Making your business portable - Don’t fall for Travel Anxiety.

Do not fall for the old anxiety of forgetting to turn off the oven that arises while you are traveling. While that is a domestic story, there is just as much or more anxiety that can go into getting on the road for a business purpose as there is for private travel.  The details that must be taken care of to put a business trip on the road can be overwhelming.

It is easy to develop an anxiety complex when going on a business trip and get to where you are in a constant state of stress and worry that you have forgotten something or that there is an important detail that was left undone before you left.  This stress anxiety can be destructive to your business goals for the trip.  So you need some basic concepts that you can go back to just before the business trips gets underway and as you get on the road so you have some ammunition to combat travel anxiety en route.

* Call in the troops.  One big way to stop travel anxiety in its tracks is to utilize your business partners to help you prepare for the trip.  It is likely that a number of people in your chain of command or in your department have a vested interest in seeing the trip you are setting out to accomplish is a success.  Use their help to plan the trip and to develop detailed check lists of what has to happen before you leave and what has to go with you.  Then on the day before you depart, meet with those associates and review those lists.  As you check off each thing, insist that your associate initial the list to validate that the detail was taken care of.  Then take the list with you.  By consulting it often, you can calm yourself that you did take care of all the details along the way.

* Did you forget your head?   Ok so you have a good system in to make sure all of your business needs are covered, the next level of anxiety comes when you are sitting on the airplane and you wonder if you packed everything you need for travel personally.  There are a couple of antidotes to this type of travel anxiety.  First of all, use a similar check list system to assure you have what you need on the flight.  You can develop a travel check list that you maintain and update from business trip to business trip.  As you use that list each trip, you will discover any missing items or things to do and update the list.  And by checking each need off as you take care of it before you travel, you can calm that nervous system of yours that you have done everything so its time to relax.

* What do you really need after all?  Second of all, if that check list system has dozens of items and issues on it, much of that can be eliminated by that simple question.  The truth is there is very little you really need that you cannot get there if you forgot something at home.  You must have your airline tickets, your driver’s license and credit card and any special medication that cannot be found at your destination.  If you have plenty of credit, there really is little else you cannot buy at your destination point if you forgot something or other.  Comfort yourself that the trip won’t grind to a halt if you forgot something.

* But what if?  That question literally can drive you insane.  If you let yourself start thinking about whether the plane will crash or if your dog dies while you are away or the hundred of other “what ifs”  that might happen, you will turn into a ball of anxiety before the first flight is done.  So the answer to “but what if?” is “that has not happened so far and the odds it will happen this time are remote.”  Use some logic and adult thinking to combat emotional urge to worry.

The urge to worry is natural in all of us.  It’s part of your urgent desire to do well on the road. But be sure you take time out on the road to relax to help make your business trip a success.

Make your business portable - Doing Business in Dangerous Countries.

With the turmoil many countries of the world are in there may be times where you are faced with danger when traveling on business. But in some cases, there may be some real travel threats on your route to your business destination.  This is especially true today in the age of terrorism where a trip to Europe or the Middle East can mean some very real danger may loom as you travel.

It is our job as responsible adults to think about the dangers that could happen on an upcoming business trip and assess that danger and either approach the business objective differently or prepare accordingly.  The first step if you suspect that your next business trip may be hazardous either from political unrest, bad weather or other reasons, is to do an honest review of the importance of this trip.  If you can accomplish he goals of the trip without putting yourself or your business associates in harms way, that would be preferable to a potential disaster on the road.

If it looks like the trip is still a go, be sure you learn all you can about your destination, recommended safety precautions and the nature of the potential danger.  The US State Department keeps their web site up to date on the nature of potential security risks at http://www.travel.state.gov. 

The next step for preparing for a business trip that may be hazardous is to double and triple secure your documentation.  You can make copies and scanned images of your important personal documents such as your passport, visa, driver’s license and other crucial identification cards that you must have overseas.   By leaving copies of these at home where a contact person can access them and uploading digital copies to a public folder that you can access anywhere you can find the internet, you give yourself a safety net should those documents disappear.  Also review the status of your travel documents and get y our renewals done now if there is any chance one of them will expire as you are out on the road.

If you are traveling to one or many foreign countries, make yourself familiar with the location and phone numbers of the US embassies in those countries.  By having that information on your person as you move from country to country, you are ready to move swiftly should you need to call on them to help you out of a jam. 

If you do encounter trouble and require medical help, you should have on your person your crucial personal data that can be used to quickly get you help.  You can print up a card with your name, names of who to contact in an emergency, blood type, medical details such as allergies that should be noted, important medicines that you may have that can help you if you are in physical need and anything else a lay person might need if you are in a far away place in critical need.  For even more security that this card is able to communicate your critical data, you can have it translated into the language of the country you are visiting so there is no delay as local health or public service persons work to get you help.

The more you do to prepare for your trip, the better prepared you will be to respond to trouble or even avoid trouble entirely if it occurs.  By understanding the local customs and what to do in an emergency situation overseas, you can respond calmly and quickly to crisis and secure yourself, your business associates and property early and quickly.  Being prepared is always good because you never know when you may need to react quickly when traveling in foreign countries.

Making your business portable - Doing Business in Dangerous Countries.

With the turmoil many countries of the world are in there may be times where you are faced with danger when traveling on business. But in some cases, there may be some real travel threats on your route to your business destination.  This is especially true today in the age of terrorism where a trip to Europe or the Middle East can mean some very real danger may loom as you travel.

It is our job as responsible adults to think about the dangers that could happen on an upcoming business trip and assess that danger and either approach the business objective differently or prepare accordingly.  The first step if you suspect that your next business trip may be hazardous either from political unrest, bad weather or other reasons, is to do an honest review of the importance of this trip.  If you can accomplish he goals of the trip without putting yourself or your business associates in harms way, that would be preferable to a potential disaster on the road.

If it looks like the trip is still a go, be sure you learn all you can about your destination, recommended safety precautions and the nature of the potential danger.  The US State Department keeps their web site up to date on the nature of potential security risks at http://www.travel.state.gov. 

The next step for preparing for a business trip that may be hazardous is to double and triple secure your documentation.  You can make copies and scanned images of your important personal documents such as your passport, visa, driver’s license and other crucial identification cards that you must have overseas.   By leaving copies of these at home where a contact person can access them and uploading digital copies to a public folder that you can access anywhere you can find the internet, you give yourself a safety net should those documents disappear.  Also review the status of your travel documents and get y our renewals done now if there is any chance one of them will expire as you are out on the road.

If you are traveling to one or many foreign countries, make yourself familiar with the location and phone numbers of the US embassies in those countries.  By having that information on your person as you move from country to country, you are ready to move swiftly should you need to call on them to help you out of a jam. 

If you do encounter trouble and require medical help, you should have on your person your crucial personal data that can be used to quickly get you help.  You can print up a card with your name, names of who to contact in an emergency, blood type, medical details such as allergies that should be noted, important medicines that you may have that can help you if you are in physical need and anything else a lay person might need if you are in a far away place in critical need.  For even more security that this card is able to communicate your critical data, you can have it translated into the language of the country you are visiting so there is no delay as local health or public service persons work to get you help.

The more you do to prepare for your trip, the better prepared you will be to respond to trouble or even avoid trouble entirely if it occurs.  By understanding the local customs and what to do in an emergency situation overseas, you can respond calmly and quickly to crisis and secure yourself, your business associates and property early and quickly.  Being prepared is always good because you never know when you may need to react quickly when traveling in foreign countries.