If you fly with any regularity, you know that when you sit at the front of the cabin in the bulkhead, there is no place to put your bags. You can have your stuff during the flight, but it needs to go up in the overhead bins for takeoff and landing. In my experience, there has typically been a space saved in the overhead bins for the passengers sitting in the bulkhead. Yesterday, however, was a different story.

Now that I’m pretty far along in my pregnancy, I feel less capable of lifting, so I have stopped sitting in the emergency row. I miss the space though. Yesterday, I was super stoked to have a seat in the bulkhead because I got all the nice room without the responsibility. But there was no opportunity for me to throw my purse in the overhead bin, as people boarded the plane with no gap. The flight attendant said, “Ma’am, your bag will have to go up.” I said, “Oh I know, is there a spot right up there?” And she said, “No, the only room left is all the way in the back.” I think she could tell that I was not super happy about that, so she added, “That’s one of the problems with sitting in the bulkhead—your stuff always ends up in the back.”

Now, maybe my experience has been unique, but whenever I’ve sat up front there has always been space set aside. Is that rare? Have I just been extremely lucky? Yesterday, it took a little shuffling, but I was able to find just enough space in the bin one row back, so it wasn’t a problem. But it could have been. It just seemed so weird to me—the person in front has to wait until everyone has gotten off the plane before they can get their stuff because the only room left is all the way in the back?

Readers, what has your experience been? Has it varied by airline?

A few weeks ago, I wrapped up my longest work trip to date: a two-week conference in Florida. You guys helped me make my plan for packing for this long trip, which I really appreciate. But I’ll be honest: my packing was not perfect for this trip. I brought too many things, didn’t wear all of them enough, and ended up checking my bag because it was too heavy for me to lift. Boo. But I know for sure what to do differently next time…..

What I took:

• 4 dresses
• 1 pair of pants
• 2 skirts
• 1 pair of shorts
• Jean jacket
• 3 cardigans
• 2 casual tees
• 2 nice tops
• 2 tanks
• 3 pairs of flats
• 1 pair of flip flops
• 1 pair of athletic shoes

What I should have taken:

• 2 dresses
• 2 pairs of pants OR
• 1 pair of pants/1 skirt
• 1 pair of shorts
• Lighter-weight jacket
• 2 cardigans
• 2 casual tees/tank tops
• 2 nice tops
• 2 pairs of flats
• Flip flops

So as you can see, I was pretty close. I just brought one too many of, well, everything. Four dresses was definitely too many! And 2 skirts and a pair of pants was, again, too many. Two dresses and two other bottoms would have been perfectly adequate. The jean jacket was too heavy and didn’t pack compactly—I would bring a different jacket next time. I ended up wearing the nice tops and tanks under the cardigans often, but didn’t wear my casual tees very much. I could easily have worn the nice tops with my shorts on downtime. Two cardigans would have more than sufficed—I rarely wore them unless I was wearing a tank. Finally, the shoes. Three pairs of nice shoes were too many; two would easily have sufficed. And though I knew ahead of time there would be little time for exercising, I brought shoes anyway, and did not wear them once.

The moral? It is possible to carry-on for a long trip, but you have to be ruthless in your decision making. I wasn’t quite ruthless enough! Next time, though, you can bet I will be rocking the rollaboard. In the next few weeks I’ll do a post about packing other stuff for a long conference. Because after all, when you’re gone for two weeks clothes are really just half the battle…..

Friends, today is the last day to enter our awesome contest! It’s not too late to enter to win a vacation for two from Home2 Suites by Hilton. The winner will be drawn tomorrow and announced on Friday. Don’t miss out!!!

What is the deal with minor maintenance issues taking forever to deal with lately? In the last two weeks the Home Warrior and I have been on two flights that were delayed significantly because of a simple fix. And I’m not talking, like, cracks in the fuselage. I’m talking about teeny-tiny stuff.

For example, the HW was flying home from Florida two weeks ago on a super early flight. The flight attendants noticed that an overhead bin near his seat wouldn’t close. They tried to fix it themselves, but weren’t able to. So they called maintenance. Which took forever. Once they arrived, they tried to fix the bin. Nothing they tried worked so they closed it with….. duct tape. Special airline duct tape, to be exact. Then, of course, they had to do the paperwork. So while the repair attempts took about five minutes, and the actual duct tape application took about one minute, his flight was delayed close to an hour.

Can you see the special duct tape?

Then last week, on a trip out to the East Coast, my flight was boarded and ready to go. And we sat. And sat. We ended up being delayed for over ninety minutes. What serious repair took this long, you ask? There were scratches on the outside of the plane. They weren’t fixing the scratches, mind you. They were applying stickers, to label where the scratches were. This meant we arrived after midnight. Argh.

So what is going on? I haven’t had to deal with maintenance issues in a long time, and especially not trivial ones that took an inordinate amount of time. Is it budget cuts? Getting rid of maintenance staff? Tons of paperwork that must be completed? Who knows. What I do know is that if this trend continues, customers are going to be even more angry at the industry.

Readers, what’s the strangest maintenance issue you’ve ever experienced?

(Don’t forget about our awesome contest!! Win a vacation for two from Home2 Suites by Hilton!! Open for only two more days!!!!!)

I have been experiencing technical difficulties with my computer for a few days now, which has made posting super difficult. I promise that everything will be worked out over the weekend and I will be back to regular posting next week!! Thanks for your patience.

The first of what I’m sure will be many stories/learnings from my two week conference……

Where there is a conference, there is free stuff. Whether it’s papers, books, bags, water bottles, coffee mugs, or some other random tchotchkie, it doesn’t matter. Every time I’ve been to a conference, regardless of length, I have ended up cramming freebies into my suitcase before my flight home. Inevitably, some get left behind in the hotel room (sorry maids!!). This is especially true after the two week conference I just attended. I purposely stayed away from the exhibit hall so I wouldn’t get too much stuff, and I know I missed out on some cool items (smelly candles? hand carved necklaces? dangit!). So moving forward, I am going to strategically leave some extra space in my bag for the freebies. It may be junk, but it may be something I really want, and I want to have room for it! I recommend you do the same.

Readers, what is the weirdest thing you’ve ever gotten from a conference? In the last year I have gotten a fly swatter, a paper mustache on a stick, and an inflatable airplane hat. Useful? Ah, not so much. But fun! And memorable, which I guess is the idea…..

(Don’t forget about our awesome contest!! Win a vacation for two from Home2 Suites by Hilton!! Open for one more week.)

Traveling for work while you’re pregnant is tough. Oh, right. You might be wondering how I know. Well…..I have some news. The Home Warrior and I will welcome our little bundle of mini-warrior joy in August! We are very excited, and can’t wait to meet our baby. As you can imagine, being pregnant has meant a lot of adjustments travel-wise. Some women don’t have any issues in their first trimester of pregnancy, and I say more power to them! Unfortunately, I was not those women. I felt terrible my first tri, nauseous and exhausted virtually all the time. There were a few things I learned that made it easier, if not fun. Here are my tips:

Adjust your schedule as needed. One thing I learned early on is that day trips were just not going to work. It was too exhausting to only get 4-5 hours of sleep and then be gone for 18 hours. Flying in the night before meant I was well-rested, which meant an easier work day. I would still fly home in the evening after my meetings, which was tough, but doable. If you are really sick or exhausted, it may be better to fly home the next day. Also, if it’s available to you, think about spacing out your meetings more than you would otherwise. Again, it made me able to do quality work, instead of being a zombie.

Plan food ahead of time. During the first tri I had to be eating constantly, as often as every thirty minutes. I brought a lot of stuff from home (pretzels, crackers, fig Newtons, fruit), and some things I made sure I could get on the road. Sometimes I needed a certain food. For about six weeks, I had to munch constantly on Hot Tamales (the candy). For a while it was lemonade. Then it was sandwiches. The most important thing was to make sure I had food All. The. Time. This involved a lot of prep work, whether it was bringing food from home or knowing what the food options around the hotel and office were.

Stay hydrated. I preach about this a lot in general, but hydration is so important when you’re pregnant. If you can’t handle water, try Gatorade or juice. Just make sure that you are drinking at least 64 oz of fluid a day, and more if your doctor tells you more. For the first few weeks, water, normally my favorite beverage, tasted terrible to me, and I got so dehydrated I nearly passed out. I don’t recommend that!

Sit in the aisle. Whether it’s because you need to use the restroom, are feeling sick, or can’t handle being crowded in, I recommend sitting in the aisle if you can. It made me feel so much better when flying. Also, wear comfy clothes while flying. I actually started flying in dresses or yoga pants because it made me nauseous to have anything constrictive around my middle.

Check your bags. Again, this is something I don’t usually push, but it may be easier if you go ahead and check your bags. This way you won’t have to carry heavy things around the airport when you’re already feeling terrible.

Sea bands. They don’t work for everyone, but sea bands really helped me feel better and less nauseous. Of course it meant I had to wear long sleeves, since I was still hiding my pregnancy at that point…..

Be gentle with yourself. It’s okay that you can’t do everything the way you could before—your body is working really hard to build that baby! Give yourself extra time, since you may be moving more slowly than normal. Do whatever you have to do to feel better. The first trimester is all about survival!

One last note—there is a lot of different information out there about safe levels of caffeine intake. My doctor was perfectly fine with me having 200mg per day, which seems to be a common recommendation. There is only 35mg of caffeine in a can of Coke, and Coke made me feel SO much better when I felt sick. (Or had a headache. Or was tired. Okay it was kind of like the miracle beverage….) So if your doctor is cool with you having a limited amount of caffeine, don’t be afraid to drink a soda if it makes you feel better.

I am almost done with my second trimester, and I have to say I feel TONS better. I will post later about traveling during the middle of pregnancy, and once I have experience with it, traveling during the third tri. The most important thing to remember is that it’s okay to take longer to do stuff, it’s okay not to feel awesome, it’s okay to need naps. Just build time for that stuff into your schedule, do what you need to do to take care of yourself, and you will be just fine. And know that you WILL feel better!

Readers, have you had to travel while pregnant? What made it easier for you?

(Don’t forget about our awesome contest!! Win a vacation for two from Home2 Suites by Hilton!! Open for one more week.)

Last week, I talked about the cool new travel adapter I found in TravelSmith’s recent catalog. Well, I found another interesting item as well.  These “small shelves to go” hang in your closet, you fill them up with your clothes etc, they will collapse into your suitcase, then you hang them up at your destination. The idea is that they will simplify packing, leading to less time messing with stuff and less wrinkling for your clothes. I have to admit I’m intrigued. But I wonder–will you be able to use space as efficiently with these shelves? Does anyone have any experience with them?

Readers, don’t forget about the current contest! Win a vacation for two from Home2 Suites by Hilton!!

Home2 Suites by Hilton, the award-winning, all-suites extended stay brand, is celebrating one year since opening the doors to its first hotel, and introducing guests to its innovative “hip and humble” concept. Many guests have already made Home2 Suites their go-to home away from home, coming back every time they have to visit one the seven destinations across the United States where it has locations. The brand already has nine new hotels under construction and more than 70 in the works including Canada.

They have a lot of great features, including free breakfast, free wifi, in-room kitchen facilities, outdoor spaces, and more. My two favorite items are that it is pet-friendly (yay!) and has a number of sustainable features.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of Home2 Suites by Hilton opening, we are holding a contest. Hooray! The winner of this contest will get a three-night stay for two in the Home2 Suites by Hilton property of their choice, roundtrip airfare, and money for food. Wow!

Now you’re probably all asking, how can I win? It’s simple, as it usually is here on Road Warriorette. Simply leave a comment answering the following question: What is your best tip for someone going on their first extended business trip? We will draw a winner at random next week. Only one entry per person.

Since I am on my first extended business trip right now, this contest seems very appropriate for this week. I will post my best tip next week, once I have the experience to back it up!

For more first birthday fun, check out Home2 Suites by Hilton on Facebook and Twitter (@Home2Suites)!

Thanks for entering!!!

I learned a new term last week—Duty of Care. Don’t worry, not because something crazy happened, but because my mom’s seatmate on a flight home was in charge of Duty of Care for a large corporation. I had never heard the term before, but as soon as I did I made sure my company has someone responsible for it. Luckily, we do. Basically, Duty of Care is making sure that a company’s business travelers and expats are taken care of in the event of a natural disaster or medical emergency. While doing research, some of the situations that came up from Christopher Business Travel were:

• While working overseas, an employee gets sick and does not have access to adequate medical treatment
• During a natural disaster, a company realizes that it does not have sustainable business continuity plans, and/or employees cannot be evacuated easily and face unnecessary hardship
• An employee travels to a country where malaria is endemic. She is not given prophylaxis or education on malaria by her employer. She contracts the disease and gets very sick.

This last one hit really close to home for my mom, as next month several of her employees are headed to a country where malaria is a huge problem. Good thing she ran into this woman! There are several ways to get Duty of Care coverage for small businesses.

Readers, have you heard of this? Ever had a need for it while traveling internationally? Sounds like a good type of coverage to have!

(Don’t forget! There’s a big contest coming up this week so STAY TUNED!!)

As you know, I am always on the lookout for cool new gadgets that make travel easier. During my perusal of the latest TravelSmith catalog (always a fun time!) I found a very cool travel plug adapter. It’s an adapter/converter, and includes a built in USB port for an extra way to charge all of those devices. The four most common plugs (the ones used in 150 countries) are also included. Plus, it’s small, so will save space. Very handy!

Readers, where do your favorite travel gadgets come from?

Don’t forget–contest coming next week!!!