Hello lovely friends!
Thank you for taking the time to stumble across my blog again, I’m well aware it’s been a couple of months since my last post – Here’s why:
Content Savvy is currently run as my side business and is a casual form of income. Aside from studying a crystal healing course part time, I also I work part time as Editor of Furnishing International magazine.
Yeah, sometimes I wonder how I manage to juggle everything as well, but the key is loving what you do! Only then it doesn’t seem like work! After my studies, much of my time will free up so I’ll be able to dedicate more time to picking up new clients for CS. Stay tuned around April 2018 for more information on this.
As editor of Furnishing International, I was invited to attend the Furniture China expo in Shanghai during the 12th to the 15th of September, and thus I experienced my first solo business trip! As you can imagine, the lead up to the event and also playing catch up on emails once I had returned home prevented me for dedicating more time to writing on here!
But I’m back now, and so I thought I’d share with you my top tips for the girl bosses out there who are about to embark on their own business travels for the first time. Here’s what I learnt:
AIRPORT + FLIGHT STUFF:
- They will ask you to take your laptop out of your bag when going through security so make sure you have it ready.
- Some airlines let you carry two mobile phones in your carry-on bag, others make you check one of them in. Check your airline’s policies before you go. On the way to Shanghai I had to keep one of my phones in my check in bag, but on the way home I had to keep both of them in my carry on despite flying with the same airline both ways! I learnt the hard way after having to unlock my check-in luggage after my bag notified security of something suspicious. Other items which are sometimes not allowed are portable battery packs.
- Take snacks on a long haul flight. Only take water if the airline allows it after the security checkpoint, again some do and some don’t!
- Don’t like flying, let alone flying solo? Download some meditations to listen to while on the plane. Meditation marketplace is great!
- If you can, organise transfers from your destination’s airport to the hotel in advance to save you worry and stress once you arrive, especially if you are expected to get there late at night.
GENERAL STUFF:
- Download a translation app if you’re going to a country that is limited in speaking English. This will save your life! I made friends with a Chinese local girl who culdnt speak English thanks to both of us having such an app. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have gone sightseeing at night as I was afraid to do so on my own. Thanks to the app and her, I got to see The Bund in Shanghai.
- Download a currency conversion app.
- Organise a travel money card from home with your bank. I’m personally with the Commonwealth Bank and their travel card is amazing. You can load foreign currency onto your card through your online Netbank account.
- Organise a SIM card from home – sometimes you can get them sent from the country’s local telecom provider to your hotel. Concierge will keep it for you until you arrive if you call the hotel and let them know.
- Jot down the local emergency numbers in your notes – just in case!
- Pack light and make use of packing cubes. You can get a set of three from Kmart for $9.
- If your breakfast is covered as part of your hotel stay, you’ll spend less on food throughout the day. Buy snacks to keep in your bag or in your hotel room to tide you over.
- Get the hotel to organise a taxi for you – especially in countries where you don’t speak their native tongue. Throughout the duration of big conferences, some hotels organise shuttle buses to transport many people to the one venue.
- Keep receipts for any out of pocket expenses so your workplace can reimburse you. This includes boarding passes and visas if you’ve had to pay for them yourself and await reimbursement after your travel.
- Try take some time out while there. Amidst all the flying, events, jet lag and meetings, try make some downtime for your own sanity.
- Keep an open mind – I expected Shanghai to be polluted, overcrowded and dirty. In my experience, yes, there were a lot of people and hardly anyone could speak English, but I was welcomed with blue skies, albeit humid, and warm weather. Air quality was much better than I expected also.
There you go! I hope my experience can help many of you out there! Remember that travelling for work although stressful to organise and execute, can be an opportunity of a lifetime to visit places you otherwise would not have had the chance to see!
Until next time –
X Cat
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