It is now ten days to go until I leave for China. The formalities are in all in place: flights and hotel booked since months, visa issued; first thoughts spent on what to take and what to still organize.At first glance it does not sound much different than preparing for a normal trip – though only at first glance …

On normal trips one has a relatively clear expectation on what places will be visited and what activities to follow – and what to take to accommodate those expectations. On this trip we may have a clear picture on where we go – but there is not more than a rough idea on what to expect … e.g.

• what kind of customers will we have? (formal or informal, interested or reserved, what kind of company culture, etc.)
• what is their expectation from us? (clear or vague, realistic or unrealistic, fitting to our background or not, etc.)
• how will we become a performing team? (quickly or slowly, how do different cultures and working style work out together, etc.)
• what will be the working conditions? (stability of network access, rooms, access to client, do we have the right equipment)

Suddenly packing becomes more complicated … should I take a suit? … what tools should I take to be prepared? … are there any books or documents that could be helpful? … are there are any fallback plans, I can/ have to prepare (e.g. Facebook access in China)?

10 days to go now … 10 more days to prepare and think about those questions … and I will only learn if I was right with my answers, once I get there.