Important Reminders

Forgetfulness is the enemy of the road warrior. One of my biggest challenges is remembering what I’ve learned over 25 years of being on the road.

I don’t know if the following ideas will be new or unique, but I do believe they’ll be important and helpful reminders:

Be kind to travel industry employees even when you’d like to beat them with a stick. Don’t fight jerk behavior with jerk behavior. I know how hard it is. I ashamedly have lost my cool in the past and am doing better in my advancing years. I just wish I had learned this lesson earlier.
Quit complaining. Can you think of a time when whining made you feel better? It isn’t catharsis. I have found that even other inconvenienced travelers aren’t sympathetic to anything vaguely resembling whining. You might think you’re commiserating with like-minded folks; they think you’re bitching and moaning.
Bring dead time back to life. I’ve learned that the quicker I get over being frustrated or upset, the quicker I can become engaged and productive. Time spent in a funk would be better spent reading, returning calls, writing reports, etc.
Have a plan. This seems like travel basics 101 but I’m surprised how many road warriors don’t have a plan for when travel goes bad. Keep needed travel numbers programmed in your phone, familiarize yourself with alternative flights or travel arrangement in advance and think ahead.
Accept that there are no guarantees. You can have the best plans and be extremely travel savvy and still get screwed. Hope springs eternal in the road warrior and we sometimes mistake optimism for control over the situation. Being proactive is largely a myth; as travelers we are interactive: we don’t control the stuff that happens but we interact with those circumstances to create the outcome we desire. Sometimes, however, the circumstances win.

I trust that these travel tips will be of some value to you and will help you avoid some of the less pleasant aspects of being a digital nomad.