Luggage is for losers

by Jeremy Skidmore

A business trip which saw his luggage following him round the world but never catch up made telephone boss Nadahl Shocair swear he'd never check in his bags again

Telephone boss Nadahl Shocair takes ‘travelling light’ to the extreme – he goes on round-the-world business trips which last 10 days and only ever takes hand luggage.

“I once went from the United States to Taiwan, then Hong Kong and Singapore and my bag was always one day behind me,” he said. “I was travelling on different airlines and Eva Airlines blamed American Airlines, and they blamed Singapore Airlines. I thought, ‘never again’, I’m taking hand luggage from now on.”

Shocair, 44, is the chief executive of Communio Networks, a German manufacturing company which makes mobile phones for various firms. He has 120 staff in the UK and shares responsibility for a further 450 people. Communio Networks is a privately-owned company, which does not reveal its results, but is part of the giant Mannheim-based Roechling KG group, which has an annual turnover of around £4 billion.

Based in Hemel Hempstead, Shocair has a formidable travel schedule. He goes on round-the-world trips every three months, regularly shuttles between his office and the Berlin headquarters, and also travels to Communio Networks’ Manchester base. Shocair has a seven-year-old son in Dallas and, every three weeks, flies to the city to spend a long weekend with him.

How do you manage with so few clothes?

It’s easy, really. Most people take far too much stuff away with them. I have two suits, a sports coat, a semi-formal jacket and jeans and I always have shirts that I can get the wrinkles out of. If necessary, I can go to the dry cleaners.

My briefcase is actually heavier than my suitcase. I’m not really into shopping; I’ll go once a year and say ‘12 shirts please, job done’, so the last thing I want to do is check my bags in and then find I’ve got to go to a tailor’s in Taiwan as soon as I get there, because the airline has lost my luggage. Also, when you’ve only got hand luggage you can get out of the aircraft quickly. My tip is to get a seat near the exit door.

The other thing about losing bags is that you don’t get treated properly. You might get fantastic service on the airline, but then as soon as something goes wrong it goes out of the window.

Why do you go on round-the-world trips?

Everything’s spaced out these days. We’ve got research and development in Singapore, manufacturing in Hong Kong, factories in China, software in Australia and the west coast of America. I start flying east and do a loop of the world. Fitting it in 10 days is difficult because you’re literally in one country one day and another the next. It’s a full time job organising my itinerary. Luckily, I have an agent at TQ3 in Berlin and she sorts everything out. She’s absolutely fantastic.

Which airlines do you use and how do you combat jetlag?

I think I’m one of British Airways’ best customers. I’ve got something like 680,000 miles with them clocked up in the past 18 months, although a lot of those are double and bonus points, but I am pretty familiar with their aircraft. On the long trips, I’ll stick with an alliance. It might be oneworld (the alliance which includes BA) or Star Alliance, flying with Lufthansa, Singapore and United Airlines.

If I’m going to a business meeting, I’ll sip an effervescent vitamin C drink all the way over and feel refreshed when I arrive. I try to gradually get into a new time zone by initially setting my watch half way between the time at the departure point and the time at the destination.

Otherwise, I might try to relax, watch a movie, maybe have one drink and read. I like business books and can thoroughly recommend Blue Ocean Strategy by Kim and Mauborgne –it’s about making the competition irrelevant.