Leaving Las Vegas!!

I just got back from a gruelling trip from the UK to Las Vegas. Knowing that the flights alone would be taxing on the old energy reserves, even before we get into the Las Vegas party lifestyle, I swotted up on some tips for how to get through with body and mind in tact. Here is what I learned and (mostly) put into practice!

1. Book carefully - Cheapest is not always best. Look carefully at your itinery - would you even be able to make those connections? Would you have to get up stupidly early? Are you going to have to fly 1000 miles in the wrong direction? Are you expected to wait 5 hours in airports? For the sake of $100 it might be worth a more comfortable route. I made this mistake, and now I advise you to pay that little extra!
2. Prepare - It’s important that you have all your documents, packing, schedule and money all sorted out in advance. Know where you need to be, when, and with what at every stage. The logistics for a long flight with lots of connections is considerably more complicated than a quick weekend trip with a passport, spare pair of pants and a credit card. Work out how you are going to get from your door to your destination.
3. Work in advance - As far as possible book and check in well in advance. Because of a mix up none of the airlines I was flying with would take responsibility for me which meant I could not check in online. This meant by the time I got things sorted out I had to take whichever seats were left. IE. the bad ones. With no leg room (at all). For all 14 hours of flying. Not good.
4. Think Jetlag - For most normal mortals jetlag is inevitable but you can mitigate the effects. Avoid caffeine and diaretics. Drink lots of water. Try to get lots of sleep before you fly - a lot of the impact attributed to jetlag is in fact caused by early starts, late nights, and travel stress. When you get to your destination try to get lots of sunlight and attempt to sleep at local time. Sunlight resets your body clock, and getting into a routine early can really help you adjust.
5. Take entertainment - You might have a LOT of waiting around. If, like me, you are too stingy to fly a quality airline then you are going to have to entertain yourself even in flight. Take books, an iPhone loaded up with interesting apps, and maybe even some work. I load my iPhone with PDF ebooks and productivity software. Fill those hours rather than watch the awful laid on video or annoy the passengers around you with chitchat..
6. Make the trip worthwhile - Know before you set out what your goal is for the trip. If it is work, what do you want to get out of it? If the trip is pleasure, what do you want to see and do? My trip was for networking so I geeked out and made a networking list in Excel. With our next trip it is for sightseeing so we have bought a bunch of guidebooks and planned a priority list of stuff we want to see and do.
7. Pack appropriately - People told me to pack light. Other folks told me to prepare for all opportunities (even down to renting a suit). I chose to only take what I absolutely knew I needed. There was no way I was going to attend anything that required a tuxedo, and besides, I hate checking in bags if I don’t need to! Pack for your circumstances, then take a credit card for anything last minute.
8. Know your route - The bigger the trip the more directions you need. From your home to the airport. From parking to your terminal. Making layovers and connections. Airport to hotel. Hotel to destination. It is far less stressfull to know all this stuff in advance. For example sometimes when making a connection you go from one gate to the next, other times you have to go all the way out of the airport, hop on a little train, then go all the way back through security and so on. Knowing beforehand can reduce your stress.
9. Stay connected - Does your telephone work in your destination? Do you have enough call time? Can you get wifi? At our conference there were several hotels to choose from but I chose the one with free internet connectivity rather than the included breakfast. Lucky for me as my telephone ran out of call time and my network did not allow me to top it up any more than I had already paid - I was nearly stranded without being able to make calls, and the hotel wifi allowed me to call my family using skype.
10. Share - It’s always much easier if you can share the trip, either with family, colleagues, or friends. If you are flying alone, see who else is going to the same destination, perhaps you can arrange to meet up or even fly together. Misery loves company!

Got any tips to share? Please add yours in the comments …!