Travelling, even for work is fun and exciting. However, you need to be effectively prepared before the trip to enjoy the trip.
Preparation for work-trips is however much more difficult for a working mom. You need to plan on child care, communication, emergencies a, pumping and other necessities that you need to carry.
This guide with simple crucial steps will help you prepare effectively to travel for work trips.
Step by Step Guide in Preparing for Work Trips
1. Get Advance Notice for Your Work Trip
As a mom, you cannot afford to go on an impromptu work trip. You need adequate notice especially for any trip taking several days. The notice allows you to plan for the variety of work and personal aspects.
Therefore demand that your employer always give you ample notice for any work-related travel to allow you to put a plan into place for the days you will be away on the trip.
2. Put your Office in Order
For you to have an effective work trip, you must ensure that your office is well taken care in your absence. Clear off emergency tasks on your desk and delegate the others till you are back. You also need to have someone on standby in the office to get back to should you need office-related assistance while on the trip.
Further get the right clearance or dispatch for travel from your HR or supervisor.
3. Plan for Childcare during the Trip
You need to come up with a plan on who will care for your kids when you are away. It will depend on your current home and child care situation.
- If you child is already at daycare, you need to someone to drop them in the morning and pick them up in the evening.
- You also need someone to stay with the kids at night; this will mostly likely be your partner
- If you live alone you may need someone to come over and spend the night with your child. It could be you a nanny, baby sitter, family member or friend
4. Notify Key People About the Work Trip
It is important that you contact and notify key people in your life about your work trip. This is particularly important if you are traveling out of the country or for an extended period of time. Doing so is critical in case of an emergency while you are away.
The people should tell that you are taking a work trip include your partner, family, colleagues and your close friends.
5. Pack Key Essentials for the Work Trip
It is important that while travelling for work, you bring with you the essentials for work and stay. Forgetting essentials items may inconvenience your work or delay it.
Create a list beforehand to ensure you do not miss anything once you start packing. Also, you minimize incurring additional costs while you are on the work trip if you forget an essential item and have to buy it.
Read: Childcare Options for Single Moms Travelling for Work
Travel lightly and focus on minimal packing by packing only what is essential. Test if you can lift your luggage yourself.
Pack your personal and work list items separately to avoid mix-ups and ruffling.
Minimalist Personal Packing List For Travelling Moms
- Phone- don’t forget to pack
- Toiletry bag – tissues, sanitary pads, wipes, etc. Crucial during your trip
- Identity card and traveling documents- you must remember to pack this
- Credit cards and petty cash- these comes in handy during your travel
- Phone charger and emergency power backup- remember to pack this
- Entertainment- iPod, earphones, etc.-it comes in handy when you are bored during your work trip
- Water, snacks, mint- necessary as you travel
- Makeup kit- you may need it to freshen up during your work trip
- Meds- vitamins, painkillers, etc.- necessary especially is you are prone to travel sicknesses
- Others; Toothbrush/toothpaste, body lotion, innerwear, etc.- very necessary so remember to pack
- Clothing’s –item number will depend on the duration of the trip; item type will depend on nature or job and destination weather, culture, etc.
If you are still breastfeeding you will need to carry your breast pump. You can definitely express breast milk when on work trips.
You will need to pump out breast milk for your comfort reasons. If you have storage option, you can actually keep and bring the milk back home to your child. If not you will need to pour the time.
Minimalist Work Packing List For Travelling Moms
- Laptop, projector, power extension, etc. – You should remember to pack these items
- Necessary work documents- very important as you do your work away from office
- Stationery- notebook, pens- remember to pack these necessities
- Business cards- may come in handy during your work trip
- Others-any other item relevant to your field and work trip purpose
Tips for Moms on Preparing for Work Trip Emergencies
A. Have Emergency Contacts
You need to have an emergency number where your family or friends can call if they are unable to reach you. It can include contacts of someone you are traveling with, a traveling agent, or contact at the destination such as the hotel.
Further, you need emergency contacts of reaching your family should they be unreachable. Your office should have these emergency contacts too.
B. Have Extra Money in Cash
Any work trip can be very unpredictable. As a working mom you may find yourself in a situation where you need to use cash urgently. Therefore in addition to credit cards, have some adequate money in cash in different denominations with you.
It is difficult to know how much money you need for such but $100 in the local destination currency is recommended.
C. Confirm Location and Contacts Before Starting your Work Trip
Have your locations and meeting times confirmed before leaving for the trip. Further, know how to get to these destinations. Also, call/notify your local contact beforehand.
D. Have the Right Work Trip Insurance Ready
Anything or any emergency may come up when you are your trip. Check if your insurance company has you covered for any medical or health issues while you’re traveling for work.
If not, consider purchasing a limited medical cover for the trip should you have a medical emergency while traveling.
E. Have Easily Accessible Means of Communication
Purchase an adequate amount of phone calling card. This will come in handy, in case you get stuck somewhere and don’t have any access to your phone or money
F. Have Digital Copies of your Documents for Easy Access
Store copies of critical information such as identity cards, credit cards, travel documents, essential work documents on the cloud. You will be able to access them from anywhere via the internet in case of an emergency.
You may save them on your email or cloud hosting such as drop box.
