Recently, we came across this thread on Ask MetaFilter, full of excellent business travel advice for a soon-to-be road warrior. Among the many unique and helpful tips, we were happy to see a couple of seasoned travelers recommend using TripIt to make life on the road much easier.
The whole thread is packed with handy tricks, and here are a few of our favorites…
“Make a permanent 'generic' packing list for trips of (x) and (y) days, whatever your common lengths will be. Fill it with even the 'obvious' stuff (socks x 3, toothbrush) and amend it after each trip to make it better. After many revisions, you will have the *perfect* packing list for any trip.” – courtesy of rokusan
“Phone chargers: hands down, this has been my most forgotten item. But you know who has a ton of them? Your friendly hotel desk operator. Often they have an entire box in the lost and found (heck, they probably collect a dozen a week), and will let you have one if you know to ask.” – courtesy of deludingmyself
“Get in the habit of dedicating a particular zippered pocket in one of your bags (always a carry on, just in case) as the place where you put receipts. At the end of every day gather up your receipts and shove them there. You'll thank yourself for keeping them all together when it comes time to fill out your expense report.” – courtesy of FlamingBore
If you need help with your travel expense reports, you may also want to check out TripIt’s API partner ExpenseCloud. It’s a free app that integrates your TripIt data (such as airfare, hotel and rental car information) with automated expense reports. Learn more about ExpenseCloud and other TripIt API partners here.
Do you have any special tricks that keep you sane when you’re traveling a lot? Comment on this blog post and share your expertise with other travelers!
And if you have ideas that would help us make TripIt more useful, please send us your feedback.
Use the 'Notepad' app on your smartphone to create a document called 'Airport Parking'. When you park your car at the airport, record in there the date, the parking space location and what shuttle picked you up. When you get back to that airport where your car is, just follow the steps in reverse and you will be right back at your car.
Posted by: Greggasmith | September 08, 2010 at 01:59 PM
Instead of using notepad to capture your parking spot, use the camera on your cell phone. Quicker and easier.
Posted by: Sooner Magic | October 01, 2010 at 10:04 AM
These are really great traveling tips. I am forgetful most especially with travel miscellaneous expenses. It drives me crazy trying to remember each one of them.
Posted by: SMS Marketing | August 04, 2011 at 09:41 AM
My family travels a lot. I love using my phone to my advantage because I keep it with me all the time so these tips are really great.
Posted by: SMS Marketing | August 07, 2011 at 09:19 AM