Ready for the Road (Part 2)

These travel tips are heavy on the creature comfort side of things as I've found that being comfortable can lead to better journalism:

• Before you leave the office (and make sure you take the time to do this every time you travel) dial up to whatever Internet service or network you're going to be using with your laptop off the corporate LAN, just as you'll be using it on the road. Make sure the modem, and everything else you need for connectivity, is working. Ditto for your cell phone, tape recorder and any other gear you will take with you. NEVER put any of that stuff in checked baggage. I'm ever amazed at the reporters who do and wind up without gear they need when they get to their destination.
  
  
• Tape a business card to your laptop, to the top of your power supply, to your tape recorder and to any other such gear you'll be taking with you. Take a lot of business cards with you to hand out.
  
  
• Write down the numbers of the main IS people you might need to contact if you have problems with your computer or connectivity. Put the numbers in a place where you won't lose them. This list should be separate from whatever entries you have for IS people in your PDA. Do the same with the phone numbers of whatever editors you'll be calling in to. A good place to jot down numbers is the inside cover of your notebook(s).
  
  
• Take a couple of phone cords with you - one shorter one and one that is very long. You never know what kind of distance you will have to cover to connect. ALWAYS take a spare. You never know when the plastic connectors are going to bust off.
  
  
• If your cell phone comes with a spare battery, take it, as well as your charger. (I know that's a big fat duh, but it's something that often gets left behind.) Take extra batteries for your PDA and tape recorder.
  
  
• Pack however many notebooks and pens you think you'll need and then pack one extra notebook and two extra pens.
  
  
• No matter where you're going, take an umbrella, sunblock, band-aids, pain reliever, Pepto Bismol (or some other tummy remedy) and any other such nonprescription items you might need. Don't assume you'll be able to easily run and get what you might discover you need. If you are going to be outside in the summer or think you might have cause to be, take bug spray.
  
  
• If you are checking a bag with most of the clothes in it you will need, make certain to pack at least a change of clothes (and err on the side of extra undies) in your carry on. Carry any personal items or toiletries you'll need. If your luggage goes missing, having this stuff with you can cut out the hassle of having to get to a store and offer you tremendous comfort in your time of need.
  
  
• Remember that for U.S. plane trips now you aren't likely to be fed. Plan accordingly.
  
  
• When you're flying, don't cut your itinerary close. If you have to be somewhere at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, don't take a flight due in at 5 p.m., unless, of course, a close itinerary is unavoidable. Be mindful of where you might be trying to make connections and what the weather is likely to be - for instance, O'Hare can be awful in the winter and spring because of weather. If you need to be somewhere before noon, persuade the money crunchers to let you fly in the night before unless the flight is very short. If you haven't traveled much and you're in doubt about how to shape your itinerary, talk to someone who does travel a lot.
  
  
• Even though they often cost a lot less than taxis, shuttle services can take a whole lot longer to get you from the airport to your hotel or wherever else you need to go because they'll stop at a bunch of places along the way. Even worse, they can be notoriously unreliable about picking you up at your hotel and getting you to the airport. I've been left standing outside the hotel in three different cities and wound up taking taxis anyway. If the hotel you're at has doormen or the like, ask them about the shuttle service before you make arrangements to be picked up for the airport. They will know if shuttle service is reliable and which is the best if there is more than one. Allow that they might also be in cahoots with the cabbies or shuttle drivers and ask around a little more if you have time ...
  
  
• If your travel involves staying at a hotel and you will be trying to file stories from there, be sure to ask them when you make the reservation (or have the person who makes the reservation for you ask) if they offer Internet access from the rooms. Specifically ask if they have analog phone lines. You'd be amazed (or maybe not) at how many hotels don't have access from rooms. This is especially the case with cheap hotels and given the state of the journalism industry, we're finding ourselves often camped out in those.
  
  
• Ask for a room away from elevators, exits, staircases and ice or vending machines, which tend to be the noisiest spots. Also, if you don't smoke be sure to specifically request a nonsmoking room (and if you get a rental car, a nonsmokers' car). If you do smoke, consider trying to not smoke in your room and get a nonsmoking room. Especially in budget hotels, nonsmoking rooms are almost always nicer.
  
  
• Take your pillow if you can manage to fit it in your checked luggage or carry it with you. You'd be amazed at how it can help you to sleep.
  
  
• Don't rely on wake-up calls from the hotel. Too often they screw up.
  
  
• Check out a map of the city or burg you'll be staying in or traveling in to get a sense of the geography before you leave. If you can't do that in advance, get a map as soon as you arrive. Chat up hotel desk clerks, the concierge (if the hotel has one), taxi drivers and anyone else who will be able to suggest decent restaurants where you can eat and not blow your expense account and where you can soak up the local scene. Even if you
  aren't writing specifically about the place in question, it still will help your comfort level to have a sense of location and to eat well. If your news organization won't cover the cost of what it takes for you to eat decently, then consider paying for some good meals out of your own pocket. (Some per diems are truly pathetic!) When I travel, I find that eating as I do when I'm home - which means avoiding fast food - always helps me to function better.
  
  
• Drink bottled water. Even if local tap water is perfectly safe and tastes okay, it is still different from your own tap water and you could find your digestive system reacts to it. Remember that you could be a little off from your normal self anyway when you travel and you need to avoid disruptions where you can. Likewise, don't order raw shellfish on the road or any type of food you aren't accustomed to eating - blazing hot tamales or the like. It can be mighty hard to pass up the oysters if you're in New Orleans, but a good buddy of mine refused to resist temptation once and spent two days sick in bed with food poisoning and missed the entire news event he was sent to cover. Maybe this isn't likely to happen, but if it does you'll feel like death warmed over and there's nothing worse when you're traveling.
  
  
• If you're covering something that will involve filing from a press room, befriend the people who are operating the press room. Even if things are somehow badly screwed up (and that happens a fair amount covering trade shows, conferences and the like), be pleasant to them. The people running the press room can make your time in the room very pleasant. Or not. I've found it nearly always depends on the demeanor of the reporter.
  
  
• If you're a mainstream journalist covering a trade show or conference in a subject outside of your beat (say you've been sent to the closest big city to cover a speech by Bill Gates or a big industry trade show has come to your city), chat up the trade reporters. They're likely to know the ropes of the particular event you're covering, which is probably an annual to-do, they'll also know what the news is out of the show.
  
  
• Rely on your newsroom and researchers (if you have those in your organization) for help. Ask colleagues and researchers to track down background, history and the like or to handle whatever additional reporting can be done for you. This can add a lot to your stories, especially when you're filing on deadline. Overall, don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it.

• Ready for the Road -- Part 1.