Business Travel Tip #1: Pack Like a Pro

When you’re heading out on a business trip, you need to pack light and pack smart. Packing like a pro means planning out exactly what you’ll need ahead of time. Pick your outfits for each day you’re away and try to choose pieces that you can get double-wear out of so you pack less. Create your little travel kit with the essentials you’ll need for everyday life and emergencies, such as spare phone chargers, power adapters (especially necessary for international travelers), headphones, a toothbrush and toothpaste, a razor, Tylenol, and band-aids. Keep this little wonder-kit in your suitcase permanently so you can rest assured you’ll never forget the important stuff.

Business Travel Tip #2: Carry-on Only

If you take heed of the above pointers, you should find yourself packing only the bare necessities for your trip. Fortunately, the bare essentials almost always fit into a neat carry-on sized bag! Not only does taking just carry-on luggage to save you from expensive baggage fees, but you’ll also avoid wasting time checking in luggage, waiting for its arrival at the carousel, or worrying about late or lost items. Be sure to invest in a carry-on bag with wheels, because lugging a duffel bag or backpack from one side of the airport to the other is never a good time.

Business Travel Tip #3: Stay Charged

In a world where we’re always connected via our laptops, tablets, and smartphones, an external battery pack should be your new best friend on business trips. When you’re working on the road or trying to prepare for important meetings ahead in your new destination, you don’t want to be caught short with your laptop or tablet battery dying mid-flight.

Business Travel Tip #4: Save Money, Use Public Transport

Calgary International Airport is located just 20 minutes from Downtown, and if you don’t want to splurge on a taxi, there are plenty of inexpensive and convenient options to get you where you need to go. Calgary is home to an extremely efficient and easy-to-use public transit system, which includes the C-Train. From the airport, catch the Calgary Transit Bus 100 to the McKnight-Westwinds train station, and jump on a train heading into Downtown. Once Downtown, the C-Train offers a ‘fare-free zone,’ so you can travel for free between the 10th Street and City Hall Stations.

Business Travel Tip #5: Choose Your Accommodation Wisely

When selecting accommodation for your corporate stay, you want to choose a location that’s both convenient to where you’ll be conducting most of your meetings or conferences, but also close enough to Downtown so you can enjoy your downtime. Urban Suites offer a range of beautiful and affordable short and long-term rental apartments (link to executive suites page] right in the heart of Downtown Calgary, ideally located to mix business and pleasure.

Business Travel Tip #6. Take the Plus15

Thanks to Calgary’s iconic Plus15 pedestrian system, getting around Downtown has never been easier. Standing 15 feet above street level, this climate-controlled network of walkways links businesses, shopping districts, and parking lots within the city. The Plus15 provides a handy escape from city traffic, as well as a much-needed refuge from the blustery cold temperatures during the winter months. Find out more about getting around Calgary and the Plus15 here.

Business Travel Tip #7: Soak up the local scene

Traveling to Calgary on business certainly doesn’t need to be all work and no play. Even if you’re short on time, all it takes is a little bit of research before you go and you’ll be able to see much more of Calgary than the inside of meeting and conference rooms. Downtown Calgary boasts a bounty of great bars and restaurants, museums, art galleries, and retail options – all within walking distance. You can even add a little Calgary culture to your lunch break and check out the Lunchbox Theatre, where you can order and eat your lunch in the theatre while taking in a one-act play.

Business Travel Tip #8: Turn your Business Trip Into a Mini-Vacation

Business and pleasure come together quite quickly in Calgary. Try to plan your business trip on a Thursday or Friday and stay the weekend so you can enjoy all the best the region has to offer. Often called the ‘Gateway to the Canadian Rockies,’ Calgary is also only a short yet scenic drive to the stunning Banff National Park, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Banff is close enough to take a day trip from Calgary, and a visit there will undoubtedly turn your ordinary corporate stay into an extraordinary one.

Business Travel Tip #9: Take Care of Yourself

Life on the road can leave you feeling sluggish, but it’s important to make time to exercise. A workout may be the last thing on your mind when you’re already feeling drained, but even a quick 30 minutes will have you feeling refreshed and energized with a healthy boost of good endorphins. Fortunately, Calgary is home to the most extensive network of walkways and bikeways in North America, which all conveniently weave throughout Downtown – so there’s no excuse not to hit the pavement and get your heart pumping. Whether you want to work up a sweat on a quick run or get some fresh air, Calgary’s scenic pathways will provide an unbeatable backdrop.

Business Travel Tip #10: Get a Nexus

If you find yourself traveling in and out of the US for business often, do yourself a huge favour and get a Nexus Card. At just $50 for a five-year membership, this little beauty allows you to skip the lines and breeze through separate security screening dedicated to Nexus carriers.

Traveling to Calgary for business? Discover your home away from home with Urban Suites. Let us help you find a stylish and comfortable executive suite to suit your next corporate trip – contact us today.

Eliminate excess

This is so key!! There is no point organizing things that a) you don’t need or use or b) don’t have room for. So step one is to get a giant garbage bag or empty box and decide what stays and what goes.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when trying to decide:

• Have I worn this in the last 6 months?
• In another 6 months will I care about this thing?
• What does this do?
• Who’s is this?

If the answer to any of these questions is “no” or “I don’t know”… see you later, it goes!

OK, get crackin’, I’ll wait… I’m serious, go eliminate the excess stuff weighing you down right now. Work your way through every room until you’re done.

See, that wasn’t as painful as you thought it would be, was it? I bet it actually feels good to get rid of some of that stuff that was lurking in the recesses of your closets and cupboards.

Organize like things

OK, now take all the things that are left and put like things together. In an office space this is pretty easy. Put all the pens, pencils, highlighters, and markers together, put all the post-its together, all the envelopes, all the tools like hole punches, staples, etc. This will make it a lot easier down the road when you need a pen and know all the pens in the house are in the left drawer of your desk. No more checking 101 places before writing it on the mirror in lipstick.

Again, go through every room in the house and repeat this process.

Use opaque containers

This is the part where you get to be creative and let your inner interior decorator free. So, get on Pinterest and start collecting some inspiration on container ideas for your collections of like things that need a home.

One huge thing to keep in mind with these containers: make sure they are closed and not see-through. Although it looks really pretty to have glass everything let’s be honest, a month or two into the process of staying organized and the pens are going to be thrown into the pens container willy-nilly. They aren’t going to be nicely placed according to shape and size with all the nibs at the same end. Trust me, closed containers are your friend.

Labels

You might be thinking, “But how will I know what’s in all my nice, new, matching containers if I can’t see inside them?” This is where you’re going to become new best friends with labels. Labels come in so many beautiful options: craft paper, twine, ribbon, chalk board. The possibilities are endless.

Everything in its place

The biggest take away from this should be everything has its place and it goes back to that place after being used. If it doesn’t have a place to live then go back to step 1 and decide if you really need it to begin with. If it has a place but you never put it back figure out if that’s because the place is wrong or you need to change your mindset and just plain clean up after yourself.

There are always exceptions to every rule. In this case there are two exceptions to the organization rules that will help you stay organized.

Command centre

A command centre is a central station where you put your daily items like keys, cell phone, spare change. It also houses things that help the household run smoothly like a calendar of everyone’s schedule. This is not a dumping ground for everything you can’t be bothered to put away. It’s only for those things that are used so frequently they don’t need a place away on a shelf.

Quick draw desk spot

This spot is ideal for a desk or workstation. It houses one of everything that you need when working at your desk on a daily basis: pen, pencil, eraser, highlighter, paper clip, post-it pad. This will save you time opening and closing your drawers 100 times a day for the same pen.

By using these five tips for organization, and the two exceptions to the rule, you will have a more organized and efficient house and office space. The key is sticking to it. If you can follow these steps and stick to them you will be in organized bliss.

Our suites are furnished with a modern and clean aesthetic, including full cookware for entertaining guests at the drop of a hat and are secure with heated, underground parking.

Our selection at Urban Suites range in size from one bedroom bachelor to large executive penthouse suites which can accommodate your entire family.

If you are considering a relocation to Calgary for business, our suites are in easy walking distance of the financial and oil hub of downtown Calgary, as well as cultural flagships like The Glenbow Museum, Alberta Theatre, numerous art galleries and of course world class restaurants.

Access the Bow River pathway system, playgrounds, The Calgary Zoo and Telus Spark Science Centre on foot or by C-train which is also a stone’s throw away from our beautiful executive suites.