<p>S is going on his first business trip tomorrow to Wisconsin. He is coming from sunny Ca where we have been having a really warm winter. What should he be prepared for weather wise? He isn’t the best about getting details but I assume if they get a car his coworker will drive since she is from a state that experiences snow. </p>
<p>Is your son 25? If not, most rental cars companies won’t rent to him anyway.</p>
<p>Madison is cold. Really cold this week. Is it a suit and tie business trip? It is absolutely okay to wear boots with suits at this time of the year, or to tote along shoes to change into.</p>
<p>He is not 25 but his boss is over 25. No not a suit and tie trip. He doesn’t own boots. </p>
<p>We are having particularly brutal weather this week, even for us tough Wisconsinites. If there will be any outdoor time, say walking to lunch, or to parking garage, he should be sure to have warm gloves (not knit, but padded) and face protection-scarf/hat, etc. If not boots, some kind of heavy shoes, hiking shoes or something of that nature. </p>
<p>And a really warm winter coat. If he’s never experienced it, he will be shocked. Just slipping a sweater vest over his shirt won’t do it. This is painful, dangerous, bone-chilling cold. Even if he needs to borrow them, he should be certain to bring significant winter clothes with him.</p>
<p>Ditto to those who are reporting unusually extreme temperatures. Hopefully whoever is hosting them will recognize that they won’t have the most efficient cold weather gear and will plan accordingly. H has some colleagues in from Dallas this week (we’re about two hours south of Madison, but lived there when H was in grad school) and I know they are considerate to not have too many long car-to-building and visa versa walks. As long as you’re just going between cars and buildings, and have most part of your skin covered, then you should be OK; where you can get into trouble is if you have to park several blocks from where you have to go in or have to take public transportation and stand outside for lengthy periods. Snow likely won’t be an issue as it doesn’t usually snow when it’s this cold. Good sunglasses are a must, though (which I’m sure he has coming from southern California), because with the sun shining so brightly, the glare off of all the snow can almost be blinding. They also protect your eyes from the strong winds we’re having. </p>
<p>It’s so cold that without gloves your fingers will stick to doorknobs. And eyes may water from cold, so have tissues to wipe them dry before it freezes on your face.</p>
<p>@celesteroberts - And so cold that my dog’s tongue gets stuck to the metal part of the door frame outside if he’s trying to lick snow off of it, so we have to watch him now when he goes out!</p>
<p>^^^^^Ewwwwwwwwww . . . . </p>
<p>@veryhappy - yea, it’s THAT cold!</p>
<p>Although I’ve never seen the movie, whenever I mention this new little trick of his to someone, they immediately say, “That reminds me of the movie The Christmas Story”</p>
<p>It’s to the point I have to put my small dogs’ booties on just to let them out to go to the bathroom for 2 minutes. Otherwise they don’t want to put their paws on the ground, hobble pitifully and I have to go out and rescue them.</p>
<p>On the plus side, when it’s this cold, the snow on road is crunchy instead of slippery so driving not so slippery and no falling down while walking or sidestepping slushy puddles to keep shoes clean.</p>
<p>Actually @mom60, I’m guessing that if your son is coming from CA, he has some sort of connection in some other city before arriving in Madison. If it’s a Midwest city (vs. Denver), there’s a chance his flight may be cancelled. If it’s Chicago, they have already cancelled a lot of flights for today and tomorrow.</p>
<p>Teriwtt you guessed right. Their flights have already been changed once. The connection was cancelled and now they are leaving much earlier in the am. Hope they make it there with few delays. He is going to have to search his snowboarding stuff for something warm. I know he is leaving from our local airport but have no clue as to the route. I just know he has to be at the airport at 5 am
Will tell him about bringing his sunglasses. It isn’t something I would think of to bring to the cold.
Since it is my S I don’t have all the details of the trip. If it was my D I would know everything.</p>
<p>The weather is brutal this week. The longest 5 minutes of his life will be the walk from the rental car office to his ice cold car and then the joy of sitting on frozen leather seats! If he does nothing else, at least get him to wear some sort of an undershirt layer. UnderArmor will work fine (and he will thank you for it when he also sleeps in said shirt) </p>
<p>FYI - When it gets this cold, even GQ dressed men tend to pull out the more casual parkas.</p>
<p>This is REALLY unusually cold weather, and I’m pretty hardy about these types of things. In this weather, don’t worry about style. Everyone will totally understand whatever you need to wear to stay warm. I would think nothing of a business person dressed in a puffy coat or parka with boots. </p>
<p>As everyone has said, it is brutally cold this week. Tell him to bring a hat and gloves. Everyone is wearing them this week. Layer, layer, layer. This is something my H does. He will wear his under-Armor with a shirt and then a fleece jacket. With a wind resistant shell on top, it works. If he has long underwear, wear them under his pants. </p>
<p>I do not know the particulars but I know my S and my D drove rental cars before they were 25. I know they had interviews in college and the companies rented them cars. So it can be done. But if your S doesn’t have to drive then that is great. It takes some practice to drive on snow covered roads but it’s not that hard once you get used to it. </p>
<p>We went somewhere last week and my H forgot his hat and gloves in the other car. I found that there was still hats and gloves to buy so if he forgets, he can pick something up pretty easily. </p>
<p>I hear Madison is a great town, he should have fun if he’s able to get out. </p>
<p>Madison does not shut down when it is cold, though the schools are closed today. My roomie just left to bike to the university, and it is below zero, if sunny and pretty. I know restaurants will be busy today, with no school. </p>
<p>It will be 19 tomorrow and sunny, which is balmy compared today. However, compared to this particular Socal winter the contrast will be a shock! A long coat is best, if possible, as cold thighs can be miserable. Wool socks, if he owns them, some tread on his shoes, leather or polar fleece gloves with layers, a good wool or polarfleece
scarf, headband or hat, layers on his torso are the essentials. Bring any wool or down clothing. Emphasize that scarf, which is something you can’t conceive of needing in warmer climes. </p>
<p>There is snow on the ground, most walks will be shoveled, but watch for ice. Snow is due in a few days. If he is driving, brake gingerly!</p>
<p>Flight hubs for Madison include Denver, Chicago, and Minneapolis, sometimes Detroit even if coming from the west. </p>
<p>Flight is local airport to LAX to Chicago and onto Madison. He didn’t know what airline but it looks like all the flights this am from lax to Chicago left on time.
Co worker has rented the car and she will be doing the driving.
He has snowboard jacket, a thick fleece backpacking jacket he can stick underneath. Scarf,hat gloves and long underwear. Shoes are his weak link. He has work shoes and athletic shoes. I think he took the athletic shoes.
When he came by yesterday I noticed he was much like when we travel as a family. He is weak on the fine print details. His boss is older and I think she has taken on the role that Mom takes on family trips. She has just told him what time to be at the airport. He had no clue as to what time his flight was or what airline he was flying on. Something’s haven’t changed.
The best part that Even with the weather he is excited for the trip and to learn new things.</p>
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<p>Excellent! That’s what we hope for! </p>
<p>One thing he will learn is what extremely cold weather feels like. It sounds like he’s well-prepared. </p>
<p>It is exciting to see very different parts of the country, and winter makes it more so. Hope he has a great time. If he has snow boarding gear, he should be in fine shape for the cold. What fun to see them have a great attitude about new things! </p>