<p>The ordinary Kindle works just fine wherever. It’s just that if it’s not 3G, you cannot download new books everywhere, only in wi-fi hotspots. However, this problem is easily solved by downloading lots of books before leaving home, or staying in a hotel with wi-fi. I have the ordinary non-3G kindle and it works just fine everywhere (but it came from amazon.co.uk, not .com).</p>
<p>Back to the original question, I second checking carryon weight and size limitations. European airlines are often very strict and will make you pay lots to check in excess baggage. eg Ryan Air. Excess baggage fees are how they make their money.</p>
<p>STRONGLY second uc__ dad’s suggestion to take advantage of the business travel to “stop and smell the roses.” I always did this (mostly US travel, not international… but still applies). One of the best things I have ever done. Otherwise you can “go” someplace and never see much more than the hotel/conference room.</p>
<p>I also kept (still do, although business travel is long over for me) a fully stocked travel kit/Dopp kit. I never have to root around the bathroom to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. It’s all in there in appropriate travel sizes. Including small brush, extra nail clippers, file, tweezers, OTC medications.</p>
<p>Also kept (on a file card, nowadays on an Excel spreadsheet) a Packing checklist. Lists every clothing category (eg, sweaters, socks, hat, belts, jewelry, slacks, running clothes, bathing suit…) and other travel essentials (passport, cash, tickets/eticket itinerary, prescription meds, camera, iPod, cables and chargers…).</p>
<p>Both DH (a veteran international traveller) and I can pack for a 3 week trip in 1 hour. I always laugh internally when someone asks me about 2 weeks before I’m headed somewhere if I’ve “started packing yet.”</p>
<p>Of course, all of the advice regarding “Black skirt, black pants, black jacket” will work equally well for Navy or Dark Gray (if she doesn’t wear black well). But I think that slightly mismatched black separates are fall less noticeable, so there is more flexibility.</p>
<p>I travel up to 2 weeks with just a carryon. I also recommend that she gets the lightest carryon she could find. A good one is the Rimowa Limbo. If she is going to be in Germany, it is German made and much cheaper to buy over there.</p>
<p>This may be useful for your daughter to get tips on how to pack light.</p>
<p>As for the raincoat, look for the Gallery brand. I bought one last year and think it is the best I’ve ever owned. It has great features like zip-off hood and removable lining and the line is much more stylish than I remember from years ago.</p>
<p>When traveling, my number one rule is to keep my possessions in a group - one spot in the bathroom and one area of the room, near the closet. This helps eliminate the forgotten charger, papers on the bed table, etc.</p>
<p>Here is a trench/rain coat that I really like. It just came out last week. It has many pockets and I love the fact that I can carry all my essentials (passport, money, phone) in the jacket so I don’t have to worry about being pickpocketed with my purse. It also lightens the weight in your purse/carryon. I bought their vests in 2 colors.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions and I have to say, my daughter has covered most. She already only uses a carry on bag and is a light packer. Her current carry on was purchased at Costco right before her first business trip to London for 2 days. In the past she had always used a carry on without wheels, but realized with her laptop she would be better with a rolling bag. She went to Costco and purchased one for $30 or so; not the best bag in the world, but it works. I might look into a nice suitcase that has the extra bag that slips over the handle if her laptop will fit in there.</p>
<p>Daughter is the proud owner of a pink passbook cover, separate toiletries for travel, and voltage adapters. I think a more professional all weather coat and a better suitcase would be all she would need to add to her collection. I would like her to have a more durable suitcase, especially since she will have to drag it to her meetings each day. While her suits are not mix and match, she does have 3 or 4 that she currently wears. She could add another suit with pants if she purchased another one. </p>
<p>When she last went to London she did add a couple of days to the trip to visit a friend that lives there. I am sure she will do that again when she get to other cities, especially those she has not visited before. She was able to study abroad junior year and did a great deal of traveling, so she is a seasoned traveler; this will just be her first time traveling alone. Actually, she wanted her father and I to meet her in London in June as her room would be paid for; we would just have to pay the difference for an extra bed. While a sweet offer, we have had to decline.</p>
<p>Already owns a Kindle so the reading is taken care of. Does any one have any cool comfort items for the plane like neck pillows, blankets, eye masks, etc…, or is that just more crap to drag around?</p>
<p>My company pays for business class when we travel overseas, so the in-flight comfort bag usually has the mask, socks, etc.
A nice pashmina or lightweight cashmere shawl doubles as a blanket when the plane is a little chilly or, rolled up, a pillow.
Fold-up slippers are nice to put on while flying as walking around a plane is socks skeeves me out and full-on shoes can get uncomfortable. They’re nice for having in the hotel, too.</p>
<p>Funny, the one thing I’d never trust with my hair is hotel products- I bring my own. Also, the blow-up neck rests are easier to pack- not as great as the stuffed ones, but she can decide if it’s worth blowing it up versus the extra space the other takes. Pashmina-type scarf is a super idea. Some are under $10. All are pretty. Some sort of mp3 (whatever generation we’re up to) player is good for drowning out plane noise. I nearly always take something that will play local radio. Can we assume she has a European-compatible cell phone? Last, whatever coat should be the least bulk when folded and packed. The more one carries, the greater chance of aggravation.</p>
<p>Absolutely second cashmere pashmina suggestion. Invaluable and so lightweight that it doesn’t take up any room - I wear mine as a scarf. Costco and Nordstrom sell wonderful lightweight pashminas.</p>
<p>For trench coat I suggest investing in a packable Burberry. People in Europe in general tend to dress a bit dressier than we do here in the US, and while they do wear Northface and fleece, that is not considered businesswear.</p>
<p>If I were receiving a gift of a “better” carry-on, I’d like having one in an odd color - I know <em>I</em> won’t take the wrong suitcase off the baggage carousel, but that doesn’t mean someone else won’t disappear with mine. I do use the “colored ribbon on handle” trick even though mine is a slightly odd shade of dark green. But any suitcase that is almost instantaneously differentiated from all others would be good by me.</p>
<p>BTW, we bought our current rolling luggage from Sam’s Club (no Costco where we lived at the time). They are Samsonite, we’ve had them and used them a lot for over 16 years; still in perfect shape, still look good, plenty lightweight yet sturdily functional… so just because hers was cheap and came from Costco doesn’t necessarily mean it can be easily improved upon.</p>
<p>Thoughtful gift: Purchase some euros in small denominations-5, 10, 20 for her.
Your bank (like Wells Fargo) may have them or can order(like B of A).</p>
<p>Didn’t mean to say her Costco bag was not great; our motto is, if Costco sells it, we buy it The bag just has a rounded top which does not allow you to balance another bag, your purse or tote bag, on top of it while standing in, lets say customs! Also, the wheels are the skate wheels and I believe the smaller wheels that turn in all directions (sorry, I can not remember what they are called) might be better. I saw a bag I loved at TJ Maxx, but it is hard sided (although lightweight) and she would prefer soft sided bag.</p>
<p>My mother made pompoms for all of our luggage so that we could see them easily on the carousel. When one of our bags when missing in Italy, we were told the only reason it was recovered was due to the pompom. Lets just say this family has learned to pack lighter after that trip; someone forgot to check the bag and it was left in the line as we were checking in to come home. Didn’t realize if was missing until we arrived home. Each of us thought someone else had the bag.</p>
<p>BB-no worries about my daughter not dressing appropriately; her Northface was handed down to me after she finished college, I wear it for dog walking. Funny you mention Burberry as a close friend just found one for her daughter on sale.</p>
<p>I think your D’s all set. She has the basics she needs and will be able to figure out if there are any other little things she’d like. Too many extras - extra shoes, trenchcoat, pillows, big makeup kits, etc. - only add bulk, weight, and hassle to the traveling. She’ll need to decide what’s important to her but IMO she’s better off starting light and adding as needed than starting heavy and leaving stuff out. It’s less expensive this way also. </p>
<p>A couple more checkpoints - </p>
<p>The cell phone, as another poster mentioned - hopefully she has a GSM one (AT&T, T-Mobile) or if she’ll be in Europe quite a long time, maybe even a Euro-only phone. I think the non-GSM companies, Verizon and Sprint, have a few phones that can handle GSM as well as their own network. She should make sure her cell phone plan is appropriate for Europe and that she knows what it’ll cost her for calls and especially for data costs if she plans to use the phone for email, web browsing, etc. and how to disable data roaming. She should know what the company will reimburse as far as the cell phone goes.</p>
<p>A GPS nav device with European maps on it might come in handy depending on what she’ll be doing. If she’s going to rent a car it’d be quite nice but it can also come in handy when walking around some of the big cities to be able to find things (like the hotel at night). I once ‘mis-placed’ my car in Munich and it took me about 5 hours to find. I sure could have used a GPS that time (but they weren’t invented yet). Some cell phones (like an iPhone) have a decent nav system built in.</p>
<p>She has an AT&T Blackberry with GPS, although I have no idea if the GPS works everywhere; I would assume it does. Work reimburses her for her use why traveling, although she is still on our family shared plan so we are the ones that get reimbursed. If she end up spending a good deal of time in the UK, she might get a local sim card; she is still undecided about that right now. </p>
<p>I do not think she will need to rent a car anytime soon; metro and cabs will be just fine. </p>
<p>I am beginning to feel very old having a child old enough to be traveling international for work. It just always seemed to me that older, more senior employees have those jobs. My daughter, while an excellent worker, just happened to have the right job at the right time, and was offered a promotion. She couldn’t be happier and we are so proud of her. Her only regret is she will now be putting grad school off for another 1 1/2 years; she had planned to start this fall or next spring at the latest. This job was too good an opportunity to pass up and grad school can wait.</p>
<p>Instead of bringing pajamas, have her bring (or wear, if she doesn’t need to be in business clothing on the plane) to-the-ground yoga pants and a thin jacket with tee shirt underneath. That can serve as double duty as pajamas and as something to wear in the evenings if she has to get together to work with a coworker in her hotel (when business wear is no longer necessary). And she can even work out in that as long as she’s not sweating heavily.</p>
<p>She can also change her look very easily via wearing scarves or unique jewelry that won’t take up a lot of room.</p>
<p>Seriously, have her poke around Road Warriorette! She will like it!</p>
<p>Re makeup: I just went today to a Sally Beauty Supply that is near my house and bought some makeup that comes in super-mini containers (like, a lipstick that is half the size of a normal lipstick and so forth). I am going on a 5-day business trip this week and this is just enough that I’ll use this makeup up and toss it at the end of the week. You want makeup and personal toiletries that fit in a small ziplock bag. Don’t bother with getting a cloth makeup bag - it’s just clutter. Oh, here’s the dirty little secret - they tell you you have to take it out, but I rarely do and they never seem to notice.</p>
<p>Important if she goes through Heathrow: She can only have ONE carry-on bag there, unlike here in the US where you can have a briefcase/purse and a rollerboard. If possible, avoid connecting through Heathrow (though it’s fine as an end destination).</p>
<p>I often pack by taking each outfit for the day and putting it in its own large clear plastic bag. Keeps it much more organized that way.</p>
<p>Actually the older generation 1 and some generation 2 Kindles do not work outside the US. Well, you can read but you can’t download. All the new Kindle 3’s that have 3G work internationally.</p>
The bag just has a rounded top which does not allow you to balance another bag, your purse or tote bag, on top of it while standing in, lets say customs! Also, the wheels are the skate wheels and I believe the smaller wheels that turn in all directions (sorry, I can not remember what they are called) might be better. I saw a bag I loved at TJ Maxx, but it is hard sided (although lightweight) and she would prefer soft sided bag.</p>