For the über-Road Warriors - those who spend their lives on the road

Our guest blogger, Greg Wesson tells us how to have clean clothes during a trip.

I hate checking bags.  Most frequent business travelers do.  SITA, a Swiss consulting company to the airline industry recently reported that about 1% of checked bags go missing.  In the past year, I checked bags on 10 flights, and had two of them go missing.  Those of you swift at math will note that's actually a 20% mishandling, but I suppose someone has to pull the averages up.

Those statistics are why you see so many business travelers pushing and shoving to be the first people on the plane.  When you are on a plane with 106 passengers each with a laptop bag and a 22-inch roller bag and there is a limited amount of overhead space, you need to get there first. Otherwise you may find your bag stranded with nowhere to fit, and a flight attendant bearing down on you saying those awful words, "we can put that down in the hold for you, sir."  Hold?  More like a black hole.

I've been at this for a while now, and I can easily pack for a 5 days business trip into my 20-inch carry on with no problems, usually have space left over.  Like Melissa Petri, I like to turn my business trip into a mini-vacation and stay a few weekends away from home for some sightseeing, and that requires clothes, shoes and cameras that won't all fit into my carry-on.  

I also hate paying outrageous prices to get my clothes clean.  Even if my company graciously offers to pay for hotel cleaning, I balk at paying the price.  It's a matter of principle - no one should have to pay seven dollars to get a pair of pants pressed. 

Have I whined enough already?  No, not yet.  I have one more complaint.  When I am out of town for 4 or 5 days a week, it irks me to waste 2 hours of my precious weekend at home doing laundry when I could be out visiting with my family or friends.  Especially when I consider that I spent Wednesday in my hotel room watching American Idol and The Sopranos and surfing the web.  

So is there anything the business traveler can do about these complaints?  If you are heading back and forth from the same location for multiple weeks in a row, then yes!  

I drop off my shirts and slacks at a local dry cleaners on the way to the airport before catching my flight home.  I can then pick up my dry cleaning on Monday when I arrive back in town.  My clothes are clean, pressed and ready to hang in the hotel closet, and my luggage was lighter on my flights.  

With my shirts and pants at the cleaners, I've freed up room in my carry-on and I can bring down additional clothes and shoes for my personal time on nights or on a weekend when I stay without having to check a bag.  

Hotels will clean your undershirts, workout shorts, socks and underwear, but the prices are as outrageous as the dry cleaning prices they charge.  Most hotels, however, have a self-service guest laundry room that they don't advertise.  For a couple bucks, you can do your own laundry on a night when you'd just be sitting around in your hotel room anyway, and free up some time on the weekend at home for personal matters.  If you do your laundry the night before you leave the hotel to head home, you can just leave a checked bag at the hotel with your clean clothes, lightening your load even more.  Couple this with a duplicate set of toiletries, and you may not need to bring home a bag of clothes at all!  

If you aren't traveling back and forth from the same places every week, you can still take some advantage of these methods.  Instead of doing a load of laundry before heading out of town on business, pack your bag with dirty clothes.  Upon arrival at your destination city, drop off your dry cleaning for same-day service.  By the time you leave the office at night, your clothes will be clean and pressed - saving you time at home before the trip and freeing you from having to iron your clothes.  You can also wash your dirty undershirts and underwear when you arrive at your hotel room the first night - giving you fresh laundry for the rest of the trip.

Previous entry by Greg Wesson: Introduction

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