Travel: 3 hints to Getting around in Germany (and neighboring countries)

Traveling about Europe just got a little bit harder for me (and maybe for you too).

The train station (at least the Dutch ticket counter at Schipol Airport) only takes credit card transactions with PIN entry. Which means the corporate card I use was not good for me. So if you travel by train in these areas you might consider the following:

1. buy your tickets in advance online 
2. pre-order Eurail passes for multiple countries multiple days
3. carry cash

Up until recently I could count on buying the tickets at the ticket window with my credit card and signature. However the EU has been shifting more and more to PIN transactions (for security) however if you are like me you may have a corporate card with no PIN (avoid high cash advance fees etc). But that means that the US is getting to be a minority among developed nations in regards to the handling of these "signature" transactions. 

Buy online: Honestly the first two hints are really the same. But I find that I can spot buy the tickets and print out very easily the rail tickets I need by using the DeutscheBahn (DB) web site. If I know that I want even more travel I will buy the Eurail pass. As long as you travel at least 5 days by rail within 60 days, and average  200 km each day this option makes sense. It amounts to roughly $300 US ($60/day) the trip from Amsterdam to Dusseldorf (Nord-Rhein) region was 65Euro (nearly 90 dollars). The Germany-Benelux option is my most used ticket. I Also used the 3 country select pass. For a small premium taking the night train for very long trips (700-800 km) the night train is a great deal. You pay a small add-on in addition to the rail pass to get a bed for the night (saves the hotel room fee, and you arrive at destination bright eyed and busy tailed).

Cash is always a smart option when traveling. Travelers checks are getting more difficult and expensive to cash and convert into Euros. I use a service away from the Airport to convert my dollars to Euros before I leave. The rates are competitive to any airport exchange and hotel concierge. ATMs give decent rates at times, but surcharges pop up unexpectedly. So I have shyed away from them.

Consulting: time for money? You are a HO

Selling your time for money? Then you too are a HO. Lawyers do it, doctors do it, even psycho-analysts do it!

With the exception of the lawyers, those professions where the it is the norm to sell your time for money do not get cast as blood sucking leeches. But with engineering consultants we get cast in a negative light for being mercenary when we invoice for consultations and in many cases people expect to get quite a bit for free.

Here are some guidelines for billing:

• it all should pay
• set solid standard rates for activities
• don't equate effort to value
• bill on regular intervals

It all pays:
All your time has value. Don't set bad precedent by under valuing your own time. Remember your clients learn how to treat you from you. My good friend Danny runs a consultancy and recently had a brief discovery meeting to decide how much to quote for the larger project (effort he thought was needed to put together the quote). However, his assessment was that the project was much smaller than the client thought. This conclusion requires his expertise and therefore has value. His decision to not quote is in itself an engineering service one he ended up giving away for free. On my suggestion we are looking at a new discovery process that he bills for.


Set solid rates:
This idea for Danny only works if he has a predictable cost structure for his "products". Discovery, off site or asynchronous work, on site, travel days, research, etc. It is very important to realize and communicate that you value your time. Recall that if you can't bill others for the time you allocate for these activities that you are losing revenue. Set clear expectations. Things I can sleep while doing get the lowest day rate (travel), things that eat up the most of my temporal and intellectual capital get hit at the highest hourly or fixed project rates (i.e. Creating things).


Don't equate effort for value:
If you have the ability to knock out killer web pages or technical white-papers without breaking sweat doesn't mean that you should give it away. If you set precedent by setting a low bar future work (which may be more challenging) might not get it's due. If you provide unique benefit bill like it. If you fear you can't deliver that level of value get a JOB and forget about consulting.


Bill on regular intervals:
Set up a schedule for invoicing. You learn a lot about your clients by how they pay their bills, and these lessons are better learned sooner than later (when you really need the money). Don't forget you can't repo that intellectual and temporal capital.

Embrace your inner Techni-ho and remember "show me the money"