We’re sharing some of the tools we use at Cherryleaf. This time we’ll look at travel equipment.
The role of consulting technical communicator can involve travel to exotic places, such as San Diego, Cologne and Swindon. Your travelling experience can be affected by what equipment you have on your travels, so it make sense to take the right stuff with you. You don’t need to wander around places like Frankfurt Airport too many times, with a heavy bag across your shoulder, realise travelling for work can be both tiring and painful.
Computing
A laptop is usually the heaviest piece of equipment you’ll be taking. When I’m speaking at conferences, I avoid taking a laptop completely and travel with a tablet instead – usually an iPad Mini, plus a VGA cable. Colleagues also take tablets when they are going abroad to gather information from Subject Matter Experts.
Others swear by Macbook Air laptops, so they can do “proper work” whilst they are away. When I do take a laptop, it’s put inside a rucksack, so that the weight is distributed more evenly across my back.
Packing
Cocoon’s Grid-It! organisers are boards criss-crossed with elastic straps that enable you to keep all your knick-knacks together. They can save you time on the move by enabling you to find easily what you need.
Packing cubes are very good for getting lots into a small space without it all it being crushed and squashed. You can arrive at your destination, put the cubes in the hotel room drawers, and you’re unpacked!
Clothing
When travelling by aeroplane, a scarf is one of the most useful items to have. It can keep you warm, be used as a face mask, and you can use it to lash a coat or jumper to a bag or suitcase.
Merino wool t-shirts can keep you cool in hot weather and warm in cold. Although you might end up looking a bit like Simon Cowell, they are smart-ish and comfortable travel wear.
Water and carabiners
I take an empty, see-through, water bottle with me. It’s attached to the outside of my bag with a carabiner, so it can pass painlessly through any x-ray machines. I then fill it up from an airside water fountain.
Entertainment
MP3 players offer a compact way to keep yourself entertained on your travels. Sandisk’s MP3 players provide plenty of space for your songs and audiobooks, as they contain a microSD memory slot for extra storage space. They’ll run for up to 25 hours on a single charge, and can be recharged easily. I make sure I always have some P.G. Wodehouse audiobooks and BBC podcasts on my player (especially In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg).
What do you use?
Share your suggestions below.
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