I’m not one of those frequent flying executives who spends every second night on a plane or the club lounge of a hotel. But I travel often enough that I have a system. It’s a system that includes ziplock bags for various currencies and electrical adapters, a regular airport transfer service, and a failsafe way of packing my all-important toiletries and makeup.
Except, this week, my system didn’t work.
I was in Melbourne speaking at the two-day Problogger Training Event at Etihad Stadium. This went smoothly; I packed everything I needed. I also spoke at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network event in Melbourne where I launched my book Power Stories.
Then I promptly hopped on a plane back to Sydney – but left ALL my toiletries and makeup in Victoria. Men reading this might not think this is a big issue. But I’m sure most women can feel my pain when I say that I left ALL my toiletries, makeup, foundation, eyeliner, contact lenses, glasses, you name it … in a whole other state of Australia.
Now I’ve been through some stressful experiences in life, but none have elicited quite the same level of panic as this. Particularly as I had to get off the plane sans makeup and go straight into a lunch with representatives from ANZ (I’m a blog ambassador for the ANZ Small Business Hub). Then a couple of hours later, I was the keynote speaker at the Sydney event for the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network.
The day was so tightly scheduled that there was barely any time to squeeze in buying new makeup – let alone any spare minutes to apply it!
So I did what any self-respecting business woman would do when looking for a time-efficient solution to this sort of dilemma. I walked into David Jones (which was en route to my lunch appointment), found the first makeup counter that wasn’t occupied and asked to be made up.
Needless to say, a certain makeup assistant hit the jackpot that day. Not only did I buy an entire new suite of makeup products, I was so grateful for her prompt and efficient service that I agreed to every upsell she even vaguely waved in my direction. Yes, I’ll confess; I actually fell for the line: “Trust me, this serum will make your skin glow like J-Lo.”
Travelling for business can be extremely rewarding, especially if you’re connecting with the right people and creating your own opportunities. However, it can also be fraught with stress and pressure. This usually comes in the form of cancelled flights, noisy hotel rooms and, yes, even forgotten toiletries/makeup bags.
I’ll admit that it cost me a small fortune to restock my makeup supply this week. But I really should look on the bright side … At least now I’ll have skin like J-Lo.
