let you stash clothes, is to locate the drycleaners closest to your regular place of residence and drop your stuff off there on a Friday and get them to deliver it for the night you check in. Works a charm and I've found that they are willing to store, but not clean, suits for a modest fee. Furo has it right bring lots, build up a base of stuff you keep in the work location, and rotate in stuff from home. Not only will your colleagues appreciate it, you'll also feel more at home if you've got some variety in what you've got to wear. Given the length of your assignment I'd stress comfort over efficiency.

Just as an aside I once did a 5 day, 5 city run with my boss. He travelled more than anybody I've ever met. He showed up in our first city with his briefcase, I asked where the luggage was and he said that he had some spare underwear and socks in his briefcase and he'd get his shirts done on the road. Unfortunately for him we were doing a run through America, not Asia/Middle East where he was used to travelling and thus it was impossible to get shirts turned around when we were checking in at 21:00 and out by 07:00. So he wore the same stuff for 5 days in a row. He was the kind of guy that could carry it off. He was also the kind of guy that got sh*tfaced at 09:00 at a Chilli's in St. Louis airport. He told the waitress to bring two glasses of Chardonay as she wouldn't be able to refill his glass fast enough. As you can tell I remember my travelling days with him fondly.

 

[AThingForCashmere]

Originally Posted by Bradford

Just found out my next job assignment and it seems I will be travelling to San Diego for several months and only flying home on the weekends. It's suit and tie every day on the job, but I'd like thoughts on the appropriate amount of clothing to pack from those who have experience with business travel.

FYI - we'll likely fly in Monday mornings and fly out Friday evenings.

My initial thought is:

3 suits (wear 1, pack 2)
5 dress shirts
5 ties
1 pair of jeans
2 pair dress shoes (brown, black)
1 pair casual shoes
Socks, underwear, etc.

In thinking about it though, I wonder if it would be more versatile to replace one of the suits with a sportcoat or blazer and a pair of slacks that might do double duty for casual/evening attire.

I've never really travelled extensively or regularly before, just 2-3 day trips now and again, so I appreciate any advice you might have.

In addition to my own suitcase (garment bag), I'll also have a wheeled attache for my business laptop and papers and I'll likely use my own messenger bag to take my personal laptop so I can Skype my kids and family.

For a job stint that entails long distance travel twice a week, especially if you have to travel in a suit, I'd pack 3 other suits instead of 2, and have a total of 4 available. This way, if one gets knocked out of commission (which it inevitably will), you'll still have 3 suits to rotate during the week.

I'd also try and pack at least two pair of whichever color dress shoes I mainly wear, whether brown/cordovan or black, for a total of 3 pairs instead of 2. This would be for my own benefit, not because it's necessary.

Also pack a few pairs of Dockers/khaki-type pants. You'll probably need something dressier than jeans but not suit pants for various activities. Consider packing at least one or two pullover sweaters, for the same reason.

 

[bowtielover]

For one month perhaps, you may haev enough choices there to keep it fresh but if your going there for a few mothns you may want to add a suit and a couple more shirts and ties if you have them.