Top 10 Must Haves For Road Warriors
April 23 2007 by 
Andrew Powell
- Headphones, good ones - As much time as you're going to spend on a plane, a good set of noise cancelling headphones is a must. They're also a good help for when you're in a noisy environment and need a little bit of extra focus.
- A Sturdy, dependable laptop bag - This has to be able to stand up to getting beat up again and again. It needs to be able to get you through the airport quickly and not make you be "that guy" in line at the airport.
- iPod, or other mp3 player - see item 1
- Mouse - Not some dinky travel mouse, a real honest to goodness mouse. Bluetooth if you've got it to avoid more cables than you need.
- Frequent Flyer/Hotel Rewards/Rental Car Club Membership - You travel enough, why not reap the rewards? All that travel will eventually pay off in a vacation somewhere without cell service.
- Quart Sized Ziploc Bags - Damn TSA.
- Batteries - Be it for your mouse, or your laptop, you can never have enough batteries. I generally carry a pack of AA's and a charged spare for my laptop. Between these two, I'm usually set for wherever I have to go.
- Business Cards - I've been burnt by this one a couple of times. You never know when or where you'll run into a lead.
- Broadband Modem - Hotspots are expensive. Not every hotspot is in every airport. Having a broadband modem (Sprint & Verizon are the best) will keep you from having multiple hotspot accounts and give you the flexibility to get online even when there's no wi-fi to be found.
- A suitcase that will fit (wheels first) into the overhead bins - Let's face it, time in the airport is time wasted. If you don't have wait at the carousel to get your bag, then all the better. I've been able to count less than an hour from the time the plane the touches down to the time I walk into the client's office on Monday morning. That, and it keeps you from spending any more time in the airport than you have to. I say this because I had a bad experience once where I went from ATL -> JFK -> CDG -> TXL. I ended up in Berlin, like I should have. My bags went from Paris to Rome. Never checked another bag since then.
Posted in ColdFusion | General | Speaking | Training | 
3 comments
Apr 23, 2007 at 12:00 AM <p>How about an OQO?</p>
Apr 23, 2007 at 12:00 AM <p>Although, the coolest portable mini-pc I've seen, I typically need a full powered laptop.</p>
Apr 24, 2007 at 12:00 AM <p>You mention batteries, but I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten power cords (cell phone, etc). Airport kiosks love me because I keep them in business.</p>