What’s in your business bag?

Mile 91 open their business bag on a trip to Uganda

Mile 91 is a bespoke story-gathering team for charities and changemakers. This week Catherine Raynor and her business partner Ben Langdon are in Uganda capturing stories about women’s health for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Before setting off Catherine opened her travelling business bag for us. (Click on the picture to see it full-size).

My sturdy kit bag for a day of interviewing in a Ugandan hospital is very different to what would be in my handbag for a client meeting in London. Take a peek:

Recording equipment: this nifty device isn’t much bigger than a phone but it records broadcast quality audio and film clips. Headphones are pretty hot to wear when it’s 30 degrees and humid, but they’re essential for keeping an eye (or ear!) on sound quality.

Permission forms: it’s important that all interviewees understand how their words and photos will be used, so we explain this fully and ask them to give consent. I’ll be buying an inkpad when I arrive so those who are illiterate can sign with a thumb print.

Reporters’ notepads and lots of pens: I may record my interviews but there’s always interesting sights and sounds that I want to make a note of. Little snippets of detail like this add interesting colour to stories when I write them up and help the reader imagine more clearly what a place is like.

Snacks: there are many days when lunch isn’t an option and if you’re in the bush or a rural community there’s often no such thing as a corner shop, so we always have a stash of nuts and snack bars. That said, some of the lunches that we are offered when there are facilities for cooking are amazing!

Rehydration salts, Imodium, tissues, wet wipes, hand sanitiser: this doesn’t need too much explanation but the inevitable happens. Sometimes in a spectacular fashion; last year my business partner lost a stone in a week!

Werther’s: never underestimate the power of a toffee when you need a sugar rush or need to make a friend!

Water, suntan lotion and repellent: lots and lots of all three!

iPhone & iPad: the laptop stays at the hotel during the day but we tweet as much as we can during the day and the iPad is super handy for writing blogs on the journey back to the hotel. (iPhone is out of shot, taking this picture!)

Waterproofs: it’s very wet in Uganda at the moment!

Mile 91 capture spine-tingling stories that inspire action and encourage giving. Catherine and Ben have managed some 30 story gathering trips to challenging international environments and interviewed hundreds of vulnerable people in the UK.

Enjoyed this? Check out more home workers opening their business bag in the What’s in Your Bag? series.

Are the contents of your business bag a bit out of the ordinary? Send me a photo and a description of the contents of your bag when you’re working away from home and I’ll share them here.