Marriott’s CEO, Arne Sorenson, says it best: “Traveling internationally can be exhausting—traveling domestically can be exhausting, too.”
In an interview with Business Insider, Sorenson recently shared some of his own travel tips. Considering he travels some 200 days out of the year, it’s worth hearing him out.
“I almost never check a bag.”
Whether he’s traveling for one week or two, Arneson skips the checked baggage and opts for a briefcase and a wheely, soft-sided leather bag that he uses as a suitcase. Now, he did say “almost never,” so there are exceptions. But even living a week away from home without checking a bag is an enviable accomplishment.
“I love first to open all the curtains in a hotel room when I walk in.”
It’s all about the natural light with this trick. He even does this at night, when there’s no sunlight to fill the room. “I think getting the natural light to work, particularly when you’re in a different time zone, is really important,” he said. “Get immediately on that schedule as opposed to giving in to the exhaustion and sleep during the day because then you’ll never get there.”
“I love to read paper. I’ve got a full briefcase.”
Despite being an incredibly light packer, Arneson does allow himself some leeway when it comes to reading materials. “I still read paper, which is an unusual thing,” he said. “Some of the news, I get on my tablet, but an awful lot of the books I read—and I like to read a lot—are paper.”
You can watch the full interview over on Business Insider.
This article originally appeared on TravelandLeisure.com
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