10 tips for traveling internationally on business

As more and more purchasing professionals are asked to travel outside the U.S. to visit suppliers I thought I’d put together my Top 10 Tips for Travelers. Let me know if you find this information useful by posting a comment on the blog here.

1. Make two color copies of your passport, leave one at home and keep the other in a safe place, but close while you are traveling. This is just a precaution against losing, or have your passport stolen. The State embassies like having color.
2. Get your visa. This can be a short process depending on how much you want to pay. 
3. Make sure you have the correct Visa. If you’re a U.S. citizen some countries don’t require it, while others do. A buddy of mine did not think he needed one and had to return to the U.S., a particularly troublesome event when traveling on business. The ones that do usually have restrictions on the amount of time you can enter the country and have a requirement that your passport can not expire with in some time limit.
4. See the doctor. You may need shots before going someplace and you will defiantly want some kind of antibiotic to take with you.
5. Get business cards printed and the necessary addresses in the local language. If you are traveling alone, most taxi cab drivers don’t speak English. So getting the hotel address in the local language will save you time and most likely a headache
6. You will be jet lagged, so plan on it. What I normally do is push through it, but if you think you’ll need some downtime schedule it in.
7. Go site seeing. Take a look at the area and determine if you want to do any. I usually plan to do that on Sunday, but if your not there over a weekend make sure to plan it. Most suppliers will help you schedule some stuff, but I like to keep that piece separate.
8. Check your seats on the plane. When traveling international you probably don’t want to be stuck in the middle seat if possible. You should also enroll in the airline mileage programs if you haven’t. They will enable you to select better seats. If you have status on one airline but not the one you are traveling, you can always see if they will match your status. They will never match the top one, but usually right under it.
9. Don’t check a bag if you can help it. I rarely have had any issues checking a bag, but I am always jealous of the ones that zip right past you as you wait for the turnstile.
10. Pack a medicine kit. Suppliers may take you out to places you’d never dream of going and suggest you to try food you normally don’t eat, so make sure you’re covered.