This past March stretched even a seasoned traveler like me me out of my comfort zone, as I undertook my most arduous journey yet. First, I visited the most important scientific meeting of the year on hypoxia (not getting enough oxygen supply to the tissue of a body part, or your whole body) in Whistler, BC from March 3-8. From there, I continued to travel west across the Pacific, visiting Seoul, Korea and Taipei, Taiwan from March 10-17.

The logistics of traveling around China in 10 jam-packed days

While that alone would have been considered a lengthy and busy trip by most standards, I was still building up to the busiest section of my travel schedule. On March 18, I continued by flying into Beijing, China to start an epic “10 City tour” (10 lectures in 10 cities in 10 days), to promote Ruskinn’s Life Sciences products to select universities in China. If you can believe it, this lecture series was originally supposed to be 3 weeks long, and we had to “shorten” it down to this length!

The lectures were set up by our Chinese partner, Beijing Longfujia.

The travel schedule from March 20-31 had to be intense to save money, but this meant traveling to a new city each day for 10 days, as follows:

Over 21,000 miles by plane, train and automobile

In total, from when I left Ottawa March 3 to go to Whistler to when I arrived back there from China in the beginning of April, I travelled a total of 21,270 miles. While it wasn’t quite enough to equal the 24,901 miles it would take to circumnavigate the entire planet, I came awfully close!

In China alone, I travelled 3,913 miles, took 5 plane journeys and 3 high-speed train journeys, gave 10 lectures, and visited 261 total customers. What a trip!

Travelling in China was often stressful, as reaching an airport or train station by car required anywhere from 1- 2 hours each night. The journey itself by air or train would come next, with varying transit times. Finally, traveling from the destination airport or station to the next hotel required yet another 1-2 hours of driving. Traffic is so dense in most Chinese cities that a commute that would normally be a 30 minute car journey in Canada or the U.S. can take 2-4 times as long in the cities mentioned above.

It’s key to find your “zen” and get some massages when enduring this type of travel

I was fortunate to not have a single major snafu during the entire trip, just a handful of travel delays. When I ran into those, I found the best way to deal with it was to internalize, and not let myself get outwardly annoyed. Once or twice we also didn’t have the proper AV equipment for our lectures, but our distributor was miraculous at sourcing whatever items we needed from “down the street” in those instances.

I also had many positives to focus on. One of the things that stood out the most throughout this whirlwind tour was the level of interest shown by the students at the universities. My Sunday seminar had more people than a regular seminar in Canada or the U.S., and it was exciting to see their willingness to learn.

To combat the exhaustion of so much travel for business, we also tried to go for massages whenever there were facilities near our hotel. It was very relaxing and allowed me to share some friendly banter with my traveling companions.

Final assessment – should you embark on such a trip?

If you’re considering a similarly ambitious trip, I should note that, because the experience was so exhausting, I would not take on a trip in China like this again – I’ll plan to stick with seven days next time.

In assessing whether the trip was successful, we certainly got “the nod” from several professors and other researchers indicating they are going to start the buying process with us in mind. While we have a buying cycle of several months, once these clients agreed I knew it was a matter of when, not if they would purchase.

The first orders from that lecture series should start to come out of tender in the next few weeks, and we are confident in gaining somewhere between $100-150,000 in sales from this lecture series alone. All in all, it was a very successful trip.

If you’re interested in seeing more of my time in China, please take a look at the slideshow video that I’ve put together, which you can view by clicking this link.

Please also take a look at the following infographic on some of the most interesting numbers from my trip:

The post Here’s what it’s like to travel for business to 10 different Chinese cities in 10 days appeared first on Trade Ready.

Going on a business trip

Before you go on your next trip to Europe, here are some tips from my own travel experiences that I hope will help you have a smoother, easier and more enjoyable time.

1. Certain times of year will work a lot better than others

When heading out on business trips to Europe, two of the better-known time periods to avoid are the months of December (Christmas/end of year) and March/April (Easter weekend). To add to that, I also find that planning longer visits to Europe in the month of May is difficult due to the number of holidays, both regionally and locally.

For example, May 1 (May Day as it used to be known, now Labour Day) is an official EU public holiday, as is Europe Day on May 9 (most public offices are closed).

Ascension Thursday (also known as Ascension Day) and the Friday directly after are also both May holidays in many European countries. This year, the holidays fall on May 5^th and 6^th, and they are scheduled next year for May 25^th and 26^th.  Whitsun Monday/Spring Bank Holiday fell on the last weekend in May in Western Europe as well in 2016, although the holiday will not happen until early June in 2017.

Basically, you rarely get a full working week (Monday-Friday) in May, so it’s best avoid the month all together! If Easter falls at the end of April, you can be blanked from European business travel for 4-5 weeks.

If you have to travel within European countries, transportation generally runs all the time, but in the UK and France watch out for rail diversions and delays on Sundays and public holidays! UK “bank holiday” (in Canada you say “public holiday”) timetables are notorious and subject to last minute cancellations.

Other pointers to European travel: the Nordic countries (including Finland) like to take their summer break starting in June, but are usually all back in the office by mid to late July. Most other European countries take mid-July to late August off, and can be back in the first week of September. I don’t book trips to Europe until mid-September.

2. Beware of misleading French hotel ratings

Be careful when choosing four star business hotels in France. I have been to France twice in the last six months, and each trip lasted a week. On each trip I stayed in four different hotels.

Some hotels like Mercure Group may say they are four star, but that is their own self-accredited rating, so it is often best to check with Trip Advisor to verify the true quality. In my opinion, Novotel is a pretty realistic four star hotel.

French four star hotels will not typically provide an iron and ironing board in the room. If you need to do ironing you will have to ask reception for them, or you may have to visit an “ironing room” on another floor. In the latter case, you end up taking your shirts in and out of elevators, which seems pretty silly.

If they say they have fitness facilities, BEWARE! This may be a paltry running machine and a stepper or bike. It’s also likely that one of the items will be out of order. Three out of the four hotels I stayed in during October had a faulty or broken running machine, resulting in major exercise disappointment!

On the plus side, they do provide free Wi-Fi and have great breakfasts, not least because of the quality of the bread and croissants (if you are into that sort of thing). The downside of that, however, is that breakfast costs €16-18 and is often extra. This adds a whopping CAN $23/26 to your daily bill.

3. The best ways to fly into the EU from Ottawa

I live in Ottawa, so flying to the UK or Germany is fine, since Air Canada has direct daily flights to Heathrow (London) and Frankfurt from the Ottawa airport. For most other countries, I have to go to Toronto or Montreal. From Toronto you can fly into Paris, Madrid, Copenhagen and London. From Montreal, you can fly to Paris and Geneva.

With some of the major European airports, you may need to schedule yourself extra travel time or consider alternate options.

Charles de Gaulle in Paris is a terrible airport for transfers between T1 and T2, where Air France flights depart and the bus stop for the hotel shuttles is located.

When coming to Heathrow, you cannot avoid Terminal 2. Although it is very new, the distance from the aircraft to baggage claim is long (about a 15 minute walk), even on the moving track.

I also avoid Frankfurt transfers if I can. Even though the transfer distances are usually not that bad, it’s so busy that it’s usually not worth it.

4. How multilingual do I need to be for European business trips?

Nowadays, English gets you through most situations. People are pretty happy to answer questions, give directions and show off their English skills in discussion with you.

A basic knowledge of French, German, Italian or Spanish will help you negotiate the main signs and notices you will come across in the major EU markets. However, in Nordic countries and Eastern Europe, English works well and is commonly used by residents there.

5. What do I need to pack?

Always take a Canada to Europe adapter plug (the European end is two round pins). This will allow you to use your own electronic devices everywhere except for the UK, where you need the three square pin plug. Unlike many hotels in eastern Asia, most European hotels do not yet have different sockets to accept North American plugs. You can often borrow plug adapters at hotel receptions, but take care: they may ask you for a deposit, even if you are a guest at the hotel.

I also always travel in mainland Europe with about 50 Euros in cash. It’s important to have some coins, as many public rest room facilities require one or two Euro pieces, especially at main line train stations, such as in France, or along major motorways, particularly in Germany. Remember that countries like Denmark and Poland still have their own currencies, so ensure you have the proper cash at the airport before you get into a taxi.

Not all taxis want to accept credit cards, so sometimes you must beware of the taxi driver scam where they swipe your card in such a way that it does not register. Then, they show you their credit card reader with the display saying “card error”, and ask you for another card or cash. This is because they don’t like the paperwork and they also lose a percentage to the credit card companies.

Clothing for business travel is getting easier as ties become rarer, but for formal occasions it is wise for men to take a blazer (a.k.a. jacket) to go with slacks or chinos. Black or brown shoes (lace up) are good for business meetings and lectures.

With this advice in mind, you should be ready to plan your next trip to Europe soon! If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

The post 5 things you need to remember for your next business trip to Europe appeared first on Trade Ready.

If you’re thinking of taking a trip there soon, here are some tips I’ve picked up through my own travel experiences over the years that can help you prepare to depart.

1. It’s going to take at least a couple days to adjust to the time difference

When travelling from West to East, from Toronto to Beijing, for example, you have a long flight ahead of you – typically around 12 hours, give or take an hour.

I usually take flights that leave at mid-afternoon EST, so I find that it is worth having a meal, watching a movie and then trying to get 3-4 hours rest (I would like to say sleep but I find it really difficult on plane journeys, so I tend to doze).

When you land, you have jumped forward a complete day between the 12 hours of flying and the 13 hour time difference (if landing in Beijing).

It can be 14 hours if your destination is Korea.

Try to stay up to have dinner, and then go to sleep at 9 or 10pm local time (8 or 9am EST) and waking at 7am local time (6pm EST). You will feel lousy from about midday to 4pm local time for the first three days, but then it will improve.

Actually, I find the second day worse than the first day sometimes!

2. Formal dress is often a good idea, but not always necessary

Koreans and Japanese businessmen of all professions seem to love dark coloured jackets and trousers (pants), and our sales colleagues in these countries often wear dark suits.

In China, and certainly Taiwan, dress code can be a bit less formal, but that is just my impression gained from being in our Life Science Research industry for a long time. I am sure for finance, banking, accountancy and other areas of commerce, the dark suit still prevails.

I find that as I get older, travelling and visiting customers with an open necked shirt, chinos and good shoes is fine in most countries. On occasion I will take a blazer, but never a tie unless we are going to a formal dinner.

It is always good to check with your business partner and ask, “Do I need a tie for tomorrow’s meeting/dinner/etc.?” I do this even if I have not brought one! It is easy to buy or borrow a tie locally, and getting a suit made can also be done in 24 hours if needed!

3. Have gifts ready for your meetings, and be prepared to receive some as well

I always take gifts for business partners, but the amount I spend on the gift will vary.

If it is a first meeting with an important distributor, the gift should be nicer ($CAN 50). If you are seeing the same people you have met previously, however, a token gift is acceptable ($10-15).

The trouble with this is that during a 2 week visit to maybe 4 countries, you will meet a lot of people and have a lot of gifts to take!

For example, I take maple syrup in small maple leaf shaped bottles, as they are easy to pack with bubble wrap and don’t take up too much suitcase room. Then I take a number of smaller gifts like key rings for sales people or less senior people.

Receiving gifts in East Asia is interesting. I have been given expensive Gin Seng or small porcelain items, which come boxed with outer packaging that looks beautiful, wonderful souvenirs from my travels.

The trouble is that they take up a lot of suitcase room. So I tend to leave the lovely boxes behind and take only the gift inside! Sounds harsh, I know.

In China and Taiwan, the same happens when I am presented with some sophisticated teas. They can come in elaborate tins which are in lovely box designs. Again, I’m afraid I have left these in hotel rooms and just taken the tea!

4. Handing a business card over in Japan, and in East Asia in general, needs care and attention!

You must take care to look at the person directly, then bow slightly and present your business card with two hands holding a corner of the card with each hand. Your customer should accept the card by taking it in both hands.

When being presented with a card, you reach out with both hands and take the card, again holding each corner, and take a few moments to study the name and title.

Don’t forget: you have to be seen to do this, even if the script is Japanese or Chinese!

5. Be ready to adjust some of your scheduling expectations

Meetings with academics, who make up the bulk of my customers, tend to happen from 10am onwards.

In China, if you call on a customer too early, you may have to wait as he dozes in his office or finishes eating his breakfast.

Some offices of senior people are quite large and double as recreational lounges!

Then it is more common (than in the U.S. or Canada) to go for lunch with the professor and maybe up to 6 of his staff. Normally, these are round table affairs, with some 12 or 15 people around the table.

Food is presented one dish at a time on a lazy Susan, which the host will spin around to ensure that the guest will have first choice of the latest dish. This lucky guest may get to taste some often delicious, but sometimes not so appetizing unique regional specialties!

Lunch can be a two hour affair, so it is common to return with the professor and his staff to the lab for a tour and a selling discussion or formal lecture.

In East Asia, eating times generally tend to follow U.S. timing. Dinner is the one possible exception, as it can start a bit later than in North America, often around 7 to 7:30pm.

Visiting this part of the world with their rich culture and unique customs for hospitality and business is always an unforgettable experience. And doing thorough research on the cultural intricacies will make it a lot less daunting. Happy travels!

Are there any tips you would add based on your experiences?

The post 5 things you need to know when planning your next business trip to East Asia appeared first on Trade Ready.

When I was 4 years old, I flew from London to Bombay as an unaccompanied minor. I believe that in 1959 it was some sort of record for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (now British Airways).

I don’t remember much about that flight, but later on, after my parents had separated in the early 1960’s, I flew regularly between London and Geneva on my own.

I remember often having a Paddington bear-like sign around my neck, and always receiving good attention from the British European Airways (also British Airways now) hostesses.

Security was non-existent then compared to now, so my father could come right to the aircraft door at Heathrow to say goodbye. In Geneva, my mother would be waiting by the bottom of the aircraft steps – easy!

Since then I’ve done a lot more international traveling, both in my previous jobs and my current one with Baker Ruskinn. Here are some of the craziest anecdotes from my experiences.

1. Access Denied!, Dubai

I had applied for and received a second UK passport for business travel, so I keep one for Arabic country travel and one for Israel travel. Getting it involves a special interview process at the passport office, but the UK Home office does permit this.

I travelled to Dubai in 1994 to attend Arab Lab, a large international healthcare show, and queued at the immigration line at the airport.

When I got to the front of the line I showed my UK passport to the Immigration officer and after a while he got out of his booth and went to consult his superior. They both returned and told me I was not welcome into Dubai, but would not exactly say why.

I kept asking “why what have I done, I have a British passport?”  (That is my passphrase for any unfortunate situation I find myself in!)

Finally, one of the officers took me aside and showed me that I had a stamp from Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, from the previous trip in my passport and that anyone who had even visited Israel was not allowed into Dubai. This was the unwritten rule at the time.

I had packed the wrong passport when preparing my briefcase!

I was escorted directly to the departure area and had to take a flight back to the UK. I returned to my office about 28 hours after I had left it, much to my colleagues’ surprise!

Moral: Double check all documents for validity! Be aware of geopolitical nuances.

2. Disappearing Act, Seoul, South Korea

I was presenting some new diagnostic tests to the OBGYN in one of the Universities in Seoul, and was attempting to set up a “trial to buy” at this facility.

After we had gone through a long presentation and Q&A session, I came to my close.

After asking “Can we set up a trial later this week, as I am in Seoul until then?”, the assistant professor got up and simply said excuse me and left the office!

We stayed for an hour expecting him back but Ricky, my distributor colleague, advised me that perhaps the customer could not say “no” to performing a trial without losing face, since I would be embarrassed, and he would have been the cause of it. So we left, no trial no sale!

Nowadays in Korea and sometimes Japan, I have to be a bit more subtle with my closing technique, for example I ask if the customer can consider our request for a trial.

Moral: Don’t be a wise ass. Understand cultural etiquette before making closing statements.

3. Longest Layover, New York

Trying to come back to Heathrow on a London flight in February, 2002, we were held up at Newark by a snow storm.

Finally, they cancelled our 11pm flight and told us to go to JFK to catch the Virgin flight to Heathrow that was scheduled to depart at 9am.

Arriving at the terminal was difficult, we had to find a taxi to take us from Newark to JFK arriving at around 2 am. The terminal was closed and we were cold. We found a caretaker to let us in to the check-in area, but of course there was no staff on duty. There were no shops open, as terminal facilities only opened at 4 am.

We were tired and fed up. Some people grabbed the few chairs near the check-in counters and tried to sleep. I went behind the check-in desk, found a piece of carpet, rolled it around me and went to sleep.

I was woken at 5am by someone prodding me with a broom, to check if the rolled up carpet was dangerous or not!

I checked in at 6 am and was first into McDonald’s which opened at that time.

Flight home was uneventful.

Moral: Camping trips may help to train for such unforeseen events.

4. Window Pain, Montreal

Returning from Paris to Ottawa, I had to change planes in Montreal. We boarded our Dash-8 (24 seater) on time, but there was a delay to departure.  We were told,

“Sorry everyone, please de-plane as we have a window malfunction in the cockpit.”

This was a euphemism that the window had fallen out!

We got back into the terminal rather contentedly. After all we did not want this to happen during a flight! After a 2 hour delay, Air Canada organized another Dash 8 replacement and we boarded, a little frayed. I am sure it was a different aircraft.

We departed from the gate on time and as we were just about to accelerate for takeoff, when the pilot announced we had to return to the gate due to …yes folks you guessed it!, a “window malfunction”.

We returned to the gate and waited for 40 minutes while they glued it back in and we boarded and took off – third time lucky.

Moral: I have subsequently donated various pots of my own glue to the Air Canada Dash-8 maintenance crew.

5. Luggage Connection, Toronto

I arrived in Toronto in good time (early afternoon), and went through Canada immigration very quickly. Without thinking, and knowing my bag was tagged to Ottawa, I went out of the immigration hall WITHOUT collecting my bag.

I approached the agent at the door to the transfer area and he asked me if I had any luggage, I said yes it was tagged through to Ottawa. He reminded me that all bags have to be cleared at Toronto whatever my onward destination happened to be (this applies to all flights except for some U.S. destinations).

Oh dear. I had to be escorted back around to the luggage collection area after having to go through another security check as if I was departing Toronto.

This took an additional 30 minutes, as we had to queue jump everywhere and caused irritated looks by other passengers, who quite possibly saw me as a terrorist being escorted somewhere for interrogation!

Anyway I managed to get my connecting flight, and without any window malfunctions this time!

Moral: Always listen to the in-flight messages, no matter how long you have been flying!

6. Loaded Lunch, Jinan, China

We were taken to a special lunch after a Saturday morning training session. This involved all 30 members of staff from a distributor who covered Jinan and Xuzhou provinces.

We were invited to a restaurant (actually just a house). The front room/lounge was small, with only 3 tables and there was a small study acting as the VIP eating room. 15 of us sat around a single table in this VIP area.

After our host plied us with strong Chinese wine, the food started to arrive. Having been to China on many occasions, I was ready for most foods and armed with strategic phrases to avoid trying them.

Along came a plate of baby turtle doves, whole, which I avoided on condition that I tried the next dish which were …baby deep fried scorpions. They cost 6 RMB/US$1 each, I was told, a princely sum.

In line with tradition, the host puts 2 fried scorpions into my mouth and he toasts me with some very strong Chinese wine that tastes of tractor fuel.

I swallow, and find that after some of the things I have eaten in China, they actually taste okay. Of course, I have to reciprocate and this goes on until the plate is finished and one is more than tipsy.

The fact that I drank and ate all the following dishes (nothing too outrageous) gave me a lot of brownie points and prompted commitments from the distributor for greater sales than I could imagine.

I went to Beijing on the bullet train afterwards with a full stomach and a hangover!

Moral: You can eat anything if you close your eyes and take strong alcohol shots thereafter! And it might just help you build stronger business relationships.

Got any travel stories as eventful as these ones?

The post The 6 craziest international business travel stories from my career appeared first on Trade Ready.