Information is what powers business trips. It’s one of your most precious assets and you should take every step to keep it safe. Take it from someone who has left his office without synchronsing his laptop and PC, who has wiped out days worth of work because he neglected to install a backup system and who even has lost clients because he ignored the importance of good, reliable information. Don’t make the same mistakes I have. Here’s what a career on the road has taught me about computer data: 5 Tips for Travels

Start every trip with a synch Making sure your PDA and PC are both up-to-date is pretty easy. Generally, you just slip the handheld into its cradle and the computer does the rest. Synchronising one PC with another isn’t as straightforward. I’ve tested every conceivable tool, including the one that came with my computer operating system, and they can be tricky. But it’s definitely worth learning, because once you leave the office, I guarantee you’ll be glad you updated your laptop. Don’t trust your computer

Memory sticks that plug into your laptop are essential to the integrity of your data. And with some units now carrying up to 5 gigabytes of data (which equates to an awful lot of documents), you can fit all your essential files onto one small stick. Andrew Steele, a media consultant to charities and non-profits in Great Britain, routinely does a double backup. It recently saved his trip. “I had a laptop power supply fail,” Steele recalls. “So even when the battery was finally exhausted, I could carry on without embarrassment on borrowed computers.”

Stay in touch with the office You can find many helpful applications that let you connect to your computer or network from afar, such as Microsoft’s own Remote Desktop Connection. I like these options because it is possible to catch up on any information that you could have forgotten to synch up prior to you left. My greatest gripe with these programs is that they have a tendency to be slow – particularly using a dial-up connection – generating big data downloads impractical. But if you couldn’t synch up just before your trip, they can be a genuine lifesaver.

Collect data – and back it up Typically, little organization travellers are good at collecting organization cards, sales leads and receipts. But this useful data does not always make it back towards the workplace. My record keeping was so inadequate when I started travelling on business that I missed quite a few charge-card payments. I ended up losing funds simply because I couldn’t get reimbursed.

When in doubt, switch to paper This is obvious advice, but it’s so obvious that we sometimes forget it’s an option. We’ve become so dependent on our technology that we don’t remember that we could just write the information down. My partner used to make fun of me when I printed out the names and addresses of people before leaving on a business trip. Why do that when everything was on the computer? Well, there are still some things paper can do that a PC can’t. Like operate without batteries. So when my laptop ran out of juice and I switched to paper, I didn’t look like a fool.

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