Over the past three years, I’ve spent approximately eighteen months working and living from the road as a full-time digital nomad. After so much time on the go, I’ve refined my packing list to include the clothing, accessories, and tech must-haves that make working from the road easy.
I’m fortunate to have spent the past almost-decade working in freelance and online capacities that allow me to enjoy this lifestyle. And when I decided to try out long-term travel, I knew I wanted to see if I could do it with just carry-on bags. (Spoiler alert: I have succeeded!)
People have strong opinions on packing methodologies—my friend and team member Ginger is a devout checked-bag traveler—and I’m not here today to convert you. Instead, I’ve compiled a short list of the tech tools that take me from the airport lounge to the neighborhood coffee shop with ease. Whether you’re taking a handbag or a whole pile of luggage on your next trip, adding one (or more) of these to your packing list might make it a bit easier to log in the next time you need to connect on the go.
I’m always on the lookout for the next best thing to make my work-from-anywhere desk feel complete. If you have suggestions for me or your fellow travelers, please leave those in the comments section.
Travel tech kit must-haves
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Electronics Travel Organizer
If I could only take one thing from my list, it would be this organizer from BUBM. I have a smaller model (no longer available but this one is similar), while my husband, the dedicated nerd of the house, has a larger capacity bag. This has handy zippers, mesh pockets, and bungees to hold all of your various cords and cables in place. The larger model also accommodates a tablet or Kindle. There’s nothing worse than a tangle of cords when you really need to charge something; this prevents that headache and ensures I always know where all of my chargers are.
Nomad eSIM
This eSim isn’t a physical item, but it’s perhaps the most valuable of anything I’m listing here. With my Android phone, I can purchase an eSim for the country or region where I’m traveling, download it ahead of time, and upon landing, have local data coverage within minutes of turning my phone back on. I’ve used it from Japan to Cambodia, Australia to Portugal, and it’s never let me down. I’ve even used this as a mobile hotspot to join team meetings here at MMD or with other clients when my local internet goes down, which is pretty common in places like Indonesia. With plans of all different data quantities and durations, it’s a must-have when you’re traveling abroad and erases all of the question marks and headaches of figuring out how to get international data coverage from your primary cellular carrier.
Multi-port USB Hub
Okay, this is part of my travel tech kit but it’s also permanently installed at my home desk, because I work from a Macbook Air and I love to connect to an external monitor, my home podcasting microphone, etc. This Anker version isn’t the exact model I have—I can’t find that one online anymore—but it’s a brand I trust and likely the model I’ll get when it’s time to replace my current device. This item expands the ability for my laptop to connect: it’s a simple but incredibly valuable tool.
HDMI adapter cable
On a related note, after our first few months on the road, my husband and I added a long HDMI adapter cable to our travel kit. If you want to avoid logging into your streaming accounts on a strange AirBnB device—or you want to avoid the streaming geoblocking that often happens when you’re abroad—it’s so nice to be able to plug a laptop directly into the TV at our AirBnB or hotel. In most cases, we’ve found that modern Smart TVs have open HDMI ports, so we can watch TV shows or movies we’ve downloaded to our laptops, or stay logged in on our own devices while enjoying the larger screens in our accommodations.
Anker 6-port Charger
A final ports and charging-related tool that I never leave home without is my 6-port charger. When you only have one or two travel adapters, it’s much handier to use a hub like this to charge all of the things than to juggle plugs and outlets all day long. This is another device I swear by both at home and on the road.
Petzl Swift Headlamp
There’s nothing worse than power outages in unfamiliar places, so I always keep my headlamp at arm’s reach when I’m on the road. I’ve even used it to illuminate my face on 3am Zoom calls from locations with unfortunate lighting. I have an older version of this model, and find the slightly higher price is worth it for the rechargeable battery, the red-light mode, and the adaptive light feature that brightens or dims based on your environment.
What are your travel tech must-haves? Please share in the comments.
P.S. I’ve already mentioned a few of my travel favorites here on the MMD blog: the World Travel Adapter Kit and the travel-friendly Zima Go for my nightguard, and I stand by both of those recommendations.
P.P.S. 16 recommended reads for those traveling to Aotearoa New Zealand and 14 recommended reads for those traveling to Japan.
About the author
Holly Wielkoszewski is our What Should I Read Next Media Production Specialist. Her go-to genres are Fantasy and Sci-Fi. You can follow Holly on her Substack: A Liminal Life.
14 comments
Great list as I prep for an overseas trip this summer. Would love to hear about your carry on choices. Do you have a travel blog where I can find that?
Happy it’s helpful, Amy! I have a round-up of my packing list here. It’s a paywalled post but you should be able to claim a free preview if you’re new to my Substack: https://aliminallife.substack.com/p/every-piece-of-clothing-i-packed
Thank you Holly!
I am definitely going to add a head lamp to my travel kit. I can only recall a few power outages while traveling, but a lamp would have been really useful then and takes up very little space.
It’s such a useful thing to have, Lisa!
I have a headlamp that I use every night when I go out to the (unlit) chicken coop and run. It runs on batteries and it’s very small and lightweight. I will remember to add it to travel bags! Good idea! Better than a heavy flashlight and I love the ‘hands free’.
These are great ideas, thanks! Small typo in the header for your headlamp: the brand is Petzl not Petzi 🙂
Thanks for catching that typo! I fixed it.
Holly – this is great info. My husband and I are traveling more and more frequently as we move into retirement but we both have side hustles that we need to monitor while we’re on the move. Over the last couple of trips we’ve had a few issues, and this list is exactly what we need. Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear it, Lois – happy traveling!
OMG Holly – This is fantastic! We have been doing lots more travel now that we’re empty nesters. We always try to be carry-on travelers but it doesn’t always work. I will check out your substack. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure, Jill! I wish you great success in your carry-on goals 🙂
Hi Holly,
This was a very helpful post, thank you for sharing! My husband was pleased to learn of the Nomad eSim because he’s had issues with eSims in the past.
I am intrigued by the Anker 6-port charger as we have 4 Apple devices and only 1 EU adapter. If I understand this product correctly, all our devices would plug in at one end, the other end would plug into the EU adapter, and the Anker would charge each one. Does that click with how you’ve used your version of the Anker (which I understand is an older model)? It’s the EU adapter end I’m wanting to clarify.
Now I’m off to read your substack. 🙂
Cheers, Laurie
Hi Laurie! That’s exactly how we use this 6-port charger. The “plug” end goes into the adapter and then into the wall power, and all of the devices plug into the USB ports on the 6-port charger. I haven’t used it to charge large devices (like my laptop) but it regularly charges all my other devices (phone, smartwatch, headphones, etc.) Good luck and thanks for reading along!
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