How to prepare for a business trip

Apart from creating this blog, I’m a journalist specialising in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. I spent most of the last two years working from home — apart from a couple of trips to Uzbekistan and Croatia — but now the world’s opening up to international travel again, I’m delighted to be back to meeting people face to face and traveling a bit more frequently. 

My next trip is going to be to the Serbian capital Belgrade, to cover the April 3 general and presidential elections, and research several more articles. 

Here’s my take on how to prepare for a business trip: 

1. Decide the destination and timing 

I’m going to Belgrade, Serbia. Elections are coming up on 3 April and my forecast is that they will be followed by protests. This is what happened last time, and things are more tense now. 

I’d have liked to go earlier, but need to wait for my daughter to finish her school term, then take her to her grandma’s and rush over the day of the election

2. Check travel documents, visa requirements and COVID-19 rules 

This is the first trip I’m taking on my new blue British passport that gives me the power not to work or study in 27 EU countries (or indeed not to find lettuce at my local supermarket — yay Brexit!) 

I don’t require a visa for short trips to Serbia, and nor do I need to get a COVID test as I’m now triple vaccinated. 

3. Book travel 

I had to wait for my new passport to arrive, then rushed to book as the flight costs were going up! 

I booked flights from Edinburgh to Belgrade via Paris, and an Airbnb. 

For the accommodation I was spoilt for choice in Belgrade, so ended up choosing one of the many with great reviews simply because I liked the kitchen tiles 🙂 

I also purchased travel insurance, and made a note to call a taxi the day before because I have to be at the airport early for my 6am flight.

4. Brainstorm story ideas 

The next step in my how to prepare for a business trip is to brainstorm story ideas. The no 1 story will be the election result and any response including protests, but I like to come back from any trip with a few different stories.

My thought process looks something like this:

Serbia is also in the news at the moment because it’s one of only a couple of European countries that haven’t joined sanctions on Russia 

Also sector stories 

Agriculture 

IT sector – lots of news from here!

Banking consolidation 

I keep a notebook where I jot down story ideas as they enter my head so always give that a read, also check local news sites and do a Google news search for the last six months to a year in case I missed something, see what local bloggers, influencers, NGOs and think tanks are saying 

5. Hone down story ideas to five to six and start making contact with potential interviewees

As I’m only going to be there a few days I try to set up interviews beforehand so as to have a full schedule and not risk missing to see someone 

Since COVID some people are more comfortable doing it on email or zoom so I end up doing some interviews before I go 

Gaps in my schedule are for visiting anything that might be interesting, eg hanging around Russian owned supermarkets, visiting the Belgrade suburb of Vinca that until recently hosted a giant and highly toxic landfill site 

6. Make a packing list

What I’m going to do falls into 3 categories

Weather ranges from cold to warmish, sun and rain 

a – travel, must be smart but very comfortable and not constricting

b – meetings, doesn’t have to be a suit but must be comfortable 

c – reporting on protests, must be warm (take hat, gloves, extra jumpers etc for standing outside for hours) and nothing that makes me stand out (dark colours are best)

also need to take all equipment for work — mobile, laptop, notebook and pencils, dictaphone, business cards, review copy to read on the plane 

plus the usual toiletries, nightwear, etc 

I have a one hour changeover in Paris on the way out so need to travel hand luggage only as I don’t want a checked bag to get lost en route 

7. Pack 

So that’s my take on how to prepare for a business trip.

Any other business travellers out there… how do you prepare for a trip?