I promised some blogs on business travel, so here we go.

A good business trip starts before the trip.  I won’t address the actual business arrangements (like booking tickets and arranging hotel rooms) since company policies differ on such issues.

Here are some of my basic tasks before I head out:

• The week before the trip, I decide what I will wear on the trip so I can take care of any necessary dry cleaning and laundry.
• I suspend newspaper delivery.
• I make sure my bills are paid.
• If I will be gone more than a week, I stop my mail.
• I take out my garbage and recycling and wash any dirty dishes. (You really don’t want to come home to dishes with dried-on gunk or trash that’s had time to ferment.)
• A few days in advance, I’ll set out the things I need to pack so that I don’t forget any necessities.
• I decide what I’ll wear on the plane.  Make sure your shoes go on and off easily and your socks don’t have holes.
• If necessary, I make arrangements for transportation to the airport.
• Just before leaving, I turn off the main water valve (just in case!), turn my heat down (or my air conditioning off), and set the burglar alarm.