Traveling Well: Forget the Hacks, Focus on the Humans

The numbers tell the tale. The first hovers around a million, mile after mile accumulated over 25 years. The second is exactly 100, achieved last week after touching down at SDF (a.k.a., Louisville, Kentucky). But the third is what’s led us here: zero.
 
I’ve never avoided business travel, although I find it equally as important to be at home with family and friends. In many cases, I relish it as a chance to spend time with clients and co-workers and feed an appetite to see the world.
 
But keeping your sanity on the road is an ever-changing game, with new variables cropping up with every step onto a jetway: unexpected detours, fickle wireless connections, over-tired and under-trained security staff, and inevitable delays. That’s one reason I pounce on any article that comes up in a feed breathlessly promising new travel hacks, hoping to find a new idea.
 
But I haven’t. Most are recycled listicles proffering “insider” tips from airline attendants and hoteliers, such as avoiding in-flight coffee and investing in a good neck pillow (the existence of which I still believe is a myth). Maybe there’s little left to learn. Or maybe not.
 
So while hustling through MSP (Minneapolis-St. Paul) several weeks ago, I took a few minutes to jot down a few tricks of my own to make the most of your time on the road:
 

• Look. Get below 1,000 feet during the landing approach, and the scene is the same on every plane: passengers surreptitiously pulling out their phones to grab that one bar of signal and check email and social. You want to catch up during the taxi in? Great. But once you deplane, put away the phone for a few minutes as you walk to the next gate or baggage claim. Look around. You may discover a new caffeine stop. Marvel at how a 175,000-pound aluminum and carbon tube can set down gracefully on a smooth stretch of concrete. Or even see the sun rise or set for once while not glued to your laptop.
  
  
• Connect. Take a moment to offer a friendly “hello” to the person sitting beside you in 22E or in the lobby. The ensuing conversation may be brief or non-existent, but it may also lead to an unexpected connection. This simple act led to me learn about Donald Trump’s patio furniture preferences for his golf resorts, Axel Rose’s renewed health after a four-hour concern in Tijuana, and more than a few business prospects.
  
  
• Relax. It’s all too easy to turn your gaze to email or Excel at the end of long day, whether in the hotel room or while hoping the person in front has enough mercy to not recline. And sometimes it’s warranted. But don’t dismiss the benefits of catching a movie on that 10 pm connecting flight, taking a walk in a new city, or even catching a few extra winks. You’ll be better off the next morning, and trust me—your email will still be there.

 
That’s not to say you shouldn’t roll your clothes, use packing cubes, bring along a portable charger, favor carry-on over checked, self-select rooms through the app, and all the other so-called hacks out there. Just do me a favor now and then: raise your head, say hi, and try to finish that last episode of Veep. I’ll be smiling back, ready to buy you a drink and hear about your own secrets for staying sane on the road.
 
When not in a plane or in a car, Mike McDougall can be found running 5Ks, keeping track of his teenagers, and—yes—actually working out of the firm’s Rochester, NY offices.

​By Mike McDougall