So I am a part-time road-warrior: Once a month I drive five hours away to our company’s research headquarters and spend a couple of days there.
As I was packing my junk for this afternoon’s drive, I was amazed at the amount of crap I lug around for a two-day stay.
I take along a sports bag with three changes of clothing and sufficient skivvies and socks and such.
I take along a second sports bag with running gear (shoes, two shorts, white sox, skivs, t-shirts)
Of course, there’s the computer bag and all of its associated paraphernalia
Once during a sales meeting, my father’s boss reminded the sales staff to always carry a snow shovel with them, because he was sick and tired of the company always paying for tow trucks every winter. He turned to my father and said “do you have your snow shovel?”
My father said, totally deadpan, “I left it at home. It’s August. I felt lucky.”
I do a lot of traveling but still have not perfected the art of traveling light. I’ve resolved that next time I’m just going to take a smaller suitcase that will force me to pack less. Honestly, I always end up taking clothes that I just don’t end up wearing (usually I’ll be traveling for a couple of months at a time) but I still delude myself that I’m packing extra shoes or another dress so I’ll be prepared for any possible situation that could come up. I swear to God that next summer I’m packing one carry-on size suitcase and one backpack and that’s it.
I travel a lot by small plane, and tend to bring a collection of stuff (I think some of it’s cool). Last week I flew an 15+ hour trip, part of it crossing the Rockies. Here’s a short list of what went in the plane with me.
Small survival kit (water, food bars, 1st aid)
Box of additional water bottles, in case an “off-airport” landing resulted in a long wait.
Spare handheld communication radio, and aviation GPS receiver. Part of the trip went thru Hermine (hard rain), and small plane electrical systems don’t have a lot of redundancy. I have a fear of water working its way into something, and having everything go “poof”.
Spare oxygen bottle, in addition to the main one. A large portion of the flight was at high altitudes due to turbulence, and almost had to use this one* when the main bottle got low.
Lots of cold weather gear, and even a sleeping bag. In case of #2 (above), or a failure of the cabin heater (it’s cold up there).
*Note to self: Don’t store it in the rear luggage compartment next time. :smack:
Pool cue and a take-down putter. (golf - not a cute shortened form of computer) The usual clothes and stuff although I will admit to going light on all that.
(italics mine)
Just wanted to comment: I didn’t notice this when I first read the OP and when I saw it referenced below, my reaction was along the lines of “jeez… why do you bring THAT on a road trip???” :eek: ;).
I travel maybe once a month for work. My gear includes:
Laptop and power cord
mobile broadband dongle
USB memory stick
iPod charger and cable
Phone charger (one wall, one car)
Phone and iPods (yes, two: iTouch for PDA/fun stuff, Nano for night-time listening)
Two days’ (or whatever) of business clothes
Nightwear, one casual outfit, and if I’m feeling ambitious, workout clothing.
Swimsuit if the hotel has an indoor pool.
The usual toiletries
CPAP and a jug of water
Beverages for hotel and daytime at client site
Beverages and munchies for the drive
Medications
All this fits in, lessee
purse
laptop bag
overnight bag
CPAP bag
one or two grocery bags
Needless to say, it takes me a couple of trips to lug everything in from the car even for one night.
I’m Mr. Preparedness and Mr. Paranoid.
I work some with my county Emergency Management agency.
I’m in charge of my county’s Emergency Command Post. Big trailer full of EmComm gear we drag out after terrorist attacks and runaway brides.
I have 1 radio go-kit with scads of radio equipment, first aid, and other supplies. Drop me off at a shelter or fire station and I can keep communications going and have food and supplies for 4-5 days, self-contained. TP included!
I also have a first-aid and rescue kit with paramedic-level equipment. Still need a halligan bar if anyone has an extra.
Basically, if you have a medium-serious to bad crash, or plunge your car into a river, or have some small disaster, I’m the guy you want driving by just after.
I’ll pull you out, stop your bleeding, call the ambulance, and fade away when the pros arrive.
Just to drag things slightly more away from the OP, if you’re interested in being prepared for when Bad Things happen, please look in your area for an ARESgroup if you’re a ham, and a CERTgroup if you’re not.
Being prepared for trouble makes all the difference in the world, even if it’s only for you and your family or neighbor.
Bosstone got it right. As soon as I posted the OP, I realized that it could sound like I had loads of people in the room with me. No, I was rockin’ solo, with headphones.
Now I feel so inadequate, bringing a guitar to such a hard core scene :).
I’m glad that my ho-hum travels to the corporate mother ship are so bland in comparison to adventures that require the kit that pullin packs.
I like the pool cue and putter. That’s the kind of cool stuff I was thinking of—it shows a little bit about your off-hours hobbies that you can bring along.
But all of the public safety and rescue stuff is awesome too. I do want someone such as ducati following me in the event of an unfortunate accident. Rock on!
Well, when I hit the road, it’s usually for months at a time. I’ve been on the road for almost 14 months now. So brought my car, my wife, my dog, my desktop computer, my personal electronics, enough clothes, and enough to be comfortable for long period of time.
When I go home every once in a while, I can travel very, very, light, since I have another desktop at home, clothes, and everything I need there. So it’s usually my phone and my external hard drive.
I’m not a survivalist, just a guy with enough useful clutter to accidentally come in handy.
[ul]
[li]gallon of water[/li][li]knife[/li][li]flashlight[/li][li]hiking boots[/li][li]thick leather mittens[/li][li]blankets[/li][li]LifeHammer[/li][li]Purell[/li][li]atlas[/li][li]black trash bags[/li][li]I also don’t think I’m ever in my truck without my HTC Incredible and car charger.[/li][/ul]
Nowhere near as cool as The Bloodhound Gang’s list:
No change of clothes but change for tolls
Pack of No-Doz Rolos and Skoal
Old Milwaukee Jolt black coffee
Sugar Daddy Rand McNally
A pack of jacks those orange Tic-Tacs
Glen Miller tracks roll of Kodak
The phantom black stacked Pontiac
Hot rod dual quads and in the back
Is the beat keeper big ass speaker
Jumbo woofer rattle tweeter
I travel a lot. Currently I pack one suitcase with four shirts and two pants, plus underwear and socks. I have a briefcase / laptop bag, which holds laptop, mouse, charger. I have a second small bag that holds toiletries and an extra pair of shoes, which I leave back at the hotel when I go home for the weekend. I pack one t-shirt to sleep in and another light shirt or two for time out of the office. Sometimes I’ll have a book with me, sometimes not. I do carry a light portable charger for my BlackBerry. That’s really about it. I probably should also have a light jacket or sweater or something since it gets cool here at night, but so far I have failed to bring one.
Interesting timing on the thread, I’m about to start a loooooooong few months of being on the road. Between now and January I’ll have just weekends and one random week in November that I’m not traveling.
I bring with me for one week:
In my suitcase:
Five work shirts (it’s good to have an extra)
Two pairs of work pants (plus the ones I wear the day I leave…three pairs is plenty)
Undies and socks (extras of those, too)
A couple casual shirts and a pair of jeans (I don’t like wearing my work clothes when not at work.)
Work shoes and a pair of sneakers
Swim trunks if there’s a pool
And in my bag:
Laptop+charger+travel mouse+external hard drive
Android phone+cable+wall charger+car charger+cable to plug into car stereo (though only 3 of the company cars have the aux input, but sometimes I luck out and get one of those)
Some sort of book
Nintendo DS+a few games+charger
;).
