I've been a work from home consultant now since 2010 (since eduFire failed to raise its series A round). And, as such, I haven't done much travel / "Road Warrior" activities. Now, in the span of two weeks, I find myself on the road again and here are the first things I've learned:

  1. Use Your iPad as GPS. If you travel with both an iPAD and an iPhone then use your iPad as your gps – always. Why?
    • Larger screen (but 2nd gen ipads are hard to read with sunglasses; keep that in mind)
    • When you're driving frantically and you need your gps, taking a phone call doesn't mute the directions thus causing you to miss your exit
    • And you can talk to your kids while you're rushing to a meeting without getting lost
  2. Take the EZ Pass. I am fundamentally opposed to EZ Pass. What could have been built as an anonymous device was instead built to easily allow anyone to track all your movements. Despite this, its damn convenient so while I won't have one at home, I see no problem with using one when I'm on the road. Its only $2.99 / day + tolls.
  3. Everything In Your Laptop Bag at All Times. Always keep everything you might need when traveling in your laptop bag. I knew this but ignored it and I found myself in a rental car without a USB charging socket and a dead phone. Oy. Now I have that, a power strip, a full laptop charger, etc.
  4. Screwdrivers. Add a small regular and phillips screw driver to your laptop bag. My suitcase broke on the road and I was utterly without tools. Rarely has this engineer felt quite so impotent. Not pleasant.
  5. Add snacks to your bag. You never know when you're going to find yourself stuck in an airport at 1:00 am w/o a place to get food…