I'll be in the United Kingdom, on a short speaking tour.
It's always a challenge to pack for a six day trip, especially if you are committed to only carry on bags. I am loathe to ever check baggage as it can slow me down, make me crazy and leave me w/o my gig clothes.
The trick to packing for six days, five speaking gigs and two red-eyes is planning, planning and replanning. Here's what I'm lugging:
Briefcase:
* Writing notebook (for an author, always #1)
* Mac Laptop (solid state drive)
* Kindle 2 (next read: Twitter Power)
* Panasonic mini video cam
* iPhone plus Richard Solo battery re-charger
* World Cup red and yellow cards (for effect)
* 100 business cards
Suitcase:
* One Dior black suit (wearing jacket to suit #2 on plane)
* Slacks that go w/ suit #2
* 3 no-iron tailored brooks brothers white shirts
* Three ties (two standard, one formal)
* Workout pants, tennis shoes
* Blow dryer, UK adapter
* Pillbag with Ibuprofen, lo-dose aspirin, melatonin
* Valet clothes steamer
* One black long sleeve and short sleeve shirt
* Copies of each of my book, 3 of my DVDs
My schedule is nuts: I get in Tuesday AM, recover all day, then have two gigs in Leeds on Weds. Thursday is two more gigs in Goelle and Friday is three gigs in Harrogate. Saturday I fly home. I'll have what I'm wearing (sans the jacket to suit #2) dry cleaned when I get to the UK.
Believe it or not, I have everything I need with this configuration. As a speaker, you travel for a living. The next time you take a multi-day trip, consider a plan for carry on. With a little planning and a few key tools, you can do it too!
