Packing checklist for travel
- Items on the packing list
- 31
- Shirts or tops to pack
- 4
- Client-facing outfits
- 2
- Chargers and cables
- 3
Every figure here comes from the figures you enter and the method stated beside it: your fares, your nights, your hotel rate, your ground transport, your company's own allowance and caps. Where a worksheet borrows a public figure as a default, the federal standard lodging and meals rates for instance, the page names the source and the date it was read.
The figures above are one trip worked as an example (31). Put your own fares, nights and caps in and the answer follows as you type.
Download the Packing checklist for travel worked example (CSV)
The packing checklist for travel counts what a business traveler actually needs from the shape of the trip: the days away, the client-facing days, the devices that need a charger, the workouts planned, the climates the trip crosses and whether it is carry-on only. It returns the items on the list, the shirts or tops to pack, the client-facing outfits, the chargers and cables, the workout kit and the liquids limit that applies if the bag is going through security as carry-on. It is the list the office can hand a new traveler, sized to the trip rather than to a magazine's idea of one.
Why the list is counted rather than copied
A three-day trip with two client days and a workout each morning needs four tops, two outfits, three chargers and the kit; a two-week trip crossing two climates needs a different bag. The worksheet counts from the inputs, so a traveler who has never packed for work is given a number for each line rather than 'enough shirts', and the office can check it against the trip plan.
Carry-on changes the list
Carry-on only removes the checked-bag items (the lock, the tag, the wait at the belt, the risk of the bag arriving tomorrow) and adds the liquids rule: containers of 100 millilitres or less in one clear bag. The worksheet shows the limit when carry-on is selected and drops it when a bag is checked, so the traveler knows which rules the bag is packed to.
What the list deliberately leaves out
Tips, hacks and etiquette are not on it; a packing list is a document, and a document that includes advice about airport lounges stops being one. The line items are the things that, forgotten, cost the trip: the charger for the laptop the presentation is on, the outfit for the client day, the document folder. Perdiemo Pro files the list against the trip so the same traveler gets the same list next time, corrected by what they forgot.
What the office manager asks before using the Packing checklist for travel
Which figures do I need before using the packing checklist for travel? The days away, how many of them are client-facing, the devices you carry, the workouts you will actually do, whether the destination's weather differs from home, and whether the bag is carry-on only. They are all on the trip plan or in your head.
What is the liquids limit for carry-on? The TSA's rule is containers of 3.4 ounces (100 millilitres) or less, all in one quart-size clear bag, one bag per passenger. The worksheet shows the limit only when carry-on is selected; the source below is the rule on the day.
Is this the same as the business trip checklist? No. That one is the office's list of bookings, confirmations and meeting preparation; this is the traveler's own list of what goes in the bag. They are filed against the same trip in Pro.
Where the method in this worksheet comes from
TSA, Liquids rule: the 3-1-1 limit for carry-on bags. Why the liquids limit appears only for carry-on: the TSA's 3-1-1 rule applies at screening, and a checked bag is packed to different rules.
US Department of Transportation, Fly Rights: the 24-hour reservation rule, refunds and what an airline owes a passenger. Why the checked-bag items are on the list at all: Fly Rights sets out what an airline owes for a delayed or lost bag, and the tag and the receipt are what the claim needs.