Trying something new with business travel…

In about half an hour to an hour from now, I’m going to go pick up George and then head on over to the first of two Christmas parties I plan on attending this weekend. It’s been a long week, and I’m glad it’s over. The highlight of it, if it could be called that, was a trip to Amarillo/Perryton Thursday to get the company’s location in Perryton up and running on our network. This time, though, I decided to handle it a bit different than I normally do when travelling.

Normally, when travelling on business (or travelling in general), I carry two cases. I keep my clothing and toiletries in a carryon suitcase, and my laptop, paperwork, and other electronic equipment go into my laptop shoulder bag. This time, seeing as it was just an overnight trip and I didn’t have to carry a lot of stuff with me, I decided to minimize my luggage, so to speak. I took my laptop and the equipment I thought I might need (power adapter, notebook surge protector, notebook laser mouse, retractable network cable, AirPort Express, cell phone charger, and HP/Cisco serial console cables) and moved them to my backpack. I also found space in there to shove a change of clothes (except for jeans and shoes) and the needed toiletries. The end result was a single bag with the bare minimum I would need. It was effective enough and got the job done, though I admit that I was feeling a bit bare, so to speak. I wasn’t used to carrying one case with everything I needed in it when well away from home. I’ll just have to remember to keep that in mind for future trips. :-)

Then again, Perryton was a special case as it’s a very small facility with one workstation and printer. Most times when I travel to set up facilities I have to set up multiple workstations and printers, which invariably means it’s best if I spend a full day there (which leads to spending at least two nights there). Still, it was a good learning experience. In retrospect, I realized I could have gone with even less equipment. The AirPort Express and mouse could have been left behind, for example.

Ah, well. Considering my next business trip could very well end up being an international trip, I don’t think the minimal packing philosophy will work too terribly well. Still, for other trips and personal trips, it’s given me a good perspective and given me something to think about.