Hard to believe this blog has been around for two years already! Wow. This has been an incredibly fulfilling and wonderful experience.  The past year has seen so many exciting projects, including various guest posts for blogs I love and admire, writing regularly for Via-Her, being interviewed, mentioned, and quoted in some major places, and working with great companies to create content. Boarding Area, as always, has been amazing to be a part of. And readership has increased by 300%, which I am honored and humbled by.

Two years ago I started this blog because there were not enough quality resources for women business travelers. Now, not only have we answered so many questions for women (what to pack? how to pack? how to look professional on a plane? etc), but together we have created a supportive, helpful community for anyone who travels for business, men and women. Thank you for reading, commenting, emailing, and sharing Road Warriorette with friends. There is a lot of very cool stuff coming up this year, so I hope you’ll stick with me!

It’s summer, the time of high temperatures, long days, and family vacations. The Home Warrior and I are going to South Texas to visit my grandmother for the upcoming long weekend, and then in three weeks we leave for Puerto Rico for a week (yay!!!!!!!!!). But in between those times, I have my first business trip to Chicago. As you may remember, my sisters both live in Chicago, so this is pretty darn exciting for me. (Also kind of surprising that it took five years to get me to Chicago for work, when I’ve gone to a lot of major cities. But whatever. I’ll take it.) Trying to figure out how I’m going to balance quality time with my sisters and all the meetings and work I have to do is requiring a lot of thought and planning. It makes me wonder about the people who bring family along with them on work trips–how does it work? Do you feel distracted while working? Do you do the same quality of work you would do without someone along? Or better or worse quality? I’m curious, so let’s do a poll! Thanks for participating.

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With a lot of travel coming up, I am looking for reading recommendations. My Kindle needs new books! In the past few months I have been reading a mix of things, from complete escapist fun to end of the world mystery to memoirs. A few things I would recommend:

Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Love the One You’re With (Emily Giffin). I have really enjoyed Emily Giffin’s books. They are not true romance novels, but more about exploring relationships in general. Something Borrowed was recently made into a very entertaining movie with Ginnifer Goodwin and Kate Hudson, about a girl who falls in love with her best friend’s fiance. Something Blue is the novel that follows, detailing a woman’s journey to becoming a better person. Love the One You’re With makes you think about first love, and what constitutes a fulfilling relationship. Fluffy? No. There were definitely parts of all of these books that made me sad, but in the end you feel hopeful. So I would definitely recommend them.

The Southern Vampire Series (Charlaine Harris). I will be honest–I read these books for the first time last summer, and literally could not stop. After finishing one book, I would immediately download the next onto my Kindle. Reading all ten of the books out last summer only took about a week and a half. I loved them, really loved them. The series is about Sookie Stackhouse and her magical world of vampires, shapeshifters, witches, faeries, and other magical creatures. It is incredibly entertaining, and I would recommend them to men and women alike. Unfortunately, I hated the most recent book, which came out in May. I’ll keep reading, as the series is set to only have two more books, but I’m not sure how happy I’ll be.

Sigma Force Novels (James Rollins). There are seven or eight novels in James Rollins’ Sigma Force series, and they are fascinating. It’s a bit of Robert Ludlem end-of-the-world-if-we-don’t-solve-this-great-mystery combined with Michael Chricton technology-so-advanced-it-can’t-be-real-or-can-it mixed with a little Dan Brown greater-meaning-religious-mystical-symbolism. The most recent, The Devil Colony, sucked me in and I finished it in two days. I’m not a huge fan of his other books though, as they all involve scary killer animals that have been altered in some way to make them monsters.

Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses (Claire Dederer). I am in the middle of this yoga memoir, and so far it is great. A balance of yoga and personal musings that many can relate to.

So, readers, what books have you been reading lately? Anything you can recommend? Anything you would not recommend?

I wouldn’t consider myself a foodie, but I am definitely someone who likes good food. Locally sourced or organic is always a plus, along with a good wine list. One of my goals whenever I visit a new location is to eat somewhere interesting and local. Unfortunately, that is not always possible.

I know I rag on chain restaurants a lot. They are totally fine, but I figure if I’m going to travel for work as much as I do, I would like to eat things I can’t get at home. Well, during my recent trip to Boston, I was kind of stuck. Due to a very early morning flight, I didn’t have time to eat breakfast until I arrived in DFW. With no time to truck it all the way over to Terminal D where the better restaurants are, if I wanted to eat before my four hour flight to Boston, I needed to eat at Chili’s. And you know what? It was really good! I picked the breakfast many Texans will choose over everything else—breakfast tacos. They were really tasty, my bacon was crisp, and the potatoes were well seasoned. Even my coffee was good!  Not only was it not bad, but I really enjoyed my meal there. So I can’t vouch for the other early morning choices, but I can recommend the breakfast tacos at Chili’s in Terminal C at DFW. Chili’s, you have surprised me!

Readers, have you been pleasantly surprised by a chain restaurant?

Earlier this week I went into Sephora to get a new deal of my long-time eye shadow, Urban Decay Eye Cream. I have been using it for years and love it. But for some reason, my local Sephora store has stopped carrying it. (And now that I’m looking, the website doesn’t have it anymore either. Sad!)  I was basically out, so I needed something for my trip to Boston this week.  Always on top of things, the fabulous staff at Sephora recommended Makeup Forever Aqua Tint. It is also a shimmery eye cream, plus it’s waterproof. It can even double as a cheek or lip tint. I put it on yesterday morning at 430am, and when I washed my face last night at 11pm it looked exactly the same. Now that is some makeup I can get behind! This isn’t a two step process like what I’ve done in the past; you just use your finger or a sponge to slide it over your lid and it’s ready to go. It comes in a range of colors from neutral to bright, and at $22 a pop isn’t a bad price either. I have the color Pink Beige, and I love it. Highly recommend!

ETA: Okay I love this stuff even more now. I managed to tweak my back on Friday morning, so I stopped at a chair massage place on the way to my meetings. My face was pressed into a massage chair (with paper towel in between skin and chair) and moved around during the vigorous fifteen minute massage. I was pretty freaked out to see how much damage had been done to my makeup, but when I looked in a mirror it had not moved. Not one bit. This makeup is amazing.

Last night, I headed to the mall to pick up a few things from Sephora for today’s trip. After I purchased the very cool Makeup Forever Aqua Cream, I just happened to wander through Nordstrom. They had a bunch of cute stuff , and some very interesting shoes. On the way out the door, a rack of sale tee shirts caught my eye. All it took was feeling how soft they were, and after a quick decision on color I had the tee in hand and was out the door.

This t-shirt from Bobeau is, simply, awesome. The front is double layer, which means it hangs well and doesn’t display every lump or bump on your tummy. It’s also incredibly soft. The length is one of my favorite things—it comes down to my hips, which is quite a feat with my long torso. The V-neck is flattering on large busted gals, but not even close to showing cleavage. In short, this is the perfect tee. And right now a bunch of colors are only $25!! I got the turquoise, of course, but will likely go back for the black and the white. I’m wearing it today for my trek to the East Coast, and couldn’t be happier. Unfortunately, it seems to be unavailable online! Bummer. It’s worth a trip to Nordstrom if you are near one, because this tee is that great.

I have a confession to make: by nature, I am a chronic over-packer. On past trips, I would pack something for every conceivable situation. Going out to dinner one night, maybe two? Better have two outfits for dinner. What if I feel like working out? Should take my running shoes, just in case. Weather is questionable? I need to bring pants and skirts for every day. And so on. This led to many issues during my first year of travel, including carrying too many bags, having to check my bag, and everything just taking much longer than it needed to. It took a while, but I developed a number of strategies to calm my nervous packing down. Because that’s what I believe it was rooted in—being nervous about business travel in general, and a bit of a control freak to boot.  Here are my tricks for controlling the over-packing impulse:

• Determine exactly what situations will arise during a trip. Make a list of all of the possible activities you will be doing. Travel, meetings, dinner, downtime, working out, and sleeping are usually on my list.
• Figure out which items can multi-task. You can lounge around your hotel room in your PJs, and often go to dinner in your work attire. No need to bring separate outfits for all activities.
• Don’t be afraid to wear items twice! Most people truly only need one pair of pants or skirt for every two days. Bring a different shirt for each day, as they don’t take up much room.
• Go easy on the shoes. This is one of the hardest things for me. I love shoes so much, and want to have a different pair for every day. But there is really no reason. I follow the three-pair rule: only three pairs, including the one on your feet.
• Be honest with yourself. Are you really going to find time to work out in your two-day, jam-packed with meetings trip? If so, great, bring the stuff. If not, leave it at home.
• Reduce toiletries. Toiletries take up SO much room. Try to condense to as few as possible, and divide them up into multiple bags so they can squeeze into tight places more easily. And as far as makeup goes—you probably don’t need your entire makeup collection. Just bring your everyday items that you know you need.
• Keep a list of everything you take. After your trip, go back and see how you did. Did you bring enough? Too much? The right clothing items? Only by consistently keeping track of what you need and don’t need can you hone your packing list down to only necessities.

It will take time, and practice, but with work you can control your over-packing tendencies. It is such a great feeling to walk into an airport with your rollaboard and purse/briefcase, knowing you are as efficient as can be. Packing effectively will save you time, money, and stress, and allow you to focus on the actual business of your trip. Good luck!

On a recent trip, while going through airport security, I noticed a gentleman with writing on his t-shirt. Since security was taking a while, and I was bored, I tried to read what it said. All I could see was that it said NO MA’AM in capital letters, with words underneath. What the heck? I thought. What a weird dude. And forgot about it.

While arranging my stuff (phone, water, book, earbuds) on the plane, the weird dude appeared again. This time he was standing up in front of me, putting his bag in the overhead bin. I was able to see that the rest of his shirt said, National Organization Against Amazonian Motherhood. My first reaction, again, was What the heck? That’s rude! So that night when I got to the hotel I looked it up. Turns out it is something from Married With Children–a club that Al Bundy started. Okaaaaay. Whatever.

I get it–it’s a joke shirt. A really lame joke shirt. But it’s kinda mildly offensive. I mean, if you are in an airport, there is a good chance that you will be interacting with women. Maybe there will be a woman at the ticket counter, deciding where you sit on the plane. Maybe a woman flight attendant, serving you beverages and snacks in flight. Or even a woman TSA agent, deciding if you deserve a “special” pat down or not. Not to mention all those women passengers. Why would you purposefully wear something that is alienating and obnoxious, if not downright offensive, to half of the people you encounter in a day? Especially something that is a joke from close to twenty years ago, which most people don’t remember?

Friends, I’m not saying you need to censor yourself.  My assumption is that most of you are not obnoxious, and therefore concerned at least a little bit with being polite to your fellow passengers. But honestly, only an obnoxious person would think this is okay. So please, try not to be obnoxious, and maybe rethink your decision to wear something that others may consider offensive.

That is all.

I’m feeling in a very “bag” mood today. And I started thinking. I love my L&S tote that I use for travel. It is the best travel bag I’ve ever owned. But it’s black, and while I appreciate its versatility, it’s nice to have a little “pop” once in a while. This is why I own a bright orange wallet (love, love it!) and my wristlets and clutches are all colored and fun. Plus, it’s very handy to have a small purse while traveling when my tote is just too big. Having a colorful clutch is a great way to express personality in small doses. For example, the full-size bags from Anuschka are beautiful, but may be a tad much for a professional environment. The Mini-Travel Companion, though, is the perfect size for such an interesting and dramatic print. So here are a few of my favorite wristlets and clutches.

Jill-E Designs Lime Green Wristlet is an affordable, sassy clutch with an interesting shape and room for all of the essentials. I love that it comes with both a wrist strap and a longer strap, so you can use whichever is more convenient for your situation.

I actually own this Lilly Accordion Organizer from Latico in a purple color. It is so fabulous–it holds a ton of stuff, the adorable floral lining makes me smile every time I open it, and it hangs at exactly the right length.

The lovely Anuschka line is what inspired this whole post–each piece is handmade and hand painted, so each one is unique. I so love the Peacock Safari print, an interesting mix of color and neutrals painted onto leather. The Mini Travel Companion with lots of pockets, a good size, and a long strap make it seem like, well, the perfect travel companion!

One of the most common issues for a regular traveler is jet lag. It’s also one of the hardest to deal with if you don’t prepare ahead of time. Changing time zones can wreak havoc on your natural circadian rhythms, affecting your entire trip. I have been very lucky in that whenever I’ve traveled abroad, it’s been to either El Salvador (same time zone as Texas) or Manila (where the people I meet with work American hours). After some research, I have found some effective ways in avoiding jet lag, and if you readers have any tips I would love to hear those as well!

• Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. I talk about this one a lot just for comfort’s sake, but keeping hydrated can help you avoid jet lag as well. Air on planes is drier than almost any place on earth, which can zap the moisture right out of your body. Drink 8-10 oz of water for every hour you’re on the plane.
• Change your watch immediately. Once you get on the plane, immediately change your watch or phone to the new time zone. This will help you figure out when to sleep or stay awake on the plane.
• Sleep (or stay awake) on the plane. If you are arriving in the morning, it is so important to sleep on the plane. There are a variety of aids, including Tylenol PM, melatonin, eyemask, white noise apps on your phone, ear plugs, blankets, pillows…. the list goes on and on. If you arrive at night and will be sleeping once you get to your hotel, do your best to stay awake on the plane. If you need to take a nap, try to keep it less than two hours.
• Go outside. Once you arrive, if it’s daylight try to spend some time outside or by a window. Sunlight can do wonders for waking you up and setting your natural rhythms.
• Before you go. If it’s at all possible, try to start resetting your internal clock before you go. Try getting up and going to bed an hour earlier or later, depending on where you’re going. Obviously, this isn’t feasible for everyone, but it can really help you get into that groove.

Readers, what are your favorite tips for avoiding jet lag?