Business travel: Making your tech work for you

Maximising your productivity while travelling - basically making life easier for yourself - is all about the way you manage your tech. 

RL360 has put together some simple tips to help make your tech work for you while you’re on the move. 

• Connect

Ironically, nowhere can you feel more disconnected from the world than an airport so, wherever possible, try and get yourself access to an airport lounge, whether as a frequent flyer or on a one day pass. It means you can use the free wifi in comfort, plus there are power points for charging and TV news, often with coverage of the markets, to keep you up to date. If you are not able to access an airport lounge or have no need to due to short length of stay, try to find a seat near plug sockets (tip: there’s often one by the bathrooms for use by the cleaners) and/or sit outside the lounge to take advantage of the free wifi (that is, if there isn’t free wifi areas outside of the lounges). To connect more than one device to paid for public wifi, such as at airports or in your hotel, without breaking the bank, you could always invest in a wifi networking device. This allows you to pay once and then tap into your own private network with as many devices as you please. 

• Power up

Power is key when travelling – ideally you need a charger that will power up all of your devices, and fast. Obviously plug in adaptors are useful, but also consider a battery pack device which you can use on the go for that little bit of extra energy. 

• Don’t get tangled up

Your tech, while vital when travelling, is going to hold you up at security. Keep a pocket of your carry on empty so you can dump your phone, tablet etc into it just before you go through the scanner. This is also going to be useful for your wallet, passport and change. And why not arrange your tech neatly into your case with one of the assortment of organisation systems on the market. They’re usually simple slim inserts for your case, which hold your devices and chargers in place with elastic bands, but they make everything so much more neat and easy to manage. 

• Knowledge is power

Make use of airport, airline and other travel apps, for example maps, flight departure information and travel connections. They all come in useful when trying to navigate your way through a busy airport. The same applies when visiting a city you’re not familiar with. There are nearly always apps covering transport systems, good hotel guides, as well as restaurants and amenities such as golf courses and meeting spaces. Do some research before you set off and it will pay off later – you’ll save time and, if you’re meeting a client/business contact, will be able to impress with your inside knowledge. Remember, all the better if you can find offline versions of the apps. 

• Plan ahead

Make sure whatever systems you are using, for instance for a presentation, will be supported at the other end. If you need a projector screen, let them know, if you’ll need access to their wifi, contact them in advance and warn them. Pocket projectors are also available for presentations on the go. Most produce HD video and connect to all HDMI-based devices. 

• Lose some weight

Invest in lightweight kit. Tech is supposed to be there to make your life easier, not make you wish you’d left it behind, so if possible buy lightweight. Tablets are great for this and wifi enabled tablet keyboard accessories make them a viable business travel option. But if you need to take your laptop with you, it’s worth going for a compact version for travel. They tend to power up quicker too… 

• Sit back, relax, and enjoy

And, finally, it’s not all work, work, work. Make sure you bring something with you for when you’re enjoying downtime, either on the plane or at the hotel. iPod, e-reader, a USB video streamer device which plugs into most modern TVs and allows you to stream video content from your laptop or smartphone via wifi, it’ll all help you relax and unwind so you’re ready to tackle the work ahead of you. 

• And finally….. 3 really useful travel gadgets
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1. Translators – Sigmo is a portable gadget that can translate 25 languages in real time. Another option is Google Translate, which can be downloaded to your smartphone. Perhaps neither are to be relied upon when it comes to the vagaries of idioms or colloquialisms, nevertheless they will definitely help you find your way around a foreign city.

2. Wifi hotspot jewellery – No, this isn’t something out of a James Bond film, these gadgets really exist outside of Q’s lab. For instance, Ravi Ratan make cufflinks, one of which is a 2GB mini USB and the other provides your own personal wifi hotspot.

3. Luggage monitors – With this handy little device you can track your checked baggage anywhere your mobile phone works. Trakdot Luggage Tracker will even send you text messages to let you know that your baggage has arrived along with you at your destination.

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