What and how to pack for a business trip
Published 5 years ago
Contents
It’s a Monday morning and you are heading to the office. You walk in with your take-out flat white but before you can even sit down and make yourself comfortable, your boss has already spotted you and is heading towards your desk. Something about a last minute meeting with clients in the New York office. In other words, you are being sent on a business trip.
Business travel is known to be tedious; all the effort of traveling and minimum enjoyment to compensate for it. But it doesn’t all have to be that bad. A little bit of organisation and some expert tips (some of which you are going to read about in this post) and your business trip may just turn out to be bearable, maybe even enjoyable. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics.
Let's get started
So after you have mentally accepted the fact that you are being sent away, it is now time to get ready. You will presumably be staying for a few days so you have to pack accordingly. First of all, let’s choose a bag. There are a number of options in our collection that you can choose from, but the type and size of bag that you pick should depend on the length of your trip. Style is obviously a big factor too, but that goes without saying.
If it’s a short 1-2 day stint, an overnight bag, such as Palissy 25-hour bag will suffice. However, a 3-6 day trip will probably require a carry-on suitcase with a briefcase or backpack combination with a smart holder from Carl Friedrik to secure your bag on the trolley. Trips longer than 6 days (we feel your pain) are probably the case for a check-in bag. But if you have access to laundry and dry cleaning, you will be able to go for far longer, without a bulky check-in suitcase weighing you down.
| 1-2 days | 3-6 days | More than 6 days |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight bag (Palissy 25-hour) |
Carry on + |
Check in suitcase + |
| Backpack (Bowen) or | Backpack (Bowen) or | |
| Briefcase (Palissy Briefcase) | Briefcase (Palissy Briefcase) or Overnight bag (Palissy 25-hour) |
Either way, check your airline regulations in terms of hand luggage as well as general luggage restrictions if you are travelling by plane. This will save you a lot of time and nerves at the airport. Business trips are stressful enough without somebody telling you off about your luggage!
The business trip packing list
You are going on a business trip so unless your industry is very relaxed, in which case lucky you and the next few points are probably going to be irrelevant, keep those jeans and casual shirts in your wardrobe. It is time for your business clothes to shine, and to keep them shining, refer to the next section on how to pack them properly.
The following table gives you an overview of what and how much to take according to the length of your trip. There are two things to keep in mind here. One is to choose a basic colour for your trousers/skirt and jacket (dark grey, navy blue or dark brown) we advise to avoid black, and to make your life less difficult, pack shirts that can be matched up easily with your bottoms and jacket. In other words, make sure that they coordinate in terms of prints and colour.
Also, don’t forget that most hotels will have a dry-cleaning service if your trip turns out to be a bit longer.
| Length of Trip(days) | Trousers/Skirt | Jacket | Shirts | Socks/Tights | Underwear | PJs | Shoes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 3-6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| 6+ | 4 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 |
Clothing list:
- Shirts
- Trousers / Skirts
- Dress
- Jacket/Blazer
- Ties
- Pocket Square
- Nightwear
- Underwear
- Socks/Tights
- Dress shoes
Next, we have made a list of basic toiletries that you can pack into your wash bag. Remember that if you are just taking hand luggage it is a good idea to check airport regulations when it comes to carrying liquids on the plane. Refilling into smaller containers is always an easy way to get around these problems.
Toiletry essentials
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Shampoo
- Shaver/Electric Razor (+ charger if necessary)
- Deodorant
- Brush/Comb
- Lip balm
- Beauty products
You may also want to take some basic travel medicine with you like painkillers and band aids. Although it may seem unlikely that you will need them, you never know! What if you take your clients out for drinks? You will be needing these painkillers in the morning.
Depending on if you are going to check in luggage or not, there are a few items you may want to keep separate from the items you are checking-in. Luggage does get lost and you don’t want any essentials in there to be lost with it, like any business documents and cards or even worse, your laptop/iPad. Have a look at our tech cases that will help keep your electronic devices protected in your hand luggage.
Electronics and documents list:
- Laptop
- Tablet
- Chargers
- Adapters or foreign plugs
- Passport
- Credit cards
- Tickets or boarding pass (download to phone if you prefer)
- Visa(if required)
- Business Cards
On a side note, if your luggage does get lost and to avoid any further frustrations pack a shirt and a pair of underwear in your hand luggage.
And with that you should be ready. Wait, no you are not. What about your passport (visa?) and credit cards? Keep your passport safe in your passport cover.
How to pack like a pro
There is barely anything more frustrating than opening your bag at your destination and realising that all of your clothes are completely creased. You can’t be walking around with creased shirts.
Here are some tips on how to pack like a pro. Creases happen because of items of clothing moving around and rubbing against each other in your bag. It also doesn’t help that folding will naturally crease them. But do not despair my friends, bundle wrapping will solve all of your issues.
What is bundle wrapping?
Bundle wrapping is a packing method in which you wrap your clothing together like a burrito. The outer layers of your “burrito” will be formed of the items that are more prone to creasing, for example your shirts, trousers and jackets, whilst the inside contains the items that don’t crease as easily.
Have a look at this step by step guide to become an expert in bundle wrapping.
On a final note, whether you are bundle wrapping or not, it is always wise to place similar items together in your bag so that you know where everything is and have a clear overview of what you are taking with you. And in the worst case scenario, your hotel will most likely help you with ironing your clothes.
It's a wrap!
So now that you are a packing expert, at least one part of your business trips will definitely run smoothly from now on. And it’s another thing to add to your resume.
Looks like you are now as ready as you can be. With your packing issues resolved, it’s time to board your plane and resolve some real business issues. Have a good trip!
The whole packing list in one go
- Shirts
- Pair of trousers / Skirts
- Pair of socks
- Underwear (including bra)
- Nightwear
- Dress
- Pocket Squares
- Ties
- Jacket/Blazer
- Dress shoes
- Jewellery
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Shampoo
- Sunscreen
- Cleaning wipes
- Shaver or Electric razor (pre-charge or bring charger)
- Deodorant
- Brush/comb
- Lip balm
- Beauty products
- Laptop
- iPad
- Chargers
- Adapter / Foreign plugs
- Passport
- Credit cards
- Visa / travel documents
- Business cards