The Ultimate List of Essentials for the Traveling Working Woman
I travel a lot for work and these business trips have me in a new city a couple of times a month. As a woman who spends a good portion of her time on a plane, the grind really is difficult and navigating life as a traveling working mom is a challenge to say the least.
Long flights, uncomfortable seats, the endless hours staring outside the tiny airplane window wondering when the flight is going to land so that you can get back home to your babies, you need grit to endure the rigors of travel; especially as a mom. Especially as a woman.
As women traveling for work, what do we need? The fact is, our business travel needs are a bit different than those of our male counterparts.
Looking good during travel is a must and I need to know that when I’m standing on that airport security line, thinking about everything that needs to get done when I’m on-site; my outfit gives me confidence to command my day … you know “body” the job.
We need to be comfortable as we dart from airport to cab, hotel and back.
Traveling working women need reliable gear we can depend on, even through the miles we put on them.
I’ve put together the ultimate list of travel essentials for the traveling working woman.
Perspective Change
As a single mom, I used to carry a lot of guilt about leaving my children at home to get on a plane and travel. When I began with the first company that required me to travel, I had no idea how I’d survive work travel as a mom.
It took me years to understand that I didn’t choose my career, my career chose me. Bills had to be paid. The only way to do that, was to get on planes, trains and automobiles to make it to my next work destination.
Until I accepted the reality that I needed to care for my children and that meant work; and in and of itself, work was travel, I came to terms with the fact that I was doing what had to be done to ensure my children were getting their needs met. I didn’t need guilt weighing me down, being away from them was hard enough.
In time, I learned to exchange guilt for gratitude. I changed my perspective and embraced my truth: I am a good mom – wait; Beans is a damn good mom. I’d fly wherever I needed to in order to keep a roof over my family’s head.
**Read about my story transitioning and becoming more comfortable as a traveling working mom here**.
Carry On Luggage
Sounds pretty obvious, huh? Not really. When I first began my career traveling, I’d use whatever I had on hand, which typically was a hand me down, over-sized luggage that I had to check. It took me a bit to realize that checking my bags for each flight was not a good option. It’s time consuming, annoying and not at all practical.
Those nights when I’d travel on a cross country flight from Vegas back home to NY, and all I desperately wanted to do was grab my bag and jump in the car sent for me; waiting for my luggage to emerge on to that conveyor belt, I’d almost be in tears, I was so exhausted.
I finally put two and two together and purchased the Nicole Miller Hard Sided Luggage Spinner in Lavender from Amazon. I just love it. The spinner is so functional – it fits any airline overhead compartment with no problem. The fashion conscious girl in me loves the lavender color I purchased – I get tons of compliments when I travel.
If you travel a lot, you need carry on luggage. If you are traveling woman – it needs to be cute! We’re women, we have to keep it pretty – even in flight.
Laptop Bag
The best laptop bags for women are ones that have a lot of room, are sturdy and let’s not forget, stylish. You know how us traveling girls do, we like to throw everything but the kitchen sink inside. Our computer bags not only carry our most cherished possession while we’re on the road, our computers – but also tablets, books, binders, make up kits, a shirt that you need to swap out if you are flying into warmer weather, laptop bags are cross functional.
But…not all laptop bags are created equal. I was gifted with one for Christmas a few years back and about six months into my travel year, the strap broke. I decided to spend a little bit more money up front so that I could have a bag that can take the rigors of travel and decided on
Longchamp’s Large Le Pliage Tote in Pink.
Longchamp’s Large Le Pliage is really a tote, but it does a great job as doubling as a fashionable laptop bag. I brought the one in pink to match my Nicole Miller carry on spinner. With it’s strong leather strap, this tote is unbreakable and has plenty of space to fit everything.
Tablet
The hours spent in the air are lot easier when you’ve got something to watch. While, I’m grateful to Delta for the unparalleled on flight entertainment, once I get through a season of Atlanta; OK, so what else is there? I gots about three more hours left on this here plane before landing in Seattle. The fact is, there are only a couple of shows that I actually enjoy as part of an airline’s entertainment package. I need more programming while I’m in the air.
Having my own tablet means I have access to Netflix, Sling TV, you name it. Suddenly my options for in flight shows become limitless. As long as I have on air Wi-Fi access (on Delta, Wi-Fi access is $16, absolutely worth the expense on any flight over 3 hours long) I can get access to all my favorite shows while up there in the air.
Having a reliable tablet is essential, especially for my long flights this year. I didn’t have to spend a fortune on a $500 tablet either. You can find so many moderately priced tablets. This Samsung Galaxy Tablet is right up my alley and at $179 – it’s a cheap tablet that won’t break the bank.
Books
Sounds counter intuitive as I just wrote about passing flight time with technology; but no, not really. I’m flying to Seattle, Anaheim and Santa Clara this year – these are all trips with long flight times and lay overs.
I’ve got nothing but time. I can enjoy a show or two on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet and I’ll also have more than enough time to enjoy a good book. The fact is, as a mom, I rarely get time to myself that means enjoying a good book is a luxury.
One benefit of travel as a mom is being able to escape into a good book.
A travel essential for this traveling mom is a good book or two. While Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” is the first book to fill my travel essentials kit, Good Reads has a 2019 reading list that I am using as a reference for my books throughout the year.
Noise Cancelling Head Phones
I was on an early morning flight back home to NY and I had the most obnoxious children sitting behind me.
I get aggravated just thinking about it; loud and intrusive of people’s space – one little boy even opened the window shade on MY window! I snapped the shade back down so hard, I’m surprised I didn’t take a piece of his little finger off.
What’s mind boggling is the parents just sat there, as if they didn’t hear their children hollering throughout the plane. I don’t get it, as a mother of two young boys that I have flown with myself – I can’t imagine acting like I didn’t hear them acting a plum fool on a plane, disturbing other people’s peace.
I tried to check out mentally; maybe if I ignored the noise, I can float off to sleep. Yet, every time I tried to doze off – another outburst would ring throughout the plane jarring me awake.
Well, not again friend.
Sony’s Noise Cancelling Headphones are now part of my essentials kit. Now when I travel, I’ll slip these on and make my way to a nice nap – regardless of noise and distractions.
Charging Kit
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an almost dead phone after a flight. It’s stressful – trying to get a call into my driver for a pick up and hoping my phone doesn’t charge off before I’m able to meet my car. Doing things the way I had before, which was grabbing any available charger in the house (if I remembered, a lot of times I didn’t) just wasn’t working anymore. I needed a dedicated charging system to keep in my travel bag.
A kit like Amani Designs Cell Phone Power Bank Charging Gift Set is small enough fit a travel bag and it comes in a cute little white case to keep everything together. It charges iPhone and Android – so between my phone and tablet, I’m covered.
Comfortable Shoes
I’m curious when I see women traveling in heels. Sure, most of your time is spent sitting in a cab or seated on a plane – but standing on line in security, getting to your gate, which, at some airports like JFK, can be a voyage, I can’t imagine that heels are kind to the feet in these conditions.
I’m a mom with two boys to run after all day – the last thing I need is to struggle through an airport in heels. A pair of flats are essential navigating from city to city.
I’ve been eyeing Tiek ballerina flats for a while now. These are a little out of my price range, but they are so comfortable and I can wear then in travel, and can also wear these on-site as I work an event. If I wanted to get into fancier shoes during the day, I can throw these shoes right in my bag. The $175 price point is a bit high for my taste, but I figure if they can stay in good condition for over a year (my Tori Burch’s wore out VERY quickly); they may be worth the expense.
Bean’s Ultimate List of Travel Essentials
As I experience different travel needs, my list keeps growing. For now, these items are what I or any other traveling woman needs to keep things, practical, organized and most importantly: CUTE!
Travel well ladies.
Blissfully Yours,
