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Lisa Messerli

is a software developer and IT consultant. She is involved in several software development projects of both her own company as well as different clients in different locations, so travel is an essential part of her day-to-day business. She also supervises on-site trainings for her clients and attends workshops, bar camps and IT conferences on a regular basis as a speaker, talking about current developments in areas such as software architecture and clean code.

Thank you so much for taking the time and talking to us today, Lisa! As an IT consultant and conference speaker travel is a crucial part of your job. What’s important to you when you travel?

For me it’s very important to feel “at home” while traveling. To me, this definitely includes staying at a bright, spacious and comfortable hotel as well as traveling comfortably of course. It’s also important to me to have a plan and schedule, so I always know what’s up next. This includes knowing where I have to be and when, but also if there’s something interesting to see in the surrounding area so I can squeeze in some sightseeing after the work is done. For a conference, for example, this could mean knowing exactly which presentations I would like to attend, but also to have some restaurant options for lunch or dinner ready.

What are three things you can’t travel without?

First and foremost that would be my planner – I prefer the classic one, made of paper that you can write into with a pen. In my life, nothing works without it – I have to write down everything. Also, as I already mentioned, I love to feel at home when traveling so that includes comfy clothes for the evening. It also includes my favorite personal care products which I also use at home – I’d rather pack more than having to do without them or having to resort to unsatisfactory alternatives.

What’s your favorite travel outfit?

For traveling I usually wear my regular business attire if I have an appointment that same day. Especially if it’s a shorter trip, I don’t change in between, as it helps me reduce luggage and travel light. If I have an additional day or get the chance to do some sightseeing after work, I’ll take a more comfy and casual outfit and also wear it for traveling and change into business attire for my work appointments.

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Which place in the world would you love to travel to and why?

I would love to do a trip around Asia at some point, as I have never been there. I imagine the culture to be very different from our own and would love to get to know it first-hand. If I had the chance to stay longer and maybe work on-site with a client, I’d be very interested in experiencing company culture and daily working life there. I’d consider this experience very valuable for my own job.

What’s your craziest travel story?

My colleague and I were on the way to a client, traveling by car. While usually we would be using a rental car or company car, this time it made more sense to use a private car for various reasons. As the annual inspection for the car was due anyway, I made sure to get this done in advance, so we could be sure the car was in perfect shape for this long trip. The garage told us that one of the car parts had to be replaced but that they could do it in time for the business trip. Everything seemed fine as we embarked on our journey, when, after two hours of driving, the car stopped and we couldn’t go on. Turns out, the garage had seriously installed said car part the wrong way round, so after two hours of driving it was completely broken. We had to continue our journey in a rental car and actually made it to the client in time – but it wasn’t exactly fun. Luckily, I always schedule in an hour or two of buffer time, so I don’t run into trouble when something unexpected happens.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and travel stories with us today, Lisa! We wish you pleasant travels in the future!

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