Business trip packing

The list adapts to you

When you add it, the checklist asks a couple of questions and keeps only the items that fit your situation.

• Traveling internationally? NoYes

What's inside

1. Business outfits by day plus one spare

   Lay out by meeting: one outfit per day plus a spare for the coffee spill. Wrinkle-resistant fabrics save you the iron.

2. Dress shoes — broken in

   New shoes on negotiation day is the classic mistake. Toss a shoe wipe in your bag.

3. Laptop and charger

   Put the charger in the bag NOW, not 'later' — it's the most-forgotten business trip item.

4. Presentations offline and on a USB drive

   Meeting-room Wi-Fi dies the second you present. A local copy on the laptop plus a USB stick for someone else's computer.

5. Cloud backup of your materials

   If the laptop is lost or dies, everything important should open from your phone.

6. Meeting calendar with time zones checked

   Verify every meeting: 10 a.m. in whose time zone? Add addresses and organizer contacts.

7. Meeting addresses and contacts — offline

   Save addresses, floors, names and phone numbers so they open without internet.

8. Keep receipts and boarding passes for expenses

   Start an envelope or folder on day one: taxi and hotel receipts, boarding passes. Recovering them later is pain.

9. Liquids under 100 ml for carry-on

   Business trips usually fly carry-on only. All liquids in 100 ml minis inside a clear bag.

10. Test your accesses and VPN before departure

    Corporate VPN, email, CRM — log in from every device while you're still home near IT support.

11. Set up roaming or an eSIM

    You need data the moment you land: taxis, meetings, calls. Sort the plan before takeoff, not at the airport.

12. Power bank

    A day of meetings kills the phone by lunch. Power banks go in carry-on only.

13. Business cards

    Even in the LinkedIn era people still ask at in-person meetings. A stack weighs nothing.

14. Headphones with a microphone

    Calls from hotels and airports without a headset are torture for everyone on the line.

15. Notebook and pen

    Typing on your phone in a meeting looks like texting. Paper reads as respect.

16. Plan the airport-to-hotel leg

    Save the hotel address offline and know your options: ride-hail, express train, transfer. After a red-eye you won't want to think.

17. Passport and visa Yes

    Check passport validity and whether you need a business visa or visa-free/tourist entry suffices.

18. Plug adapter for the destination Yes

    Look up the socket type ahead: presenting on a dead laptop is a bad opener.

19. Currency and a card that works abroad Yes

    Some cash for taxis and tips plus a card you've confirmed works at the destination.

20. Offline translator with the local language Yes

    Download the language pack ahead: taxi drivers and restaurants don't guarantee English.