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Transportation

International Field Engineer Travel Tips? 85

Posted by timothy from the just-what's-in-your-emergency-repair-kit dept.
ShamelessHero writes "I was recently hired as a Field Engineer, deploying servers, workstations and peripherals to sites around the globe. I try and travel light, but try as I might, the Emergency Repair Kit has ruined three sets of luggage so far. I know there are Slashdotters here who travel internationally and through some treacherous environs. What are the best travel tips you've come up with? Recommendations for durable, light yet large luggage are much appreciated."
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International Field Engineer Travel Tips? More

International Field Engineer Travel Tips?

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  • What is an "Emergency Repair Kit"? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BadAnalogyGuy ( 945258 ) <BadAnalogyGuy@gmail.com> on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:42PM (#23683681)
    If you need to take a large set of tools with you, get dedicated hardcase luggage with foam cutouts for each item. Is that what you mean by "Emergency Repair Kit"?

    Is it possible to ship the hardware you need to the site a few days before you arrive?

    Can you learn to pack so that you don't ruin one set of stuff with another set of stuff?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skeeto ( 1138903 )
      I heard once that the Emergency Repair Kit is a body bag (or at least the snake bite ones are).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nurb432 ( 527695 )
      Back when i was still in the network field service business, you really couldn't plan ahead much. "Fires" don't happen on a schedule.

      The maintenance and move/add/change crews, ya they could plan and schedule.

      When he called it an 'emergency repair kit', i equate that with the service side, not the maintenance/MAC side.

  • Anvil Cases (Score:4, Informative)

    by waa ( 159514 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:46PM (#23683735) Homepage
    http://www.anvilcase.com/ [anvilcase.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Fallen Kell ( 165468 )
      I was going to point these out as well. These things are unbelievable. We use them to ship stuff all over the place. I am talking about sending fully configured suites of computers (disks removed and foam support around the inside of case). They get there everytime and almost always without issue. Someone has to drive a forklift through the case for it to get destroyed (had that happen).
      • I've tried ones similar to above, and various other cases, and the airport luggage handlers somehow manage to destroy them all.

        The one I swear by, and use it for my toolkit when travelling, are pelican cases (model 1500).

        http://www.pelican.com/ [pelican.com]

  • Condoms (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Hatta ( 162192 )
    Bring lots of condoms.

  • One word: FedEx (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:49PM (#23683773) Journal
    Seriously - Ship your supplies (and if possible, clothing) there, and ship them back. You should only have two things to actually lug around while travelling - You, and a book to read on the plane.
    • yeah, and if can stretch to three sets of supplies again, all the better - that way you don't have to wait for one set to arrive back before you can go again.
    • Depending on where you travel, DHL may be a the only option for getting things delivered. Have accounts with both, just in case.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by WaXHeLL ( 452463 )
      If you're on a plane the same evening or the next morning with little notice, shipping supplies may not arrive until after you do.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Platinumrat ( 1166135 )
      You obviously don't travel OS much. I find if I want my tools to be at my destination before I'm scheduled to return home, then I've got to carry them with me. I travel around SE Asia, usually working in remote places. So you're going to guarantee that one of the following will happen: 1) no-one will sign for your stuff in a hotel 2) customs agents will hold up the shipment. 3) it will go missing if it's valuable. I'd rather pay the excess baggage and duties (cough...) than waste time searching for my

  • Obligatory (Score:4, Insightful)

    by FurtiveGlancer ( 1274746 ) <AdHocTechGuy@@@aol...com> on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:51PM (#23683815) Journal
    Don't drink the water. The local wine or beer is probably much better.

    • Re:Obligatory (Score:4, Funny)

      by WED Fan ( 911325 ) <akahige@NOspAm.trashmail.net> on Friday June 06, 2008 @02:33PM (#23685255) Homepage Journal

      Don't drink the water. The local wine or beer is probably much better.

      Being half plastered always helped me going through other companies clean room prep process. Especially Fujistu and stripping buck naked and letting some tech dress me in a damp-skin-sticking bunny suit.

      An Italian fab worker once told me that if you can't function on half a bottle of wine, its time to floor it and get home as soon as possible.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Less obvious: avoid any uncooked fruits and veggies that don't get peeled, as they can pick up water borne bugs when they're washed. So oranges and bananas are good, but lettuce is a no-no.

  • Ship the gear (Score:5, Informative)

    by GlL ( 618007 ) <gil AT net-venture DOT com> on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:51PM (#23683823)
    While it may cost a little more, having your tools shipped will save wear and tear on the luggage, and the way airlines are charging extra based on weight of luggage, you will be better off not dealing with that potential snarl at the airport.
    Since airline regs mandate that your tools go in the checked baggage, you will have a better chance of actually having your tools arrive at the same time you do if you ship them.

    • Re:Ship the gear (Score:5, Informative)

      by Daneboy ( 315359 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @01:03PM (#23683951) Journal
      Agreed -- I don't know what is in your Emergency Repair Kit, but I imagine that it consists of lots of things that you would rather not have disappear into Luggage Limbo. If you check it as luggage, you *will* eventually find yourself getting off a plane in someplace like Tokyo only to find that your Repair Kit is in Buenos Aires. Ideally, ship it to the customer/destination early enough that you can verify delivery before you get on the plane. It's more up-front paperwork, but it saves a lot of problems on the back end. A few years ago I had a fairly lenghty discussion with a nice Customs Person in the Beijing airport who did not appreciate me trying to carry a fairly expensive network analyzer with me without having a receipt to show it belonged to me. Even though (a) it belonged to my employer, and (b) I had carried it with me INTO the country two weeks earlier. Much easier just to ship it in advance, and arrange for the customer to ship it back -- they'll know the local rules for "exporting" things.
      • I agree, but the trouble with shipping is that worker quality can vary depending on the country. That is, your box may arrive empty because it was opened along the way (especially if there are signs it contains something valuable). So if you're shipping at least make sure it's insured.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Grishnakh ( 216268 )
          Who cares if the box arrives empty? That's your employer's problem, not yours. If they want to send people to all kinds of godforsaken countries where corruption is the rule rather than the exception, they should be prepared for stuff to disappear. They can raise their prices to the customers in these countries to make up for the losses.

          • Sure, so long as it's your employer's stuff. But sometimes it's your own. If you are truly concerned about something, you take it on the plane. If it's an item you can't carry on, then you have to resort to ship or check. But that doesn't mean you have to throw caution to the wind.

            And sometimes it's countries you might not expect. E.g. Laptops have a tendency to find new homes as they work their way through New Zealand post. :p
        • Do you think that airport luggage workers are somehow more trustworthy?

          I assume he's not carrying the stuff on, because anyone who repeatedly ruins his own luggage is just being a moron.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by WaXHeLL ( 452463 )
      Tools can go in your carry-on luggage if they're under a certain length.

  • several suggestions (Score:5, Informative)

    by greywar ( 640908 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @12:54PM (#23683853) Journal
    Get a pelican case, waterproof and near indestructible for tools and equipment.

    Get another for your stuff.

    They come with removable foam, and you can customize spots for each tool.

    Some other tips-
    Carry some cash somewhere on your person other then your wallet. Carry more then one type of credit or debit card. (machine ate one of mine in china when I arrived in China. It was NOT a good day)

    Printout maps to all the hotels you are staying at-its handy to show cab drivers that don't speak english.

    Carry some basic things like a small travel toothbrush, and hand napkins on your person. If the plane you are about to board has the luggage loading door torn off-you will appreciate this as you spend the night somewhere with no luggage.

    Deodorant is your friend-yeah they don't sweat in the 110 degree 90% humidity heat. If you were born in Minnesota, odds are you do.
    Don't assume things. Some fun examples-
    Going out to eat Pussy, in China refers to the district you are going to have dinner in NOT the activity.
    When Chinese are saying "nigga" they are NOT referring to any color of your skin, its not related.
    When asked if you want a "Chinese girlfriend" they are asking about a hooker, not if you want to meet nice Chinese women to get a girlfriend. Try to avoid conversations where at the end of it they assume you are gay. God that was funny later. Not so much at the time.

    Buy tools and shavers that take both 110 and 220.
    Bring adapter plugs.

    Hotel networks are often horrifically infected with spyware etc-keep a firewall up, and up to date anti-virus.

    If you don't think you can eat those chicken feet, or bugs without throwing up-decline.

    If you CAN eat horrific things, and the locals are messing with you to make you look foolish-suggest a better place to eat, and take them somewhere where they turn green. Evil...but funny.

    • Re:several suggestions (Score:4, Funny)

      by butterflysrage ( 1066514 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @01:03PM (#23683955)
      If you CAN eat horrific things, and the locals are messing with you to make you look foolish-suggest a better place to eat, and take them somewhere where they turn green. Evil...but funny.

      not everywhere has a "generic American burger joint"

      • Depending on the location... (Score:5, Funny)

        by da5idnetlimit.com ( 410908 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @01:40PM (#23684479) Journal
        I once had a japanese customer that really enjoyed himself seeing me eat "natto" (a sort of soy bean curd gone terribly mad) at breakfeast in Hokkaido.

        When he came to visit in Paris I brought him to an "only cheese" french restaurant. And we really have delicious but very smelly cheeses here 8)

        (for cheese lovers, they have a "Crescendo" plate, where you start with a light, fresh goat cheese and finish with something called ""Le Gris", which is like the strongest goat cheese ever, even stronger in taste and smell than "l'Epoisse")

        The next time in Japan, I got an invitation to the best non-sushi restaurant in town. Seems he got the message all right.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Otter ( 3800 )
      If you CAN eat horrific things, and the locals are messing with you to make you look foolish-suggest a better place to eat, and take them somewhere where they turn green. Evil...but funny.

      Even if they suggest it, half the time they're afraid to eat it themselves and you can turn the tables on them. If they were really nonchalant about eating it, it probably wouldn't have occurred to them to snicker at you. (Just like you wouldn't think twice about ordering potato skins for Japanese...)

    • Carry some basic things like a small travel toothbrush, and hand napkins on your person. If the plane you are about to board has the luggage loading door torn off-you will appreciate this as you spend the night somewhere with no luggage.

      Dude, if you're about to get onto an airplane that's had its luggage door torn off, don't get on it.

      If you're in flight, and the cargo door gets torn off, the last thing you'll be worried about it your toothbrush. :-P

      Cheers

  • tly what's needed?

    Good job the emergency repair kit caused those issues. Otherwise what would have been the point of taking it if you didn't have something to repair.. What's that? It's NOT a sewing kit?? wtf bbq

  • As well, I find outdoor backpack type gear also work well. Personally, I use a large travel pack from Mountain Equipment Co-op http://tinyurl.com/3lrpae [tinyurl.com]

  • Aero, Anvil, Pelican, or hard-shelled Sampsonite will work.

    There's also Zero Halliburton aluminum luggage [zerohalliburton.com], the favorite of movie drug dealers.

    If it's for tools, get a real toolcase [toolcases.com], with the pallets and loops to hold tools. I have a big Jensen toolkit myself, in one of those cases.

  • power strip (Score:4, Informative)

    by coaxial ( 28297 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @01:28PM (#23684309) Homepage
    One plug adapter + One power strip = One room with lots of plugs you can use.

  • How to move money internationally? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @01:41PM (#23684507) Homepage
    One of our biggest problems right now is how to move money internationally.

    All the banks we've discovered have big fees and numerous anti-customer arrangements. How do you write a check in Euros or Brazilian Reais? How do you move one currency to another without paying a bank a huge amount?

    We need ATM cards that allow withdrawing money in the currency of the country in which we are working -- without paying the large fee banks charge, or the "3%" currency exchange fee that is, in fact 5%.

  • OneBag.com (Score:3, Informative)

    by Optic7 ( 688717 ) on Friday June 06, 2008 @02:07PM (#23684869)
    If you're not familiar with it, visit and study onebag.com - written by a fellow engineer. You don't have to religiously follow his objective of travelling with just one carry-on bag, but he has a lot of useful travel insight and tips on that site.

  • DJ Equipment works nice (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    For travelling, musicians usually have really good gear for that sorta stuff. There are even setups that take racks in a portable unit for DJ's that need rackmounted stuff. They aren't near as deep as a typical "U" rack, but should have lots o space. The guitar cases (not always shaped like guitars on the outside), the turntable "coffin", and keyboard cases all would work great for electronic equipment. All the music equipment is getting so filled with electronics, the requirements for making the casing
  • After much research regarding gear for my trips, I came across Eagle Creek [eaglecreek.com] stuff, and as for me, they are the best. My beloved Switchback has already suffered plenty of abuse and it still holds together. Not to mention their No Matter What Damage Repair Policy...

    I really recommend them, the gear they offer is worth checking! (Now if they made some armored luggage for my camera, I would be really happy.)

  • As a working field engineer, I'd recommend the following:

    For your equipment, I'd recommend Pelican Cases.

    For your luggage, I'd recommend either Tumi or TravelPro. If you go the TravelPro Route try to shoot for some of the higher end lines for TravelPro, as they're well padded, have reinforced corners and are generally well designed. I have a Platinum 5 wheeled laptop bag and a Crew6 25" expandable suitcase.

    Tumi makes durable, stylish luggage that also holds up real well. I have a carry-on Tumi 22" Genera
  • Pelican or Seahorse case. Seahorse is about 1/2 price of pelican w/ approximately the same quality. Personally, I use a large pelican case for my checked luggage. A giant (12" x 18") emu (not EMO!!!) decal proves I'm a TSA trusted air-traveler. FedEx (or use preferred parcel delivery service) your tools and equipment ahead of time if possible. Other tips... Make sure you take a licensed taxi. Although traveling 105 MPH through Seoul was thrilling, and the selection of 10-year old music videos was
  • http://www.savillcases.com/ [savillcases.com] They will make any hard case or soft bag to your specification. UK Based.
  • International travel for a field engineer? I can make computer stuff work, where do I sign up?

    Seriously. I'll explain in the interview that my UID is so high because I didn't get around to creating an account for a few months. Back in the days of Afterstep.

  • If you can afford it you can just buy whatever you need at your destination (if it's available!).

  • tar -cfz baggage.tar.gz /home/luggage/

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