How timely. A couple of my favorite authors and sites just wrote up some guides on traveling — one is “HOWTO process your new hotel room” by Merlin Mann; the other is “10 Gadgets That Help You Survive in Cheap Hotel Rooms” by Sean Fallon at Gizmodo. Check those out. Some of the items are funny, but a lot of them are pretty useful. Here’s my own blended list of the two that I live by:
Remove distractions
Like Merlin, the first thing I do is remove *everything* that will distract me — menus, magazines. If it’s not work stuff, in the closet it goes.
Leave me alone
I put the do not disturb sign on. It just makes me feel better.
Charge everything
After traveling, I plug in everything the second I get in. Power might be the only thing I won’t have access to later, so juicing up is a priority. Laptops take time to charge.
Wi-Fi
Most of the cheap places have ethernet now. I use an airport express to have Wi-Fi for the entire room. Helpful if you’re traveling with someone and they’re staying next door so only one of you need to pay.
Disaster prevention
I have a fear of being late, so I immediately make sure all the time zones on my clocks are correct. I set the hotel clock alarm and also have a wake up call. About 10% of the time one of these will fail. I also set my phone which acts as an alarm clock.
If I’m giving a presentation, I put a USB drive with the files in the safe in the room. This has actually saved me twice when there were computer issues and once when there was a flood.
Bottled water and ice
Buy some bottled water somewhere away from hotel, otherwise you’ll get charged a lot of $$. Get ice. Chill.
Freebies
After this, I call the front desk or stop by and ask if there is free coffee or snacks anywhere. Usually there is.
Got some tips? Post on up in the comments!
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My advice:
Don’t sprawl. Even if you’re going to be in the room a week or two for a long trip, even if you’re not normally a neatnik (G-d knows I’m not), keep your stuff reasonably compact and tidy. When you’re done with a garment for the rest of the trip, pack it immediately, before you hit the hay. This severly reduces one of the biggest hassles of checking out: making sure you have everything!
by Uncle Mikey / September 30, 2008
Great list, and the airport express is something I hadn’t thought of before, despite traveling with a bag full of gadgets. I’ve also begun making recharging a top priority. Even if power doesn’t go out, things come up when you’re on the road, and I’ve found that I need to be able to leave the room at a moment’s notice, so knowing that though I checked in an hour ago, I’m all juiced up, it’s a blessing, really!
by Ricky Cadden / September 30, 2008
This was a great list and like Ricky Cadden mentioned, I travel a lot but had never thought of the airport express. I actually just returned from the Philippines for a week and was upset the entire time that they only had a 6ft ethernet cord so I was always tied to the desk. So, whenever I was in my room it was either sit at the uncomfortable desk and be connected or not. I will definitely be bringing wifi with me when I travel from now on!
I’ve also learned the hard way to keep everything neat and organized. I’m usually very organized but during my last trip to Manila, I spread everything out between a whole row of seats while on the airplane. The result = I ended up losing my Bose in-ear headphones (my favorite!)!
by Justin Levy / October 1, 2008
Don’t buy bottled water. Just. Don’t. It’s bad for the environment, by extension it’s bad for you.
by Andreas / October 4, 2008
Andreas,
What are the alternatives to buying bottled water?
Drinking tap water enriched by these amazingly
healthy (and great tasting!) chloride and fluoride?
Oh please…
by Simon / October 6, 2008
Yes bottled water ain’t a good choice, really.
Alternatives are usually tap water in the US, Canada and most of Europe.
It’s often the same water “with the same healthy ingredients” that you get
when you buy bottled water, except some people are making a huge markup
on it and you believe it’s better for you…
Both Aquafina from Pepsi-Cola Company and Dasani from The Coca-Cola Company are reprocessed from municipal water systems.
And sometimes it’s actually worst.
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bottledwater
http://www.polarisinstitute.org/some_bottled_water_toxicity_shown_to_exceed_law
by Pascal / October 25, 2008
Since a hotel’s dry cleaning services are expensive and not so reliable (one day service that turns into two days means you’re leaving your suit in Chicago as you travel on to Dallas), take a couple of packets of “Dry Cleaner’s Secret” with you. Many hotels (okay, mostly the cheaper ones) have guest laundry rooms. Just pop your suit into the dryer, toss in one of dry cleaning sheets, set the dryer at “low” for 30 minutes. Voila! You now have a dry-cleaned suit!
by Murem / October 28, 2008