Why You Should ALWAYS Take a Carry-On When Traveling to a Business Meeting (and What Should Be In It)

Nothing can be more nerve racking than being mid-air on a delayed flight, knowing that you will be forced to rush to a business meeting when you had scheduled plenty of time, while wondering if your luggage will even arrive at the same destination. By consistently packing a carry-on when you travel to business meetings, you will be on your way to alleviating some of those mid-air nightmares. There are three specific components to remember when packing your carry-on; all of which will allow you to gain some peace of mind.

1. Meeting Materials

It is especially important to ensure you possess the materials necessary to confidently pull off your meeting. Obviously, you will be unsuccessful in stuffing your portable projection screen into your carry-on but do try to include the practical items that you can fit into your bag. Items such as your portfolio, any handouts pertinent to the meeting, your laptop, any JumpDrives etc... You will know the items that are essential to a competent performance.

2. Emergency Clothing

It is very important to try and pack items suitable for you to wear to your meeting/event into your carry-on, should your luggage come up missing. It will not be the ideal ensemble for an important event such as an out of town business meeting but it beats having to first, find a department store and second, pick something out while stressing about time restrictions. With all of the wrinkle-free, easy-care fabrics that are on the market these days, the possibility that you will find something more than appropriate to cram (not really) into your carry-on, then whip out and wear to your meeting is highly likely.

3. Emergency Shoes

Lastly (and this may seem a bit trivial) it is important to make sure you have an adequate pair of shoes to accompany your emergency meeting look. Nothing could be worse than arriving at your destination, being forced to conduct your meeting out of your carry-on and then realizing you are going to have to do that in your "comfy airplane shoes." The easiest way to rectify this dilemma would be to simply wear an appropriate shoe on the plane. Depending on how much room you have in your carry-on, this is quite possibly the most convenient solution. Let's not forget, you still have to fit toiletries and other daily essentials into this bag and a pair of shoes takes up quite a bit of room. However, if you are in for a long flight and comfort is an issue, you will have to make certain that you remember to include the shoes in your carry-on at the expense of other items.

A good rule of thumb is to anticipate the worst. Any disaster you can think of - plan for it. It is my experience, especially in flying, that something inevitably goes wrong and while the people you are meeting with will most likely understand (they have to deal with it too) it never hurts to keep as much of your poise as possible when faced with disaster under stress.

When packing, if questions of size/weight of your carry-on arise, check out the very informative site, onebag.com. They have taken it upon themselves to assist you in everything from "what to pack" checklists to information on items that are prohibited by all airports. It is a great resource for the business traveler to have on-hand.