So, you’re about to head off on a business trip. You’ve done wonders arranging your flights, accommodation and itinerary. Your flight leaves at a reasonable hour, your transfers to and from the airport are arranged and you’ve even managed a cushy suite in a preferred hotel.
Now the only thing standing between you and a profitable business trip is a 15 hour long flight. If that thought doesn’t fill you with dread, we don’t know what will!
No one enjoys being stuck in a metal tube for 15 hours with hundreds of other people, but here are 4 tricks that can help you survive your next round-the-world plane trip.
1. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to sleep on the journey
In theory, exhausting yourself before boarding a long flight and then sleeping for the whole journey sounds like the perfect plan. Time goes quickly and you wake up a couple of hours before landing refreshed and ready to take on the world. In reality however, this is almost never going to happen. You have no way of knowing which over-excited children, crying babies or chatty humans will be sitting next to you (even if you’re in business class!). It’s always best to be tolerant, patient and most importantly well-rested when you get on that plane so you’re ready for anything once you board.
2. Pack some offline work to do mid-flight
With such a large block of time to kill, long-haul flights provide a great opportunity to get some offline work, editing or reading done which you may not have time to do once you reach your destination. You’ll want to avoid carrying too many bulky items like large books or folders in your carry-on bag, so keep your reading material to a minimum. If you want to go completely paperless, take your laptop.
3. Take the Olympian’s approach: keep your fluids up and stretch!
It’s essential when travelling on a long-haul flight to not only minimise your discomfort but to also minimise your recovery time once you disembark. To avoid dehydration and stiffness, be proactive in keeping your fluid intake up while on your journey. And yes we mean water…not the complimentary red wine! Walk up and down the aisles and stretching every couple of hours are also important for reducing the impact that your longer flights have on the rest of your trip.
4. Invest in some noise-cancelling headphones and an airplane adaptor
There’s no denying it, planes can be very noisy places. Even if there are no crying babies or passengers with loud coughs, the sound of the plane is loud enough to cause distraction. While they do the job, the headphones provided by airlines aren’t exactly top of the line. They don’t do a whole lot to cancel out plane noise and oftentimes can be quite uncomfortable to wear. Investing in a pair of quality noise cancelling headphones and an airplane adaptor allows you to block out that annoying background noise whether you want to use the in-flight entertainment system or listen to podcasts on your own device.
Next time you need to take a long-haul flight for your international business travel, try these easy tricks to ensure you survive your round the world journey! For more tips on how to take the hassle out of your small business travel, contact us today or check out our blog for more great SME business travel content!