# Before a business trip checklist

> For a business trip, pack your laptop and charger, phone cable, adapters, ID or passport, work badge, presentation files saved offline, and any medication. Before leaving home, switch off the stove and heat appliances, close windows, take out the trash, and lock up. Set an out-of-office reply and confirm meeting times in the destination's time zone.

Business trips tend to get packed in a hurry, often the night after a long workday. The suit makes it in. The laptop charger, still plugged in under your desk, often doesn't.

This list covers the work side, the personal side, and the house you're leaving behind. It's built for trips of one to five nights, where you're carrying one bag and need everything in it to work the moment you land.

## Work gear

- [ ] Laptop [worth a photo]
- [ ] Laptop charger (The one most often left plugged in at home or at the office.)
- [ ] Phone charger and a spare cable
- [ ] Travel adapter for the destination's plugs
- [ ] Presentation, slides or documents saved offline and backed up
- [ ] Work badge or access card
- [ ] Business cards, if your field still uses them
- [ ] Headphones for calls and the flight

## Documents and money

- [ ] Passport or government ID [worth a photo]
- [ ] Boarding passes and hotel confirmation
- [ ] Corporate card and a personal card as backup
- [ ] Receipts folder or app ready for expenses
- [ ] Meeting addresses and contact numbers saved offline

## Personal

- [ ] Medication for every day of the trip, plus extra [worth a photo]
- [ ] Outfits planned per day, including one spare shirt
- [ ] Toiletries in a carry-on-friendly bag
- [ ] Glasses or contacts
- [ ] Workout clothes, if you'll use the hotel gym

## Before you leave work

- [ ] Out-of-office reply set with your return date
- [ ] Calendar checked for the destination's time zone
- [ ] Anything urgent handed off to a colleague
- [ ] Desk charger unplugged and packed if you need it

## Leaving home

- [ ] Stove and oven off [worth a photo]
- [ ] Iron and straightener unplugged (Easy to miss after ironing a shirt at the last minute.) [worth a photo]
- [ ] Trash out, perishables used up or thrown away
- [ ] Thermostat set to away [worth a photo]
- [ ] Windows closed [worth a photo]
- [ ] Pets and plants covered by someone
- [ ] Front door locked [worth a photo]

## Tips

- Keep a second set of chargers and adapters that lives in your travel bag permanently. Then packing them isn't a step at all.
- Iron your shirt the night before, not the morning you fly. The iron gets switched off when you're calm, not when the taxi is outside.
- Email your slides to yourself as well as saving them to the laptop. If the laptop dies, you can present from any machine.
- Do the house checks before you call a ride. Once a driver is waiting, everything gets rushed.

## Questions people ask

### What should I pack for a business trip?

Laptop and charger, phone charger, travel adapter, ID, work badge, offline copies of your documents, outfits for each day, toiletries and any medication. A carry-on is usually enough for up to four nights.

### How do I avoid forgetting my laptop charger?

Buy a second charger that stays in your travel bag. If that isn't an option, pack it before the laptop, so you can't close the bag without noticing it's missing.

### What should I do at home before a short business trip?

Switch off and unplug heat appliances, empty the trash, deal with food that will spoil, close windows, set the thermostat to away, and lock up.

### Did I leave the iron on? I ironed a shirt right before leaving.

Many modern irons switch off automatically after a few minutes, but older or cheaper ones may not. If you can, ask someone with a key to check, and next time unplug it straight after use.

---

Source: https://getoneloop.app/checklists/before-a-business-trip
One Loop for iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/one-loop-proof-you-did-it/id6802970270