Turn on the news and you’ll find it dominated by headache-inducing headlines of snaking queues, delays and cancellations. For frequent travellers, it’s just another day at the office.

I’ve travelled the world in the name of work for over a decade, spending countless hours in airport terminals, amassing passport stamps from far-flung destinations, and trying every manner of sleep aid (travel pillows, pointless; eye mask and noise-cancelling headphones, essential; melatonin, a godsend). Last year, I broke my very own record, visiting four countries across three continents in just five days, my body and brain utterly out of sync, and lagging behind each destination.

I’ve experienced the privileged highs of business class, and the cramped lows of seats at the back of the plane. The joys of dual citizenship (sorry single passport holders), and the bureaucratic pains of visa applications.

And like all frequent travellers, I’ve hit plenty of snags along the way. I’ve placed far too much trust in my smartphone to store important travel documents, which disappear the second the battery drains; my luggage has been diverted to mystery locations with no reunion in sight; and I’ve been stranded in terminals with a paltry £10 refreshment voucher to numb the pain.

Over time, however, I’ve learnt the tricks to navigate this turbulent trade. I now carry a back-up of important documents to avoid run-ins at border control, preach the painless perks of hand luggage, and arm myself with snacks and battery packs. Here, I speak to women across various industries about their own travel pathways.

The Art of the Airport Outfit: Business Travel Style

Every frequent traveller eventually lands on an outfit that strikes a balance between comfort and style, practical enough to survive a long-haul flight but sharp enough for a business meeting on arrival.

I learnt the hard way, mistakenly believing that a power jumpsuit that's served me well in high-profile interviews would be equally suitable at 34,000 feet. Instead, it was subject to grimy bathroom floors, leaving it in no shape (or clean state) to impress upon landing. Pass me in an airline cabin or train carriage today, and you’ll find me instead dressed in loose trousers, a black shirt and blazer.

“The best airport outfit has to work at both ends of the journey. I keep it simple: trousers, layers, comfortable shoes and a blazer that makes me feel pulled together when I land,” says Shannon Knapp, President and CEO of The Leading Hotels of the World.

Celebrity make-up artist Kay Montano, meanwhile, recommends practical Uniqlo wear, layers (“You have no control over the temperature onboard, sometimes it’s freezing, other times it’s boiling”) and flight socks. “Standing in queues at airports is out of control. If I didn’t wear flight socks, I wouldn’t have ankles anymore. A lot of people don’t put two and two together, but they make your legs feel more energetic,” she explains.

There’s a consensus regardless of your mode of transport, too. Honey Spencer, restaurateur and head sommelier at Eurostar, visits winemakers by rail in a "comfortable, stretchy pair of high-waisted wool trousers from Soeur, an M&S blazer, and a structured black handbag by The Regular which has pockets for everything – including my laptop.”

All three have also found easy shortcuts to look meeting-ready after a long journey. “You could be wearing a black T-shirt and trousers, but tie your hair back, apply some blusher, add some jewellery, and it elevates your look,” says Kay. In Honey’s case, La Rosée’s all-purpose oil “makes you match-ready”, while Shannon’s hack comes in the form of “a great blazer”.

Hydrating products, meanwhile, work overtime in ultra-dry cabin environments. On a recent business trip to Seoul, I stocked up on countless moisturising face masks – returning home one short, but with a certain glow thanks to an inflight routine. Kay swears by Sarah Creal’s Moisture Source Bi-Phase Brightening Essence, while Honey’s go-to is Caudalie’s moisturising face mist spray.

Travel Turbulence

What sets a frequent traveller apart is their ability to navigate the increasingly stressful end-to-end travel experience. That starts at the packing stage. Like most seasoned travellers, I pride myself on travelling with a carry-on, no matter the destination. While I’m briefly envious of hands-free passengers gliding through the airport, I revel in my decision when I arrive at the destination – free from waits at the belt, or worse, lost luggage.

Travelling with hand-luggage, however, isn’t a luxury all travellers can afford. Kay’s career relies on make-up kits destined for the aircraft hold – but she has contingencies should disaster strike. “If you fly a lot, it’s a law of averages that your luggage will get lost, so AirTags are really important.” I witnessed the benefits of such tech first-hand this summer, when a case of missing luggage in Munich was solved not by ground staff – but a passenger’s trusty AirTag, tracking the bags to a spot on the tarmac.

Navigating uncertainty is also a question of psychology. Despite being a highly-strung character, I’ve learnt to stay grounded in times of chaos and trade my instinct to control for spontaneity. Shannon has a similar mindset: “My approach is not to stress over what I can’t control and instead focus on Plan B, which, whenever possible, is to see if there’s a Leading Hotel nearby and turn the unexpected change into an opportunity to visit one of our hoteliers,” says Shannon.

Kay, too, makes any idle time productive – catching up on activities that are sidelined back home. “It’s the one time in life when I’m actually bored, so it’s a great chance to exercise my brain by reading. When you’re in an airport, plane or hotel room, you can always escape into a story.” For my part, my phone is always packed with podcasts, and in true journalist fashion, I’m never without a notepad and pen.

Occasionally, travel disruptions also come with a silver lining. On jam-packed business trips, delays and cancellations have gifted me the time to experience a destination beyond the meeting room. Commenting on a recent spate of train cancellations across France, Honey recalls the joy of unexpectedly sharing a taxi with equally stranded strangers: “There was an element of camaraderie and it was all very human”.

As I write, a news alert pops up to signal the latest airport disruption. It brings to mind one of Kay’s earlier remarks: “There’s no rule book for unusual jobs like mine.” While referring to the career of a make-up artist, it rings just as true to the life of a frequent traveller. You can brace yourself with hacks and mental strategies, but the journey will always have a degree of uncertainty – and sometimes, that brings its own bit of magic too.