Travel-for-Work Tips

In contrast to the Work-From-Home Tips post, I thought I'd share some tips for those of us who are required to travel often and live in hotels for work. These are the ones I always practice whenever I travel.

Don't drink from the room glasses and cups. You need to take care when using their glasses and cups in the room, especially those that aren't sealed. The room cleaners do not always use dedicated cloths to clean glass and porcelain, and for those that do, they don't change them between rooms. If you're one who is convinced that germs are there to strengthen you, it's not uncommon for the room cleaners to re-use their cleaning solvents on all glass surfaces.

Check the bedside clock on the bedside table. Previous guests, in extended stay hotels, occasionally set alarms. You don't want to discover that the hard way.

Put the TV remote controls in a Zip-Loc bag. You never know where the previous guests have dropped them, or worse...

Binder clips Clothes hangers for curtains. If you're lucky enough to remember them with various documents you travel with, I've used them to close the gap between curtains that never completely close. Edit: I just came across a better way to do this without bringing your own binder clips - use the ones in the closet!

Dick move: Mark the bedsheet's tag with a dot. This way, when you return to the room after a long day at a client's, you'll know whether the room cleaners have changed the sheets or just reused them.

Leave the TV on a local station. This is a sad reveal about what work travelers have to do. I learned this from a seasoned pro, and at first, I thought it was dumb - "What?! How could you not know what city you're in." Then after a handful of trips to different customers and one day site visits, I realized how unsettling it is to not know what state or city I'm in. So as I was advised, I now leave the TV on if I have to focus on work in the hotel room, and I leave it running overnight, so when I wake up in the morning, I'll be reminded of where I am.

Hotel shampoo can be used as laundry detergent. This was passed on to me, and I haven't had the need to try it yet. Apparently, you can simply leave the bottle in the hotel washer (with the cap off, of course). Unfortunately, it's not as delicious as a Tide Pod.

Note: This can't work in all states, like California, that do not allow for bottled shampoo.

Use the free laundry bag for ... laundry. Many hotels provide a plastic bag in the closet for dry cleaning. If I don't intend to use their dry cleaning services, that bag is handy for the clothing I've used throughout the trip. That way, I get to keep them separate from the unused, clean clothes, on the flight home.

Get a portable router. It's handy when you need it, especially if you plan on having an ad hoc working session in the lounge or hotel courtyard. Remember, if you already have a mobile hotspot, many of those can double as a portable router. 

Be kind. Tip early. The hotel's staff work very hard to make your experience as painless as possible, and it's a good idea to return the courtesy with kindness and a tip. Instead of leaving the tip at the end of the trip, do it on the first morning (or daily). I don't expect anything in return, but for assignments where I need to stay in the same hotel the following week, I've never been disappointed.

You'll find a number of Buzzfeed-like articles with tips, but I find that like most so-called "hacks" are for unusually desperate situations and often, are more trouble than their worth