‘Grab and Go’ is an expression we often hear when someone talks about convenient foods. However, a ‘grab and go’ can have a positive effect on our wellbeing when we reframe it to suit business travel readiness.
September is National Preparedness Month and advice to keep a bag of essential supplies to be ‘grabbed’ in an emergency, has been issued by Police Scotland. The value of the ‘preparedness’ advocated by the ‘Grab and Go’ initiative seems particularly relevant to me, having just returned from a travel trip plagued with reschedules and delays. Their suggested items are similar those I regularly include in my business travel bag – and offer a good reminder about what might be needed.
Food
I’m a big advocate of taking my own snacks. I try to avoid carrying extra weight, so small bags of raw nuts, with and without dried fruit, are with me always. My recent travel itinerary was complicated and my final flight home delayed by a few hours. I’d shared my snack supply days before and the food vouchers issued for delayed flights means huge queues and nowhere to sit. Lesson learned: snack supplies need topping up while travelling!
Water
I mostly avoid buying vending machine water bottles as I can re-use one purchased bottle many times. Most airports have water stations post-security, some are hard to find, like the one by the toilets at Gatwick North Terminal, or in the washrooms, like Inverness. Generally, it’s possible to refill our own bottles but not always. I should, but haven’t yet, plucked up the courage to have Google translate ask if my bottle could be filled with drinking water, whilst buying a coffee. However we acquire it, a supply of water is a must in our business travel bag.
Medication/first aid kit
I keep a small bag with paracetamol, travel sickness tablets (I’m the first to get queasy on a bumpy flight) and strong mints. The ‘suck, swallow, breath’ response we learn immediately after birth has a calming effect in stressful situations, one tube of mints can last me a year, but always welcome when needed.
Documents
Obviously.
Seasonal Clothing
A few comic tweets have suggested this include the likes of Halloween outfits, probably not for us business travellers, although it can be cold on a flight so I’ll always take an extra layer.
On a long haul journey, I’ll also include spare underwear and an extra T-shirt as I’ve had to buy both when flights have been cancelled mid-journey.
Toiletries
We have to be careful with the 100ml liquids limit on flights, but cleansing wet wipes (properly disposed of) and small toothbrush/paste I often carry.
Phone charger, radio, torch
The Scottish police make these separate items but I’m hoping that my phone – with the possible help of the charger, will be able to cover me for any situation where these will be needed.
Pen and note pad
I always carry a retractable biro, never a note pad but I often end up scribbling notes on random bits of paper. A suggestion from The Guardian was crossword puzzles, I do like to carry a few cut out from the previous week’s newspapers. They can sit in my bag for months, but like the mints, are very welcome when the need arises.
The ‘grab and go’ initiative was devised as part of a ‘resilience awareness campaign’. When travelling for business we often need a good dose of resilience and a reminder to include plenty of ‘preparedness’ is a good idea.
© Executive Travel Vitality 2019
