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Traveling for business has its perks, but packing for it is another story. While many business travel essentials are great for leisure travels as well, there are a few things you should definitely have on your work trip!
Business Travel Essentials
Table Of Contents
Business travel can be exciting and fun, but making sure you’re fully prepared can be a bit tedious at times. If you’re constantly on the go for work, these business travel essentials will be amazingly helpful while on the road — and many are awesome for leisure travel as well!
Top Business Adventures to Pack
Compass Rose Carryon Size Packing Cubes: Slim Size Cubes | Medium Size Cubes
Packing Cubes to Keep Your Luggage Organized
If you’re headed out on a business trip, you’re going to want to be well-organized, and the best way to organize your luggage is with packing cubes!
Here at TFG, we love packing cubes because they can keep your things coordinated, easy to access, and help you travel carry-on only, which if you’re headed out on a business trip is a good idea.
Many of our readers use Compass Rose Packing Cubes to organize and compress their clothing and other items they plan to bring. These packing cubes are the only ones on the market with a number and color-coded system, so you know where you packed everything.
And now the Compass Rose Packing Cubes are offered in two sizes: slim and medium. The slim size cubes measure 13” x 5” x 2.8”, and the medium size cubes measure 2.8” x 13” x 8.5”. Both fit an international carry-on suitcase. Users say the medium size is great for bulkier items!
Watch the packing tutorial on Youtube!
Watch this packing cubes video tutorial to learn how to maximize space and never check a bag at the airport again. These are the top 12 reasons why I prefer packing cubes to other organizers.
The secret to traveling light is to create a functional but minimalist capsule wardrobe. Learn more in my guide!
Compass Rose Digital Luggage Scale
Not many people are familiar with luggage scales, but they’re incredibly helpful when you’re a frequent traveler.
We recommend bringing along a lightweight luggage scale to weigh your cases before going to the airport. This will ensure you are below the weight limit and avoid extra charges.
With a compact luggage scale in hand, you’ll never have to worry about excess baggage fees!
pack-all Water Resistant Travel Shoe Bag
Shoe Bags to Protect Your Favorite Shoes
Speaking from experience, you can easily ruin your favorite pair of dress shoes by throwing them into your suitcase with everything else.
These pack-all shoe bags will keep your pretty shoes clean and protected, covering your business trip essentials in the appearance department.
Readers also love that they are useful to stash wet or muddy running shoes or anything else you need to sequester from clean clothes.
Travelpro Luggage Maxlite 5 Rolling Underseater
An Underseat Carry-On to Travel With Ease
If you’re hopping on a plane for work, then underseat carry-ons should be listed as business travel must-haves. Readers love Travelpro’s Maxlite 5 rolling underseater as it features incredible organization and is designed to fit under the seat of most airlines.
Plus, while most underseat luggage tends to have too many compartments limiting their use to business documents, this bag has a spacious interior where you can fit just about everything you need for a simple travel itinerary. An added bonus is that it’s lightweight.
We’ve rounded up a list of the best under seat luggage and we’re showing you how to pack strategically to make the most of low-priced airfares!
Weekender Bag for a Quick Trip
If you’re heading on a few-day trip and just need a change of clothes or two, a weekender bag is a perfect option that’ll make your travels easy breezy!
Away’s The Everywhere Bag will fit all the essentials and has interior and exterior pockets and a 15” laptop sleeve to keep everything neat and organized. It’s finished off with a durable, water-resistant shell and a trolley sleeve. The Lo & Sons Catalina Deluxe is another TFG favorite.
A weekender bag makes a great carry on for a longer trip, too!
A Travel Purse or Bag to Keep Your Things Organized
If you’re headed out on the road for work, one of the most important business travel necessities is the right travel bag, specifically one big enough to hold your laptop in it.
If you choose a bag like the beautiful Lo & Sons Rowledge backpack, you’ll have plenty of room to hold all your essentials, including your laptop. Readers love that it slides easily over your carry-on handle so you can wheel it through the airport, and it’ll easily fit underneath the airplane seat.
It has a minimalist design with maximum organization, and will be perfect for your next business trip!
Find out which of these anti-theft purse options our readers love the most!
Travelon Anti-Theft Convertible Clutch<
A Travel Clutch to Grab-And-Go
The best thing about Travelon is that they make travel friendly and anti theft bags which are definitely business travel essentials.
It’s always nice to have a compact purse or clutch on a trip, especially if you’ve packed for work, not travel. Chances are you won’t want to lug around your laptop bag everywhere!
The Travelon Anti-Theft Convertible Clutch is a super choice for a grab and go clutch. It’s slash resistant with locking compartments and the card and passport pockets are RFID protected.
Having a clutch on-hand is great because you can use them to keep your essentials organized in your laptop bag, and then pull it out to use as a purse at lunch or dinner with colleagues.
Anti-Theft Crossbody to Protect Your Things
While having an anti-theft clutch is a great idea because it’s easy to pack away, it doesn’t necessarily fit the bill all the time. Sometimes it’s not big enough to hold all of your things!
In that case, using the anti-theft crossbody from Travelon is perfect! A bag like this should definitely be on your business travel essentials list.
It is also travel friendly, made with slash resistant material, has locking compartments, an RFID protected card, and passport slots. Plus, it has ample room for organization and comes in a bunch of cute colors.
Portable Charger to Keep You Going
Having conference calls and multiple emails can drain your phone’s battery quickly. This Anker portable charger can really change your life while on a business trip.
This is our readers’ top portable charger pick, loved for how compact and lightweight it is while holding a LOT of power (over 2 full charges for an iPhone)!
When it comes to business trip essentials, and just travel essentials in general, TFG readers agree that this is right at the top of the list!
Find out the best portable power bank chargers for your next travel!
Compass Rose Universal All-in-One Travel Adapter
Travel Adapter with Multiple Charging Options
Hotels never seem to have enough outlets – even those that cater to business travelers. This is something that will always baffle me! To help combat electronic musical chairs, bring your own portable charge strip.
If you’re traveling to multiple countries in Europe or around the world, for example, you’ll want to bring a universal adapter, which is much easier than taking several different adapters for each country.
And this one will help you make the most of limited hotel charging space! It works in over 150 countries and can charge up to three devices with its two USB ports and a universal plug.
Take a look at this power outlet guide for travelers to see a full list of plugs and outlets by country! And then dive into more of the top power strips for travel here!
Bagsmart Travel Cord Organizer
Travel Cord Organizer for Your Tech Gear
As a business traveler, you’ll no doubt have lots of cords, chargers, flash drives, and all kinds of tech accessories to keep track of. Keep everything untangled and neat as can be in a travel cord organizer!
The TFG reader top pick is this cute cord organizer from Bagsmart, which has variously sized mesh pockets and elastic loops to keep everything secure, visible, and easy to access. Plus, it’s water-resistant and padded to keep your gear safe!
These bags take up very little space and will be immensely handy when you’re on the go!
Sleek Reusable Water Bottle
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Seriously! Staying hydrated is an important part of staying healthy and alert while traveling, even for business.
A sturdy and cute water bottle like this S’well stainless steel insulated water bottle is definitely a business travel essential. It’ll keep your water at an ideal temp and is much better for both you and the environment, rather than the cheap plastic found in disposable water bottles.
Plus, you’ll also save money, especially in airports where everything is notoriously overpriced!
FaceShadow Double Glasses Case
A Cute Case to Protect Your Glasses
Whether you’re traveling with eyeglasses, reading glasses, blue-light blockers, or sunnies, you’ll need to keep them safe from dust, scratches, and damage while keeping them handy, so be sure to bring along a durable glasses case.
Readers love the FaceShadow double glasses case, which features two slots so you can easily switch back and forth between pairs, or keep them both securely stored at the same time. They have spongy padding and are made of soft microfiber that comes in a wide range of absolutely adorable prints!
Having your classes kept clean and easy to reach during a work day is super helpful, but these are truly great for any kind of travel, and for day-to-day excursions, too!
PurSteam Portable Garment Steamer
A Portable Steamer to Keep You Looking Sharp
Chances are if you’re headed out on a business trip you’re going to meet people essential to your job, so you’ll want to look professional.
Wrinkles are a really fast way to take your business fashion down a level. But fear not, the PurSteam Portable Garment Steamer is the work travel essential to solve your problems!
This bad boy is quick heating and compact making it a great and easy addition to your morning routine.
The Downy Wrinkle Releaser spray is a great alternative that’s great for wrinkles that aren’t as severe. Perfect for removing wrinkles from your clothes after a flight!
Choose the best travel steamer for your next journey!
An Eye Mask for Restful Sleep
Staying rested and ready for whatever the day brings is essential on a work trip, but it can also be tricky when flying on red-eyes, switching time zones, or just adjusting to a new environment. A sleeping mask is a great way to enhance your rest and get hours of rest in.
Quince’s silk eye mask is a dream — readers love that it feels so soft and light while efficiently blocking out light, and the silk fabric has amino acids that are nourishing to the skin!
SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Flash Drive for Digital Storage
Flash drives allow you to easily share documents (especially large file sizes—like presentations), make back-ups, and print documents from hotel business center printers (never fun); so it’s a need for any business trip.
Personally, I keep at least one flash drive in my laptop bag at all times, so there have been many times when I was grateful to have my Sandisk flash drive.
Packable Duffle Bag for Any Occasion
If you’ll be displaying items at a trade show, bringing samples to clients, or snagging some freebies, a packable duffle is a way to go.
This Wandf packable duffle bag is spacious and sturdy but surprisingly lightweight, and it folds up super small to take up very little room in your luggage! It’ll fit in overhead bins or under airline seats and can even slide over a suitcase handle.
Plus, a packable duffle is great for bringing home souvenirs or some great shopping finds, too!
Bose QuietComfort 45 Wireless Headphones
Noise-Canceling Headphones to Keep Your Focus
Whether catching up on work in a busy cafe, taking an important call while on the go, or drowning out the noise on a flight, noise-canceling headphones are a must for the business traveler. They’ll offer crystal clear speech on a phone call, get rid of any unwanted background noise, and help keep you focused.
Bose’s QuietComfort 45 Bluetooth headphones are amazing! Readers love that they connect wirelessly to any of your devices, have a comfy, adjustable fit, stellar battery life, and have both quiet and aware modes depending on your situation. And your music will have never sounded better!
Apple Airtags for Peace of Mind
If you’re checking a bag or traveling with valuable items, Apple Airtags will allow you to easily keep track of your belongings, even if they’re far away!
These little trackers are SO handy for travel, and so many TFGers don’t go anywhere without them in their luggage, handbags, and clipped to their valuables. They’ll make lost luggage, misplaced keys, or any other travel mishaps a lot easier to deal with, as the “Find My” network on your iPhone will track these items in real time and give you a precise location.
If you don’t have an iPhone or want an alternative option, these Tile trackers are amazing, and you can take a look at our post on the best luggage tags and trackers here!
What are your business travel essentials? Tell us in the comments!
For more tips on travel essentials, please read:
- Women’s Business Clothes for Travel
- Airplane Essentials: Top Items to Make Flights More Enjoyable
- Female Travelers Love Ponte Pants. Find Out Why!
- Best Messenger Bags for Women: Functional and Adorable Options
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Author Bio: Emily is a lifelong travel fanatic who is constantly making additions to her “upcoming destinations” list. (Yes, she is also a list person.) She is currently based in the Netherlands, where she lives with her husband.
I’m headed into some more international business travel next month and this list is such a great reminder of what to add to my pre-flight checklist. I almost forgot to pack my noise cancelling headphones! Based on some other TFG articles and recommendations I now have the Lo & Sons OG 2 bag – and I think I prefer it to a weekender or backpack for business trips. It holds everything in a super organized way and looks chic for business travel.
I need to buy the air tags TODAY! I am also checking out the other items, also! Thanks for a great article!
Great article! I’ve already purchased several items from this list. The eyeglass case, Away weekender and headphones are great!
Thank you.
For someone traveling three times in a month, this list of business travel essentials kept me top of the game. I ended up sharing this with so many of my friends and co-workers. Thank you for putting this together
I agree on the Swell water bottle and the packing cubes for sure! I’ve tried so many water bottles and always go back to Swell. They keep my drinks cold and never peak. Ever! These particular packing cubes are the most rugged I’ve found—and I have MANY brands. Don’t sleep on these!!
I was just looking for something else and came across this list which reminded me to put my wrinkle releaser in my bag! Thank you!
Just starting back to doing business travel. The suggestions and top picks are great. Thanks