FIFO Life Hacks: Part One

Working remotely on a mine site thousands of kilometres away from home can be hard, both physically and mentally. We have compiled a list of FIFO Life Hacks to make camp life a little easier for our miners. Part one of the series has been put together with the help from some fellow miners on reddit.com/r/mining.

1. Catch the closest flight you can to the next if you have multiple flights. Airports will make you spend money. Stay away from any camp food that people can scoop themselves. And relax. There’s nothing you can do about shit at home while you’re in camp.
   Mptech22

2. I’ve been FIFO for over 15 years and my number one tip would be wait to have a family or wait till your kids have grown up a bit before going away… So many guys I have worked with over the years are constantly miserable over what they are missing out on at home. It’s a personal choice but I think missing out on your kids growing up for few extra dollars isn’t good value. My other tip is a small kit with some sewing stuff, spare boot laces and things like safety pins can be invaluable when you are on smaller sites and stuff is hard to get.
tungstenfish

3. Bring a powerboard from your country of origin. Then you only need one adapter for all your Aussie plugs. Spend some extra money and buy a power adapter that has USB outputs and multiple country plugs.
Buy a kindle if you read (and you should). Do an online course, so many available these days for free.
aurellian

4. Hit the gym. Don’t just watch TV in your room, read a book, study something, talk to people, play a sport, go for a walk.
Don’t drink every night. Don’t eat dessert every night.
Minimise the amount of stuff you carry back and forth (assuming you have a regular schedule and stay in the same place get a second laptop charger, phone charger, etc and leave it at site). Minimise the amount of stuff you accumulate at site, especially stuff you can’t replace/live without. It will probably be left in your locker when you get laid off.
Give a good handover before you leave and make sure you get a good one when you arrive.
Automate bill payments etc so you don’t spend your R&R paying the overdue fees on your phone bill.
professorswamp

5. Bring a nail clipper! Also, if you are like me and want to keep track of your travel time and work time, install Google Maps on your smartphone and turn on “Your Timeline” feature, and the app would work in the background. When you open up the app’s timeline section, it would tell you the location and duration of travel in the car, on foot, etc!
bomb3rman

6. Flip flops in the shower. Keep a first aid kit/bandaids/earplugs never know what you might need back in your room. An extra pillow to keep at site (this helped me sleep so much better). 
evdocia

Note: Some responses have been shortened/edited to suit length and avoid repeated responses. 

Do you have any FIFO life hacks? Or even any mining life hacks? Leave a comment!