Travel Hotel Preparedness

Some or many of you may travel once in a while (or more often) for work. Others will occasionally go on a trip, a visit, or a vacation where you will be staying in a hotel overnight.

So the issue of the day is, How do you apply preparedness for an overnight stay in a hotel?

I received an email from an MSB reader who relayed the following experience:

I was traveling for work a few weeks back and the fire alarm went off in the hotel in the middle of the night.

As I woke from my slumber, I took way to much time, at least in my estimation, fumbling around trying to find my pants, shoes, keys and jacket before I got out the door.

It turns out as I was getting ready to exit, the building the attendant told everyone it was Okay and we could go back to our rooms.

I may not have though much about it, but it was well below freezing outside and I would have been very cold should I not have been able to find any of my belongings quickly.

At home I run through what to do under various emergency situations, but on the road I was not prepared at all. Now I spend a few moments making mental notes and go through my hotel room escape plan as I am arriving into my room.

He is certainly correct regarding having one’s clothes and outerwear ready-to-go!

Some time ago I wrote an article titled:
“Suddenly Awakened To A Nighttime Emergency During The Cold Winter Season”

…where I emphasized the preparedness concept of keeping one’s clothes, shoes, etc.. at the foot of the bed at night so as to make it quick and easy to get dressed in the event of an emergency (e.g. what if the smoke alarm starts screeching in the middle of the night).

When you travel and stay at a hotel, you might simply hang your clothes over a nearby chair and leave your shoes there too. Ready to go.

I also wrote an article titled:
10 Personal Security Tips For Hotel Stays

…where I listed a handful of ideas regarding preparedness for one’s security during a travel hotel stay. A few thoughts included the importance of:

-Taking the time to familiarize the nearest fire escape route to stairs
-ALWAYS have a portable flashlight on your nightstand
-Consider a ‘door wedge’ for your security

I have lots of flashlights, but I love this one for its small size and reliability. It’s just enough to get the job done while at the ready on your hotel nightstand ;)
Streamlight Stylus Pro LED Pen Light

Rubber Door Wedge

During my previous career I used to travel A LOT. Seemingly countless air miles. Although I learned to travel ‘light’, I would bring along a number of preparedness supplies, just in case. If there were items that I wished to take which would be confiscated by TSA, I would have to ‘check’ a bag – unfortunately adding more time at baggage claim instead of getting out of there with only my ‘carry on’. Oh well…

You also might want to check this out:
How To Look For Bedbugs And Avoid Them In A Hotel

So lets get the thinking process going…
What are some preparedness ideas for a travel hotel overnight stay?