Basic Preparations for International Business Travel

Traveling abroad for business can be beneficial, productive and exciting for your company. It can produce new business and networking opportunities, but it can also be hard on you. Especially if you are a business-travel novice.


Stay Connected
One of your most important considerations, especially for international business travel, is staying connected— to your office, to your contacts overseas and to anyone in the States who you rely on to conduct business. Start by managing your technology to preserve your ability to communicate en route: put your laptop, tablet, digital camera and anything else electronic in your carry-on luggage, rather than in your checked luggage. To make sure you have access to smartphone technology while traveling abroad, your best bet will be Internet-based solutions, which depend on data instead of cell technology. Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) applications like Skype let you make free calls to other users of these apps and very inexpensive calls to land lines and mobile phones— anywhere in the world. For text messaging, use free services like Google Voice.

Send Things Ahead
Sending materials ahead of time if you’ll be presenting at a conference may be a necessity or simply a convenience. Either way, one of the most important steps in the shipping process is international address verification. The last thing you want to worry about is undelivered mail.

Take Care of You
Jetlag is a common problem for business travelers. Drink plenty of water in the days before your trip, and cut back on alcohol and caffeine. If you’re going to a destination that requires more than 12 hours of air travel, stopping in a city en route for a night or a few hours or arriving early at your destination can help to break up your trip and allow your body to adjust to the time differences. Try to sleep and eat according to your new time zone, not the one you’re coming from.

Protection
To protect your data, files and presentation materials while traveling, Microsoft recommends these precautions:

• Don’t carry your laptop in a designated computer bag— it’s a dead giveaway that you’re carrying a laptop. Instead, consider a suitcase or a padded briefcase.
• Create strong passwords with capital letters, numbers and symbols. Don’t carry them anywhere near your laptop.
• Encrypt your files.
• Use a screen guard to make it difficult or impossible for anyone to see what you’re looking at on your computer.

Acclimate
Familiarize yourself of common cultural practices through books and videos before your trip. Take note of idioms (whether or not you speak the language of the country) and customs. You can even pass the time on the plane by reading up on the culture of your destination. If you can do this, you and the people you meet will all feel much more relaxed.

5 Family-Friendly Summer Vacation Destinations

If you were to ask your family of five where they want to spend their summer vacation, you'd probably end up with five different locations. Together as you decide where to go next here are five more ideas to add to the list:

Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Just 25 miles outside of Salt Lake City, Little Cottonwood Canyon boasts excellent hiking, biking, picnicking, fishing, climbing and more. The two resorts in the canyon, Alta and Snowbird, offer numerous summer activities for families, including camps and hikes, zip lines and horseback riding. Camp Snowbird, open for kids ages 4-12, hosts nature hikes and science experiments. Not to leave mom and dad out, there's also a variety of restaurants, shopping and festivals to choose from.

Tip: When packing, put each of your children's outfits — including socks, underwear and bows — in a plastic bag before tucking them into your suitcase. This makes it easier to get dressed in the morning without losing anything or unpacking the whole bag.

Cruise to Alaska (view Alaskan Cruises)

Instead of worrying about flights, hotels, car rentals and dinner reservations, book a cruise instead. Many ships cater to children, with miniature golf courses, water slides, clubs for the kids and entertainment. While you can cruise pretty much anywhere, we chose Alaska because what kid wouldn't want to have a close encounter with a humpback whale or watch other sea animals bob in and out of the ship's wake?

Tip: Though several cruise lines are making Wi-Fi hotspots more available to patrons, logging on while you're at sea is still pretty expensive. If you want to check in at home or the office, wait until you disembark and visit an Internet cafe instead.

San Diego, California (view San Diego Hotels)

With enough sandy beaches to keep your kids occupied for hours, San Diego is a beautiful summer destination. Museum hop at Balboa Park, then visit the thousands of animals at the famous San Diego Zoo. Build a campfire on one of the county's several bonfire-friendly beaches, then enjoy dinner and a walk through The Gaslamp Quarter, known as the historic heart of San Diego.

Tip: Before you leave, ask a neighbor to collect your mail and a friend to watch your home. Consider investing in a security system that you can access remotely, such as LifeShield.com alarm systems. These provide a smartphone app that allows you to view security cameras and arm or disarm alarms.

Las Vegas, Nevada (view Las Vegas Hotels)

You might not think of Vegas as a kid-friendly destination, but there are plenty of places in and around Sin City to enjoy the whole family. Visit Discovery Children's Museum and walk through the nine themed exhibition halls then head to Circus Circus for roller coasters, 3-D videos and other carnival thrills. Spend an afternoon hiking across the trails of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, but be sure to make it back to the strip by nightfall to watch the Bellagio water show.

Tip: The fountain show runs regularly between 3 p.m. and midnight on weekdays and noon to midnight on weekends, according to Bellagio.com.

Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida (view Walt Disney World Area Hotels)

Of course in a list of family-friendly vacations, we can't leave out Disney. There's something for everyone at the resort, including four theme parks and two water parks.

Tip: If you have small children, use the parent swap. It allows parties of two or more to experience the attraction while one adult waits with the child. Then you can "swap" to enable the other adult to enjoy the attraction without the wait. Just ask the cast member working at the entrance of the attraction for a rider switch.