Any Road Warriors? Your best kit?

[neversay]

My next few weeks/months are exceptionally busy with business trips (UK/International). I'm wondering what special kit other Road Warriors use to ways to stay productive and sane?

On the usual list are smartphone (and apps like audible), ultraportable, tablet, kindle, kit bag (rucksack), carry-on, phone/usb/battery chargers, washbag, etc. What other indispensable gear makes your life easier on the road?

[pochisoldi]

I spent the last 12 years or so working away from home, mostly abroad

Given that most home comforts are electronic, and if you are travelling on business power for a laptop is essential...

1) A single trailing 13A socket with 3 inches of 10A flex connected to an IEC/kettle plug.
Take this with you and as long as you can get hold of a local "kettle lead" you'll never want for mains power.
Example (with poor quality cable):
This is also your "get out of jail" card when you land in places with strange sockets, or where your normal UK to wherever adaptor doesn't provide an earth.
Also useful if your working in a data centre in the UK where the rack only has IEC C13 "kettle lead" outlets...

2) An old school 3 outlet "block" adaptor. (the ones made obsolete by socket strips).
Example:

3) If your laptop uses a two pin or "clover leaf" mains lead, an adaptor to convert it to kettle lead (see item 1)
Search for "C7-C14 adaptor" or "C5-C14 adaptor", and don't pay more than £1.
Example:



4) At least two USB chargers, which can run on 100-240v. Ones with retractable pins take up less space.
Choose at least one charger which can be plugged into your "block adaptor" without obstructing another outlet

5) Replace any proprietary mains charger with a lead or charger with a USB connector. (e.g. Nintendo DS - replace the 240v only charger with a nintendo USB charger lead)

6) When travelling to the US don't use crappy multicountry adaptors - the type with thin stamped pins and/or popout or flip out pins.
Find adaptors with solid pins. These usually come in packs of two without a fancy tube thing. Bad ones will fall out of sockets easily, if they stay in at all.

Good: Note the solid pins (the holes are optional).


Bad - stamped pins Note the indentations on the pins:

Most US adaptors have adjustable pins so you can use them in Australia/NZ (good), but this adds a bit of wobble to the pins. Make the pins out of thin material stamped to add a bit of thickness, and you have an adaptor which will fall out of a well used hotel wall socket as soon as you breath on it.

Bad - Folding/springloaded pins: Too heavy, will fall out of the wall socket


Other random stuff:
USB power packs - I managed for years without one, and the 10,000mAh one I do have now isn't particularly light. Personal choice on that one.
AC power on planes - usually have universal sockets capable of accepting a 13A plug without an adaptor, but pack a solid pin US adaptor in your carry on just in case.

Knackered 13A sockets abroad - Don't think that going to places that use BS1363 13A sockets like Bahrain and Nigeria will make life easy for you.
Don't be surprised to sockets wrecked by people shoving european round pin plugs into them. More than once I've been in a hotel room where I've had to push a 13A plug into an european adaptor which I've then inserted into a standard 13A socket because the contacts in the socket were ruined.
Usual "watch out for warm plugs and arcing connections" warnings apply...

Shavers: Do not assume your 2 pin shaver (or electric toothbrush charger) plug will fit in a European socket

PochiSoldi

[neversay]

What a great answer @PochiSoldi - thank you for taking the time to reply as that's just the sort of kit I need. The old 3-way block adapter is inspired and the switching out of cloverleaf connectors has bugged me for a while. It all packs down quite small as well.

I have the budget to get whatever kit I need to make life comfortable and productive. In my current bag are Sony noise cancelling headphones although I may upgrade to Bose. I'm also trying out the Jabra 65t true wireless earbuds for the virtual assistant integration but not sure whether I will get along with the interface. Basically my use case is to be able to capture any thoughts/tasks as easy as possible no matter where I am.

I also need to think about the non-gadgets, like a better suit bag, washbag (my existing one is too small/cruddy) although I've never made the step to travel pillows. I need a 'go bag' with duplicate kit rather than having to go around the house and pack everything for each visit.

N.

[vrdiver]

Coming at this from the other direction, having worked away from home for most of my career (either returning weekly or every few months), I'd recommend "travel light".

No, not some super-torch; I mean, get rid of as much baggage as you can. If you need something, buy it over there (I'm assuming that's an option?)

Lugging heavy baggage around (especially on short trips, possibly where it follows you from the airport to the office, then on to the hotel, then back to the office before heading home via the airport again) is a real pain. In those situations I limit myself to carry-on only, in the form of a wheeled suitcase. I avoid overloading a laptop bag as it is unsightly (both the bag and the effect on your suit) and makes access to the stuff you need (which is always buried) difficult.

When I was regularly traveling, any time my journey involved airport connections the odds of "lost luggage" seemed to be inversely proportional to the connection time between flights (so avoid booking tight connections if you need your hold luggage to arrive when you do). If you do use hold luggage, be prepared for it to turn up either on the last day of your trip, or after you are home. Plan accordingly.

I've turned up at client site wearing Sunday's travel clothes because of lost luggage and poor preparation on my part (and no shops open where I was). It's not conducive to feeling on top of your game!

Make a list of what you do need and intend to pack. It's easy to forget stuff like a tie! I remember driving to one client with my suitcase in the car when, only as I pulled in to their car park did I realise I was not only wearing jeans and casual shirt, but I hadn't packed a spare suit for my two day visit (just shirts and essentials). (I bluffed it out by calling the IT manager and feigning interest in crawling around some hardware before the meeting, then repeating the exercise on the shop floor the next day, but that may not be an option). Another time (again, driving) I forgot my laptop (doh!) so ended up delivering an impromptu workshop which was a little less death-by-Powepoint than usual

Last tip: a USB stick with scanned passport, key contact info, copy of your itinerary etc. basically stuff you need if your laptop / phone break / get stolen. I keep a stick on my car key and my car key clipped in a jacket pocket.

Other than that, enjoy the trips!

VRD

[djbenedict]

A good recent addition for me has been a Colgate PocketPro USB-chargeable electric toothbrush.

By contrast, a not-at-all recent addition was a "wetpack" for toiletries etc. I've been using mine for, must be, 20 years now and it is still going strong. Loads of pockets to put handy stuff in so it will be there when you need it (cufflinks, collar stiffeners, spare contact lenses etc. etc.).

[Julian]

Coming at this from the other direction, having worked away from home for most of my career (either returning weekly or every few months), I'd recommend "travel light".

I agree with that 100%. Absolutely critical. It became something of an obsession for me.

In my 30 year career I spent about half of it travelling excessively(*). I really got travelling light down to a fine art, commented on by pretty much everyone who has ever travelled with me. To do it properly no detail is too small. To steal Tesco's catch phrase "every little helps", i.e. in this case every singe cubic millimetre of space that you can shave off the items that you pack, or get something in a slightly different shape so that it packs more tightly with everything else hence avoiding packing unnecessary air volume, all adds up. I also became obsessed with finding the perfect-sized bags for every occasion, not too small but more importantly not too big - everything had to be exactly the right size. For a long time my "wash bag" was a case designed for oscilloscope leads because that happened to be the exact size and shape to perfectly fit the contents that I wanted to put in it.

In that spirit here are a couple of extremely trivial things that spring to mind. Neither of them are exactly earth-shattering but they were all part of my quest to shave every cubic mm I could off my standard pack.

Compact nail clipper -



https://www.amazon.com/very-thin-clippe ... B004E4IB9U

Very short phone charging cable



https://www.culcharge.com/lightning-cable-6cm

For charging a phone one trick I discovered when my charger broke was to use the TV in my hotel room. Even when I was travelling a lot most TVs in hotels were LCD so had USB sockets. Sometimes it was necessary to have the TV switched on if it was a model that didn't leave power on the USB sockets when in standby mode but the trick of plugging the charge cable into a TV's USB socket saved me quite a few times. That Culcharge cable actually lived in my wash bag so it was always there as did one of the little Apple US (despite my being UK based) "sugar cube" chargers since that was the smallest charger I could find and even outside the USA most half-decent hotels had the European round pin + US flat pin 120/240V dual shaver sockets which would accept the US charger.

- Julian

(*) really excessively, typically out of the country 200 days each year and not uncommon to find that I had been on an international flight every single day of the previous week including weekends when long haul was involved. 13 consecutive flying days was my record which included 3 transatlantic flights.

[neversay]

Hats off to the amount of travel you do @Julian. You must have enough air miles to reach Mars by now!

Travelling light is a great point. Almost every time I go through airport security my backpack gets screened and swabbed due to the nest of wires and electrical devices in there. Moreover, when I'm on board a plane/train the wires always form a tangle. As a temporary solution, I got a bunch of these drawstring bags to separate out bits of kit.



I totally get your obsession on rightsizing contents. I've got some vibram style (flat, not 'toe-d') shoes which cut my drawstring gym bag down. It's remarkable how many small bits and pieces are in my pencil case. A big fail was a Grid organiser like the one below, which just ended up taking huge amounts of space:



@vrdriver I'm with you on the packing list which is a repeatable list now in my to do list app (Todoist). My fear is forgetting my formal shoes as I have had to wear a suit and grungy old trainers for a meeting in the past. The tie is a strange one these days, if I wear one then my hosts usually aren't wearing one. If I don't wear one, then my hosts usually are. I've given up second guessing now and just tend to wear a tie if there are too many creases where I haven't properly ironed between my shirt buttons. Talking of which, everyone talks about non-iron shirts but they never seem to work for me.

N.

[dspp]

I'm on the road most weeks, and fly at the back to save costs even on longhaul, so I get travel light. I can't remember the last time I checked any luggage in. (Probably when I last moved back from USA to EU about 15 years ago ?)

I only ever take one bag, which on business trips is a good quality leather carry on. It works for me, and I've had it for 20 years. I can get about two weeks in it (depending on whether my S&M colleagues shove loads of brochures/samples at me or not).

I will gently disagree re multiadaptors. Personally I use one of these

https://www.google.com.mx/imgres?imgurl ... mrc&uact=8

I can charge my USB things off it, and my laptop via UK plug. The particular version I have put in that link is unique as it is the only one with the truncated diamond two pin that fits Brazilian sockets. You won't find it on the latest version from the same manufacturer. The good quality multiadptors have very good quality pins and etc.

Ties got binned long ago. A good pair of brown shoes, and a good jacket. The better quality the jacket the less crumpled it gets. Then one pair of jeans and one pair of slacks if going formal, or just jeans if not.

I personal annoyance is that it is increasingly difficult to find the small cans of shaving gel + they are never for sale in airport drugstores + solid/oil alternatives really are not that good.

regards, dspp

[neversay]

S&M colleagues? Oh, yes, sales and marketing!

Ah yes, shaving foam seems to be irreducible with the lack of small tins in the UK. The shaving oils/butter/creams never work for me. I purchased a oneblade razor just recently but prefer my cheapie tesco 3-blade razor over all the fancy brands. I look tired enough as it is without a designer stubble.

Good point on the combination of clothes. I need to go hunting a blazer style jacket that doesn't crumple but works formally (with slacks) and informally (with jeans). I just returned from the US where my American colleagues seem to have mastered that look.

[Itsallaguess]

A personal annoyance is that it is increasingly difficult to find the small cans of shaving gel + they are never for sale in airport drugstores + solid/oil alternatives really are not that good.

Wouldn't decanting some of the gel-type stuff into a small water-tight tub last for a while when travelling?

I don't use foam too much nowadays, and tend to just use the cheap Wilko gel, which has the consistency of toothpaste when it comes out, and I would have thought would travel quite well in a small tub - https://tinyurl.com/yawzqbse

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[kiloran]

A personal annoyance is that it is increasingly difficult to find the small cans of shaving gel + they are never for sale in airport drugstores + solid/oil alternatives really are not that good.

Wouldn't decanting some of the gel-type stuff into a small water-tight tub last for a while when travelling?

I don't use foam too much nowadays, and tend to just use the cheap Wilko gel, which has the consistency of toothpaste when it comes out, and I would have thought would travel quite well in a small tub - https://tinyurl.com/yawzqbse

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Surely the easiest solution is a beard.

--kiloran

[swill453]

I also became obsessed with finding the perfect-sized bags for every occasion, not too small but more importantly not too big - everything had to be exactly the right size. For a long time my "wash bag" was a case designed for oscilloscope leads because that happened to be the exact size and shape to perfectly fit the contents that I wanted to put in it.

Likewise. I'm always on the lookout for the right bag for the right job. Currently I use a blood-pressure monitor bag for a toilet bag, a sunglasses pouch to hold my camera, and a sports towel bag to hold my cables and electrical bits n pieces.

EDIT: and a tablet cover for all my passports, paperwork etc.

Scott.

[stewamax]

... and when packing before leaving home, I always counted the subsequent mornings I would be away and - unless I intended to use hotel laundry facilities (and these can be as bad as lost luggage) - counted and packed "vest, underpants, sock-pairs" for each morning and added one extra of each. And I always wore M&S white crew-neck tee-shirts as vests, so leisure time in warm countries needed nothing extra - just removal of the formal shirt.

As others have noted, travel as light as possible. No leather cases (leather = heavy); Tumi wheelies with an expandable front were expensive but solidly-built and ideal.

Finally, never ever put your passport, tickets and money in the case. Once, on NY 5th Avenue, as I paid and left my cab, a new fare jumped in and the cab was off - with my case in the boot. I ran down the road after it until it came to a halt in a traffic queue. The driver was totally unfazed and uninterested but I got my case back!

[Slarti]

My next few weeks/months are exceptionally busy with business trips (UK/International). I'm wondering what special kit other Road Warriors use to ways to stay productive and sane?

On the usual list are smartphone (and apps like audible), ultraportable, tablet, kindle, kit bag (rucksack), carry-on, phone/usb/battery chargers, washbag, etc. What other indispensable gear makes your life easier on the road?

A USB condom and long cable so that you can safely charge your phone, Kindle, whatever from any available USB port, even in a compromised computer.

Slarti

[swill453]

A USB condom and long cable

The mind boggles.

Scott.

[Itsallaguess]

A USB condom and long cable

The mind boggles.

Just in case you're not aware, these are small USB 'thru-devices' that sit in a USB port, even ones in locations that you'd not normally plug anything into, and will only pass charging voltage, and will block any data that might otherwise be attempted to 'sync' between devices when not using one.

Example here -

PortaPow PPSCA01 3rd Gen Data Blocker

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PortaPow-PPSCA01-3rd-Data-Blocker/dp/B00QRRZ2QM

For the very low cost, and given their very small size, I think it's a good addition to any traveller's electronic kit-bag.

Of course, knowing Slarti, it's possible that he's talking about something completely different....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

[DiamondEcho]

Best kit? A packing list written in Excel and printed on one sheet of A4. I used to have various versions for:
- UK short trip
- Long w/e abroad
- Long trip abroad
- SCUBA diving trip
and even summer/winter variants.

Might sound OTT but what you pack is going to be pretty generic for each category. Create and refine the list as you go along, after a year or two you'll have most things covered. I find this makes packing sooo much simpler and less stressful, it's just going through a tick-list.
My lists include things like noting local exchange rate/s in advance so I've an idea what to expect even at the arrival port/airport. Noting the forecast weather at destination. An 'independent' note of bank-card emergency numbers and those for any insurance policy too. A check-list of D-1 tasks (lock windows, turn thermostat down, chuck residual fresh goods in fridge and so on).
As a person who tends to focus carefully on packing, as said, it turns it into a low-stress tick-list exercise. Then when I come to pack for my return, I just tick through the list again and make sure everything I brought is safely in my luggage.

[DiamondEcho]

Wouldn't decanting some of the gel-type stuff into a small water-tight tub last for a while when travelling?

Definitely. I take small containers of bathroom gels/creams, decanted according to how long I'm away and hence what I'm likely to use + contingency. Plus I keep any of those mini tubes of shaving cream or toothpaste you can get flying business class, those tubes can usually last me 3-4 days each so come in useful.

Much easier taking say 2 Bic razors and a mini-tube of shaving foam for a w/e away, than a $haver + fretting about a converter/adaptor plug.

[dspp]

...

As others have noted, travel as light as possible. No leather cases (leather = heavy); Tumi wheelies with an expandable front were expensive but solidly-built and ideal.

Again can I gently demur. I am firmly in the camp of "you can never have too many rucsacs" and my rucsac collection is comparable with anyone's. However for almost all business travel for the last 20 years I have used a leather case, except for offshore stints. The case is still going strong and has outlasted any wheelies that GFs & colleagues have owned over the years. It barely looks scuffed, and believe me it has seen plenty of action, and one day I guess I'll pass it on (probably when I am 80 and my shoulders pack in, if I make it that far).

Horses for courses.

regards, dspp

[Slarti]

A USB condom and long cable

The mind boggles.

Just in case you're not aware, these are small USB 'thru-devices' that sit in a USB port, even ones in locations that you'd not normally plug anything into, and will only pass charging voltage, and will block any data that might otherwise be attempted to 'sync' between devices when not using one.

Example here -

PortaPow PPSCA01 3rd Gen Data Blocker

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PortaPow-PPSCA01-3rd-Data-Blocker/dp/B00QRRZ2QM

For the very low cost, and given their very small size, I think it's a good addition to any traveller's electronic kit-bag.

Of course, knowing Slarti, it's possible that he's talking about something completely different....

Cheers,

Itsallaguess

Thank you, I think

Slarti