I'm sure a lot of veterans here travel for work/business..

My job is probably changing a bit and I'll need to travel internationally 50% of the time (Russia, Australia, Japan, China, Various Europe, Brazil, etc)..

Any tips on how to stay healthy, fit, SANE, and keep in touch with the significant other and family? Things that keep that much travel fun, gadgets that make it just that much easier etc?

Excited about the role but not sure about the travel.. Advice greatly appreciated!

I travel a lot throughout Asia and across the Pacific for work, so here we go.

Staying healthy: I try not to eat too much junk food when I travel, especially the candy and stuff in the airline lounges. I also avoid the temptations of unlimited free booze and limit myself both on the ground and in the air. I try to walk around a lot to get to where I need to go, too. My travel over the last year has at least doubled but I haven't really needed to do much else to stay reasonably healthy.

Staying sane: I love travel, so it's no problem for me. I actually have issues when I'm not going somewhere.

Keeping in touch with family/etc.: Ha!

Travel necessities: For me, a laptop, a couple of books and a music player is all I need to make travel easy.

I travel almost exclusively international for work. The best gadget I've bought was my iPad. Before, I used to carry 5-6 books on a trip with me so I'd always have something to read. I hate running out of reading material, especially in a country where I may not speak the language or just don't feel like reading a novel in the local language. With the iPad, I can take several books with me with no weight and buy a new one anytime I want. I can also watch the occasional movie on it.

In terms of food - learning what is healthy in restaurants and learning that I didn't need to clean my plate were key lessons.

spend some time selecting the ff alliance to receive the max benefit from the trips....

Good question.. Assuming no company preferred flight.. what is the best FF to sign up with? Star Alliance? Sky world? One World?

The best way to keep in touch with family is to fly in as late as possible and leave as earlier as possible. There are times when you're tempted to spend the night in the hotel & leave the next day, but that night in the hotel can be boring and lame. You feel like you should be at home with family. It's better just to take the first flight out.

With regards to alliance, it depends on where you live, where you will often go, and how much domestic travel you will do. Each airline has its pluses & minuses, and they don't all fit everyone. For instance, at SFO, UA is a hub, so it's logical to be with star allliance. If you've in Chicago, you've got more options, and in Atlanta, of course, it would be almost silly not to be with Delta.

There isn't one clear best. I personally like Star Alliance, but I live in a Star Alliance hub. I never use One World because AA flights are never practical, but others on here fly AA all the time.

Keeping fit: I like exercising, so I make it a point to do so when traveling domestically or internationally. Depending on where you are, running through the local neighborhoods is a great way to just get out of the hotel, stay fit, and see things. Walk whenever you can - I can't even express to you how much walking I did in Paris, Prague, Zurich, Frankfurt, and Seoul (and NYC, of course). I avoided cabs or transit unless I was in a time crunch or the distance was just too far to walk. Eat healthy, balancing it with getting a good sampling of the local fare. Don't feel obligated to eat every last morsel on your plate. The wait staff won't be offended! Along the same lines, don't drink too much, if you can help it

Sleep is another big one. Many people do many different things, including supplements, sleep aids, exercise (seriously), and just plain ol' sleep timing (ie, basically trying to adjust to wherever you'll be by staying up or forcing yourself to sleep, etc). Regardless, getting decent sleep is critical. I didn't have too difficult a time in Europe, but Asia killed me. I've not done multiple regions in a single trip, but many have, and there are many threads if you search about sleeping.

Keeping in touch: Make sure your phone gets service wherever you are; use Skype (or Facetime, if an apple guy); and email. If you have a VOIP service you can use over your laptop, that's another bonus.

Staying sane: I always have something to read (ipad, books not available in eformat, mags). I also load up my laptop/ipad with movies/tv shows (although, honestly, I don't always even watch them). I sightsee wherever I go. To that end, take a camera with you and take a lot of pictures. Don't be afraid to look like a tourist. It's all good, man, b/c when you're not working, you ARE a tourist!

And depending on where you're going and for how long, see if you can "drag" your SO along with you. Your room and transportation are paid for, so you'd really just be on the hook for his/her food, souvenirs, etc.

Loyalty Programs: Sign up for all the hotel programs, and pick a primary airline program. It helps to know where you're based and where you expect to travel. So, where are you based?

Great advice so far.. thanks all.

I'm located in Seattle.. does that make a difference in which FF system to go with?
I'm with Alaska now but am thinking of joining an international one...

Alaska is partnered with most international airlines. I use BA going to London and Qantas (or now Delta) when I go to Australia.

(I'm in Seattle as well and travel for business). Alaska's FF program has worked great for me.


Staying in touch with family.........SKYPE is awesome

Why not just sign up for all three?

Over 77% of the world's airlines belong to one of the three alliances these days so it makes sense to just join a FFP on each of the three alliances. That way you're 77% covered that the airline you'll be travelling will earn miles on either AA (or any other oneworld carrier of your choice), DL (or any other SkyTeam carrier of your choice) or UA (or any other Star Alliance carrier of your choice).

AS is a good programme, especially if you anticipate lots of travel on AS/DL/AA. They partner with lots of other good airlines too like KE, BA, QF and CX but you don't earn EQMs on those and your status means nothing on them.

Seeing as it looks like a lot of your travel will be over the Pacific and are based out of SEA, I think the best airline programme for you might be DL. DL is the main TPAC operator out of SEA and you can connect pretty much anywhere in Asia on SkyTeam in ICN or NRT. You can even get to Oz on DL through LAX and earn miles while flying AS domestically. SkyClubs are also the "best of the worst" as far as US airline lounges go.

UA is also worth considering seeing as UA and *A are so huge and pretty much well-connected anywhere in the world. To be honest though, I think DL is a better airline to fly (not counting FFP) than UA. I'd stay clear of AA/OW in your case since AA's TPAC routes are pathetic and CX/QF don't operate to SEA.

Staying sane:

Take some photos of people who love you and put them in your hotel room. I put a snapshot of my husband right next to the hotel phone where I will see it when I first wake up.

My father did a lot of business travel, and he had one inviolate rule: Never drink (alcohol) alone.

He would have a drink, or two, in the company of a business companion or co-worker, or with my mother, but never would he drink alcohol when he was by himself. My father's father was an alcoholic, as was my mother's father. Both my parents were rigid about drawing boundaries around their personally-allowed drinking.

I never drink alcohol, and I believe that is one of the reasons I do well with international travell. I have minimal jet lag, always a clear head and am not tempted to do things I should not do.

What about on the plane if you're in business class (I know you're the queen of coach and see your great reasons for being there) and they have free wine? Would you turn it down then? I happily participate in the wine drinking on the plane, even if I'm drinking alone!

Different things work for different people. If that's what Queen of Coach's father needed to do to keep a healthy relationship with alcohol, then it sounds like it was a great rule... for him.