November 3rd, 2006 in Lifehack
Micro Hacks for Travel- a Potpourri
Here are some things I’ve learned while traveling. They’re just little tidbits that might make your days go smoother:
- On your cell phone, rename your significant other’s contact listing to read - Firstname, Lastname-CallForEmergency (so that they know who to call if someone finds you injured).
- Take 10 or so feet of duct tape with you in your travel kit, wrapped upon itself in a nice, compact fold that looks like a wallet. Use it for lots of things (closing pesky hotel curtains, lint brush, cup holders for airplane seatbacks).
- While on longer flights, draft emails you’ve meant to write offline, either in Outlook, or in a text editor for web-mail users.
- Watch internet TV without wifi by using a browser that downloads the content, like FireAnt. Free entertainment on long flights.
- Always weigh time vs. money vs. ease of use- It might take longer to get a bus, but a taxi might cost more, but in the end, the taxi’s probably faster to the mark.
- Make good early first impressions with tipping (valet, room service, etc), and you can ride that good will for the duration of your trip, even if you tip a little less the rest of the stay.
- Spend the extra few bucks on your cell phone for the GPS service. It makes travel in all those other cities so much easier, and you fret less.
- Use a service like Twitter to keep in contact with folks while traveling, sending updates and whereabouts via SMS. It lets family feel connected, and it helps colleagues figure out where you are.
- Take along healthy energy bars for the plane and for emergency situations. That way, you’re never in that “I’m starving” or nauseous state.
- Recharge often. You never know when you’ll go a long time without “juice.”
What are some other travel tips, the tiny kind, that you’d share with me. I am, after all, traveling.
–Chris Brogan is community developer for Network2. He tries to write often here at Lifehack.org, and keeps a blog at [chrisbrogan.com]
Tags: 
Loading ...
Comments
Chris says on November 3rd, 2006 at 11:01 am
“On your cell phone, rename your significant other’s contact listing to read (so that they know who to call if someone finds you injured).”
To read what???
Ryan says on November 3rd, 2006 at 12:11 pm
You might want to change the fireant link.
Doug says on November 3rd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
The FireAnt link is http://FireAnt.tv
Doug says on November 3rd, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Link for the download: http://FireAnt.tv/download
chris m says on November 3rd, 2006 at 4:16 pm
Being a gay man, I worry about the whole “gettin’ hit by a bus and someone grabbing my cell phone doesn’t know who to call” issue…
So I’ve programmed my partner’s number not under his name, but under “Wife” so that a quick scan of my recent calls would make it apparent who I want to know of my untimely demise. =)
Mikhail Subach says on November 3rd, 2006 at 11:57 pm
It is also good idea to take an excellent book with you. During traveling you will have a plenty of time for reading, the time you do not have at home. I manage to read the whole book during four hours of traveling - and you can read even more, if you read faster then I am :). Also reading is a more intelligent choice then watching TV, isn’t it?
Vicki says on November 4th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
After absolutely every trip out of town, I make notes of what worked well and what might have made things better for us.
Since my husband is handicapped, this has proven to be very important, esp for the little things. When flying we get seats where I am in front of him because he has to pull on my seat when he is getting up — saves annoying a stranger! My need to check on and assist him gives me a bit more activity than I otherwise might get on a plane, and people are usually ready to help us — they offer to trade seats so we can sit together, and although we decline the offer, it creates a good feeling, and then when we have to debark, these same people are particularly courteous about getting him up and off the plane.
We always carry in printed form a list of his medications, allergies, medical history and diagnoses. Overseas, we also take the printouts from the drugstore with information about the medications, because some meds are known by different names elsewhere.
We have developed routines for car travel and, as much as one can in these changing times, for air travel. Because he can’t go through the metal detector, we know to allow extra time for security to check him out. In fact, one of our best tips is to allow plenty time for everything, and take a good book.
josh says on November 4th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
I keep track of favorite places to eat, or unique places within a city I want to visit again when there. I save it on a note in my outlook system. Each note has the city name first so that is the saved note name. Then it is filled with info of places I like in the city-name, address, phone, etc. I use it on return trips, or to tell friends of great places to visit if I hear they are going there. I also use this to keep track of favorite wines .
Neal Dench says on November 6th, 2006 at 12:49 am
There’s actually an internationally recognised way of putting your emergency number(s) into your phone: ICE (in case of emergency). ASAIK this is used by emergency services as well as individuals — certainly in the UK — so I would encourage everyone to use it.
So, put into your cellphone entries such as ICE - Wife, ICE - partner, ICE - parents, and so on. You can have as many as you want. The reason for putting ICE first, of course, is because no-one will know which name to search under using any other method. ICE ensures that a helper just has to look under I to find something they can use.
Andrew Cardwell says on November 6th, 2006 at 2:41 am
On your cell phone you should rename your emergency contact with a prefix of ICE. (ICE = In Case of Emergency) it’s the international standard started in the UK by a paramedic after 7/7 tube attacks in London. So mine is “ICE-Wife”.
Lea says on August 5th, 2007 at 5:18 am
To get the best seats on an airline (or at least try to), I use http://www.seatguru.com to check out good versus bad ones. You can see which seats have power points, which ones fully recline versus those that don’t and which bulkhead or emergency exit seats are preferable. As a LIP (Location Independent Professional) who works on the go, this has been an invaluable tool!