Business travel can be hard on anyone, but it is especially stressful and difficult for new parents. You’ve spent several weeks or even months taking care of every need of your new infant. Now someone expects you to just leave your baby alone? Will your spouse be able to handle it? How will it affect your childcare situation? Will everything get done? And of course, how sad will you be without your baby? The fact that you’re likely sleep deprived (and very possibly hormonal) doesn’t make putting together a plan any easier.

I’m not going to lie—I dreaded my first trip. Dreaded it. For the 24 hours before I left, every time I looked at the Mini Warrior I cried. But I put together a strategy for preparing for and dealing with the trip, and I got through it. Here is what I did:

Pumping. One of my biggest pre-trip stressors was figuring out how to pump on the road. It’s totally doable, but takes a lot of planning. Here is the post with my detailed pumping strategy (it’s long, sorry) and here is the one with my post-trip report.

Home life. It made me feel less guilty better to know that everything at home was going smoothly. If you are like that, before your trip make sure everyone at home has everything they need. Lists, schedules, and food can all be prepped (to an extent) and given to your spouse and/or the baby’s caretakers. In my case, they were one and the same so I made sure I had plenty of breastmilk in the freezer.

Keep in touch. Keeping up with your home life can make you feel less isolated and alone. Speak with your baby’s caretaker to see if they can send you updates throughout the day. The Home Warrior sent me about a photo per hour each day I was gone so I knew what was going on. He also sent me a ton of videos. It helped me feel connected and like I was still a part of my son’s life.

Enjoy the benefits. While business travel isn’t always a picnic, there are a few things you should try to enjoy. Sleeping through the night, eating in a restaurant (eating with both hands for that matter!), and maybe even some downtime to read a book—things you may have taken for granted before baby that now seem like true luxury!

Let go of the guilt. You will probably feel guilty about a number of things, but in the wise words of Mommy Points, remember what you are doing—you are earning a paycheck to provide for your family. And apparently guilt is just part of the deal with parenting, so try to let it go, do your best work, and enjoy what you can.

Readers, what are your tips for business travel as a new parent?

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A few weeks ago I went on my first trip in five months. I was pretty anxious, but had a plan in place. I was going to re-read some key blog posts, give myself extra time, figure out the “new-mom” stuff, and make a very specific list of what to pack. I was only gone for one day, so didn’t actually need that much clothing. That made it way easier than it could have been!

Suitcase:

• Outfit for work (black pants, nursing shirt, cardigan, black coat, pink flats)
• Travel outfit (jeans, sneakers, gray tee, maroon long sweater)
• PJs (yoga pants, tank, long sleeved tee)
• Toiletries, makeup, curling iron
• Jewelry (turquoise necklace and earrings)
• New-mom stuff
• Pump
• Tablecloth for trade show
• Chargers

Purse stuff:

• Pashmina
• Knitting
• Thank you notes (sigh, still trying to finish them)
• Book
• Wallet, keys, lip balm
• Computer
• Cooler, bottles, ice packs
• Office supplies (notepad, pen, usb key, headset)
• Comfort items (tea, Splenda, Emergen-C)
• Magazine

Honestly, it was a tight fit. My pump took up half of my freaking suitcase, and I had to fit the cooler in my purse. If I have to bring clothes for more than one day I will have to be super creative about getting everything in. My trip this week is two days, but since I’m wearing my work clothes on the plane I only have to pack enough for one day. We’ll see what happens on my first longer trip….

Next week, I will take my first business trip in almost five months. That is a long time for a Road Warrior to be grounded! I am looking forward to getting going again, but apprehensive about a few things too. Will it feel weird to be back in action? Will I remember to pack everything? What about changes in airport security or my airline? (Plus I know I’ll miss my baby, but knowing he is in good hands at home with Daddy eases my mind.) Here is how I plan to prepare for the trip:

Read my blog. Whenever I review my blog, I am surprised by how much I’ve written. There is a lot of helpful stuff in here, if I do say so myself, and I need to go back and read some of it. Especially the security and packing tips!

Make a list. Before I pack, I am going to make a very detailed packing list—way more so than usual. It would be super lame to get to my destination and not have something critical, like my computer, work files, contact solution, etc.

Give myself extra time. In the past I’ve gotten the whole getting-to-the-airport thing down to an exact science—it used to take me 27-30 minutes to drive to the airport, park my car, ride the shuttle to the terminal, and go through security. For this first trip, I’m going to give myself a time cushion just in case I can’t do things as quickly as I think I should.

Figure out the “new mom” stuff. There are a specific travel issues that go along with being a new mom—pumping on the road and transporting breast milk, for starters. Not to mention figuring out how to minimize disruptions for the Mini Warrior at home, and dealing with my own sad feelings to be away from him. (Look for a post on this subject next week.)

So, Readers, that’s my plan. Any suggestions for stuff I missed?