Hi all! I just got back from my first ever business trip to India. Reporting my experiences here!
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This is my first business trip ever, and I went with my boss and boss's boss, and our company director. I asked a coworker, who went on this trip before, about what I should be wearing, and they said that everyone dresses casually and the Chennai office actually allows sandals and to even be barefoot, so there's no need to be very business-y.
To note, I came in from NYC. The weather here is around -12 C to 5 C, while in Chennai it was 23 C to 28 C.
Before visiting, I figured the weather is pretty warm and we will mostly be indoors, so I just packed a blazer. Did not account for how truly warm it could get, and some offices that we visited had fluctuating power so the AC was on and off.
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The bag/s (
https://imgur.com/BB8Cogo)
- Osprey Farpoint 40L
- canvas shoulder bag
- laptop/office bag
Shoes / Clothes / Accessories - One pair of black sneakers (worn at the airport)
- One pair of office sandals
- 1 blazer - Xena Utility blazer. Has so many pockets, I love it so much
- 6 tops: 5 "office" tops, 1 casual top. I paired these with a blazer or shawl that I bought during the trip. They are mostly crop top and sleeveless, so it's essential to have something to cover my shoulders.
- 2 skirts: 1 black high waisted pencil skirt, 1 RipSkirt
- 1 sleep dress
- 1 black dress for dinners with the big bosses. Can be dressed up or down.
- 6 pairs of "outside" underwear (undies I wear when I go out), 4 pairs of sleeping underwear. The sleeping undies are made of cotton modal; lightweight, breathable, comfy. The outside undies are cotton modal as well, no-show in dark colors. I washed them on Day 4.
- 2 belts: 1 white belt, 1 brown braided belt
- Assortment of earrings and necklaces: all are small and dainty
- 1 microfiber hair towel: I have long, curly hair so this helps keep my hair routine.
- 1 king size silk pillowcase: again, help keeps my curls.
- Assortment of face masks that I didn't end up needing or wanting to use during the trip, except while in the airport
- Sunglasses
- Baseball cap
- Worn to the airport : fleece jacket, leggings, black linen top, Smartwool compression socks
Toiletries (
https://imgur.com/AZbiG1g)
- Painkillers, Tums
- Wet wipes
- Face wipes
- Pantyliners
- Spray-on sunblock
- Spray-on deodorant
- Spray-on setting spray
- Body lotion
- Daytime moisturizer and night time moisturizer in a contact lens case
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, mouthwash
- Facial wash
- Contact lenses, contact lens solution
- Rewetting eye drops
- Soap
- Shampoo, conditioner
- Curl cream, hair oil, hair gel
- Lip gloss, lip tint
- Perfume
- Cotton swab
- Razor
- Lint roller
- Alcohol spray
- Silk scrunchie
- Moisturizing face mask
- Altoids
- Travel diffuser for hair dryers
Electronics / Misc. Items (https://imgur.com/RBPaSoc)
- Work laptop, charger
- E-reader
- Phone
- USB wall charger for phone
- Wireless earphones, with silicone neck strap/holder thing (used on the plane so it doesn't fall out)
- Powerbank
- Water bottle
- Turtl travel pillow
- Passport organizer
- Wallet. Brought my State ID, resident ID, 3 credit cards, cash to be exchanged to rupees.
Post-travel Review, Notes, Lessons: - We travelled from NYC > Heathrow > Chennai. When we got to Heathrow, they made us take out all our liquids and place it in a very small transparent bag. All my toiletries were organized in a separate bag, so it was mildly inconvenient. I brought my own bag transparent bag for this purpose, but they insisted it be placed in their bag, which is so small. My mouthwash didn't make it.
- Didn't need to worry about the weather and being underdressed when I left / landed in NYC. It was - 12 C when I arrived, and I was very much underdressed. I just ran for my Uber, and then ran inside my apartment building lol.
- Note to self : do not bring a water bottle with the "straw" attachment. My water bottle is an insulated one with a straw that you pop in/out. When I did that, the pressure from the plane made the water shoot out. Thankfully everyone around me was asleep and didn't really see why there was suddenly water all over lmao
- The shoes I brought were perfect, but I wish I also brought a pair of flip flops.
- I didn't bring any sort of towel since we stayed at the hotel.
- I should have brought workout clothes or swim clothes. There was a gym and a pool on my floor, and a spa that I wanted to try. You could only wear a swimsuit in their sauna.
- I should have brought a tiny bag for holding my room key, phone, etc. My boss has a very tiny bag that's just enough to hold that. I had to stuff everything in my blazer's pockets, but on days when I just wore a shawl, I didn't have anywhere to put my room key in except in between my phone case (which wasn't too bad).
- I also would change my passport organizer. While it worked well, I found that it could be too big for me to hold while I'm walking through points and opening the passport to the photo page while also holding the boarding pass
- Not sure if this applies to most currency exchange places, but they wouldn't accept USD printed earlier than 2009.
- All the females in our group went out shopping one day and bought kurta and kurti and paired it with the pants or leggings that we already have. It was a good idea too; they were very comfortable and conservative, great for an office setting. It was also the Pongal Festival on our last day, so we all dressed up. The men wore dhoti. It was wonderful.
- I ended up having to BUY a suitcase just to fit all the dresses and gifts I bought/received. There were $40 rolling suitcases there that were perfect to just fit in the stuff. As you can expect, it's not super sturdy lol but it made it to NYC fine.