6 Tips for More Efficient Business Travel

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Business travel is tedious. Read this article to learn how to travel for business more efficiently.

Business Travel, Falcon Expenses

You have to prepare for the actual business you are doing in a different city. In addition, you have to make sure you bring everything with you. Further, you will likely need to keep track of your expenses for future reimbursement from your company.

This guide provides six important tips about how to travel for business more efficiently. Therefore, you can focus on doing your work and creating business value, which is ultimately the reason for your travels.

1. Pack Lightly

We all want to bring more than enough. Extra shoes, tops, and maybe even that extra suit (just in case we want options). However, chances are you really don’t need much. You likely need to pack even less than you would if you were going away on a weekend leisure trip. You’re going on a business trip. You probably have a defined schedule of what you’re doing and where you’re going. Only pack for your meetings and the basics that you need outside of your meetings. Most importantly, packing too much creates clutter, uses extra time, and causes unnecessary stress before, after, and during your trip. All of which you don’t need. So pack lightly.

Below are additional resources about how to pack lightly:

Packing for a business trip: How to Pack a Capsule Wardrobe
This video is by Jodi Fox (posted on her YouTube channel). It explains how to pack a capsule wardrobe–all in a carry-on.

How To Pack For A Business Trip | MR PORTER
This video is from Mr Porters YouTube channel. It showcases various business travels and how they pack for a business trip. Most importantly, all of them pack lightly and cleanly everything they need into a carry-on. Watch for all of the tips. The background music is quite relaxing as well.

There are many other resources as well, such as the following articles (if you prefer to read, instead of watch videos):

This post was published by the blog, The Balance Careers:
A Packing Checklist for Business Trips

This post was published by the blog, Travel Fashion Girl. It’s great for women who also want to stay fashionable while packing lightly:
Business Trip Fashion List for Minimalist Fashionistas

This post was published by, Real Men Real Style. It’s a great resource on tips for men about what to pack for a business trip:
How To Pack Light For A Business Trip

2. Don’t Check a Bag (if you’re flying)

Most likely if you’re traveling for business, whether by car, plane, or train, you’re going to be away for a short period of time. Further, your schedule is likely jam-packed from the moment you arrive. With that said, if you’re traveling by plane, avoid the headache and complications of checking a bag. To elaborate, if your checked bag is lost, you won’t have anything to wear to your first meeting upon arrival. This tip goes along with tip number one, pack lightly.

Carry on your bag, instead of checking it, if you pack lightly. Further, checking a bag causes extra stress and requires extra time at the airport. Such as when you have to wait for your bag at the carousel. All of this you want to avoid on a likely already jam-packed business trip. Please see tip number six if you must check a bag.

3. Use an Expense Tracker App

If you’re traveling for business you most likely have to create an expense report. This report contains the expenses acquired during your trip. This report is necessary got reimbursement and for proper record keeping. Further, those traveling on a per diem plan also often have to create an expense report.

In addition, a full-featured expense reporting app allows you to take pictures of your expense receipts as you acquire them. This way you avoid the common mistake of losing or misplacing your expense receipts, often before you even return home.

We recommend Falcon Expenses full-featured expense tracker and reporting app for this tip. Use Falcon to quickly capture your expenses as you go. With Falcon capture expense receipts (Falcon will even enter the merchant name, date, and amount for you). Also, log billable hours with an integrated timer. Further, track mileage expenses in three different ways (including two that use GPS).

Most importantly, Falcon Expenses is fully mobile. This means, unlike other solutions, you can do everything from your phone. For example, create and edit reports or add comments, tags and categories to expenses. Further, sort and organize expenses by date, client, or tag. All of this can be done on the go right from your phone. This empowers you to get a snapshot of everything as you need it so that you never miss a beat.

Learn more about Falcon Expenses receipt management features here:
Receipt Management of Business Expenses Using Falcon Expenses

Learn how to create expenses reports with Falcon Expenses here:
How to Create an Expense Report with Falcon Expenses

Download Falcon Expenses
Falcon Expenses is free to download. If you’re on a desktop it’s best to use your iPhone and search for Falcon Expenses on the app store.

4. Make Breakfast Your Wakeup Call at Your Hotel

Falcon Expenses Founder, Brooke Sugarman, used to travel all the time for work. This one was one of her favorites.

Inside every hotel room, there is an order card you can hang on your door. On this card, you select what you would like for breakfast in the morning. You also select what time you want breakfast to be delivered. Simply select what you want for breakfast and hang it outside your hotel door the night before. The next morning you will receive a knock at the time you selected with your breakfast and morning coffee. This is another great way to relieve stress when traveling for business. Further, it helps you stay focused on what’s important, instead of finding where and what to eat in the morning.

5. Save Your Meeting Locations in Google Maps Ahead of Time

A great way to stay organized and save time is to save all of your meeting locations to Google Maps. Therefore, upon arrival at your hotel, it’s quick and easy to get an idea of how far you need to travel each day. Most mapping services will provide you with the driving distance required to get there in addition to

6. If You Have to Check a Bag, Carry on What You Need for The First Few Meetings

If you have no option but to check your bag, carry-on the important things you need. This includes the clothing and things that you need for the first two days of your trip. In addition, this includes what you need for your most important meetings and events. This is important because if your checked bag is lost you want to have what you need for your trip. Often business trips are short so your time must be respected and considered accordingly.

About Falcon Expenses

Falcon Expenses is a top-rated expense and mileage tracker app for self-employed and small businesses to track expenses and tax deductions. Falcon customers record $6,600, on average, in annual tax deductions. Get started today. The longer you wait, the more tax deductions you miss.

Automatically track mileage expenses and expenses, keep an odometer log, receipt vault and log billable hours. Quickly organize expenses by time period, project, or client. Easily create expense reports and mileage logs with your expense data for email to anyone in PDF or spreadsheet formats, all from your phone. Falcon’s expense report template is IRS compliant. Use for keeping track of tax deductions, reimbursements, taxes, record keeping, and more. Falcon Expenses is great for self-employed, small businesses, freelancers, realtors, delivery drivers, couriers, business travelers, truckers, and more.

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