Travel check list

Being a non frequent traveller, I tend to miss out on some of the most important things to carry in my short trips and face difficulties. So for sake of all for whom that forgets.. here is my check list.

Planning and confirming the trip 

These steps are mostly performed by HR coordinating with employee. But inexperienced HR or last minute travel plan can throw things out of order. So here is the things to do when confirming the trip

• Air travel tickets
• Oneway booking or return booking - Some countries when issuing visa ask for a onward ticket (return ticket). So beware of this and you can also give a dummy ticket for visa approval. But when you travel, best is to keep a copy of actual ticket.  
• Meals - On board meals are usually offered in full carriers and need to be purchased separately in low cost airlines. Full carriers if you book or not meal is usually served  but if you need a special meal like vegi meal, you will have to book it!
• Baggage allowances - Check the airlines baggage allowance is enough for you to carry in you baggage. Usually full carrier airlines allow 7 kg hand luggage and 30 kg of checked in allowance. For low cots this differs and for both best to check their websites. 
• Transits - But transit comes with set of pros and cons. Some transits there are free city tours and good duty free shops. These are best if you have substantial transit time like 8 - 12 hrs. But some transits there are nothing to do. And worse you might need to obtain visa for the transit. My opinion it's best to avoid these sort of annoying transit unless you have no other options.
• Seats - Seats are that important if you are travelling in business class :). Unless those lucky few, others have to be aware of common pitfalls in seating. Other than your preferences of travel like window or isle seat, we have to look into other comfort factors of seats. For example, seats located near emergency exits are non reclining. Also some  seats do not have adequate leg space. So in such case best is to choose an isle seat. Windows seats are nice if you want to see outside and journey is short. 
• Hotel bookings/Accommodation
• Check-in/Check-out - Hotel booking should be placed based on the correct time of your arrival and departure. Normal hotel check-in start from 12:00 noon every day. If you are arriving early than 12:00 noon be sure to check whether they allow early check-in or you will have to pay additionally. Same apply to checkout. 
• Food - Check whether type of food available at the hotel is matching with your preferences. Outside Sri Lanka, I have never seen a hotel offering Sri Lankan food. So my preferred options are either Indian or American food. Hotels can be booked with breakfast only or with all three meals. Unless you are planning to stay close to hotel, breakfast only is the best way. 
• Logging and other means of accommodation - When you are planning to stay in a place for longer period, usually logging and other accommodations like flats may be cheaper option. But these will most likely not having any catering service  One option is cook your own meals. But for that you will need a kitchen with appliances. Second is to look for restaurants  Either case make sure that you have all things in place before going for this option, otherwise you will be paying more compared to good hotel even.
• Power - Power will be important factor when need to charge your laptop or mobile phone. Our country's voltage standard is 220v/50Hz. And some countries you will have 110v/60Hz. Also based on the standards sockets might take different shapes and sizes. Just make sure that you have correct adapters converters before the journey or make sure that you buy them at arrival. 
• Visa
• Applying - When applying for Visa's make sure that you have required documents. Check their website and better if you call the embassy and cross check too. I have come across scenario where website is outdated and you have to have company leaves, bank statements etc... 
• Type of Visa - For business you will need a business visa. In addition to that you might need transit visa. Just check with travel agency/ embassy of transit regarding the visa requirement for your transits. You could obviously travel under visit visa and do business work. This is illegal. And it's not advisable that you do this to countries like Iran, Afghanistan if you have plans to travel to US or UK. It's best you get a business visa in such cases. 
• Money/Cards 
• Cash/Cheques/Cards - You can take foreign currency or travelers cheques. Also you should be able to use your credit cards. Just check with your credit card issuing bank whether they have restricted card usage in the country that you are about to visit. 
• Foreign Currency - If you've got the same currency that is used in the country you wish to visit, it the best option. But if you don't have that currency, next best option is US Dollars  Because USD's will give you the best exchange rates. Believe me taking a stable currency to a country that does not use it frequently will hurt you when exchanging. So always prefer USD. 
• Where to change Currencies - You get the best exchange rates from money dealers inside country, NOT at the airport. So do not change all of your cash at airport. If required, change only that is necessary until you get to the local money exchange. 

So if itinerary is ready and everything in place before travel, last thing before travel would be to pack your bags..

• Cloths - Pack enough cloths to the journey. If your journey is relatively long, then you will have to look for a laundry service. Most hotels offers laundry services, but outside is always cheaper than hotels. 
• Shoes/Slippers - I have fallen into this trouble of not taking appropriate shoes several times. Usually I wear running shoes when I travel. But if you are travelling for a official meeting you will need decent shoes. Also in between you will need slippers or sandles to walk around hotel etc.
• Belts - Same as above you will need one set for official attire and another set for denims etc.
• Toiletries and others - Perfume, Toothpaste, Brush, Razor, Shaving cream are most important items. Always check your bathroom before travel :)
• Mobile charges and converters - Don't forget them
• Pad lock for bag/Baggage wrapping- I have had a personal experience where person opened by bag in front of me (with my permission) even though it's pad locked. But still this is the first form of defense. Better to wrap the baggage at the airport if it's a hard board or contain valuables. 
• Name tag for bag - You wouldn't consider this an important thing until you lost your baggage or mis-handle it.