After two years of travelling I feel qualified to share what is in my bag and what we used more than others. We work mostly on Web Design / Development / Photo / Video so having an effective set up goes a long way. I will save the photo gear for another post. Yes all of this gets heavy and occasionally you have to pay for all of the extra weight, but some of these items are invaluable and you will never see one when you need it. Buying stuff on the road is more expensive and limited compared to buying online (amazon, etc) so buy what you need and have all of your pouches, bags, containers sorted out before. We each carry 1 check in, one carryon and one personal bag. If you were to take our electronics and gadgets they would fill our check in and we carry about a carryons worth of clothes.
Disclaimer: I am sure platforms and technologies will differ. These were mostly purchased in 2014 so if you are shopping around there may be some newer revisions and options available.
Gadgets
- 2 Macbook Pro Laptops
- 2 Ipads (2nd Generation)
- 2 Android Phones
- 1 Portable Projector
- 1 Google Chromecast
- 1 TP-Link Travel Router
- 3 External Hard Drives (1tb x 3)
- 2 Flash Drives (32gb & 64gb)
- 1 Wacom Bamboo
- 1 mouse
- 1 Bluetooth USB speaker
- 2 rechargeable power banks
Cables
- 1 four outlet Power Strip
- 1 four port usb wall charger
- 1 Long Extension Cord
- 1 three way electrical splitter
- As many US to Euro converter plugs as you can get. (The troll loves stealing socks and these plugs)
- Short and Long Ethernet Cable (Hardly used)
- 6 USB/micro cables
- 4 USB charger plugs
- 3 ipad cables
- 1 three port USB/Ethernet adapter
- 2 headphone jack to headphone jack cables
- 1 extender plug (connects 2 audio cables)
- 1 car lighter USB charger
Accessories
- Collect all twist ties, you can never have enough cable management
- 10pk rubber twist ties
- ipad stand
- phone stand
- stylus pen
Some of my favorites are the Chromecast and the TP-Link travel router. Assuming there is an HDMI enabled TV, we are able to watch anything online on the TV. We’ve also had some good times with the portable projector. It’s great for viewing indoors, outdoors, creating a make-shift theater. Watching the occasional show/movie/news are good for morale, culture, and just unwinding.
Another favorite is my old ipad and ipad stand. Why? Well because I love using dual monitor while working on my 13 inch macbook. With a little IOS app called Duet, you can run dual monitors with no delay. All things considered, the ipad definitely earns its place even though it is old as hell. With all the beat making and drawing app, it’s great for trains, planes, etc.
At some point you are going to rent a car for a long drive, and when you do, you need a charger, audio cable better to already have them then to scramble when you are low on power and need that GPS to get you to the next destination.
Power cables and extension cords, although they take up a good amount of space, are put to work each and every place we go. Always need a strip, extension cord, and US to Euro Plug adapters.
Aside from the ethernet and audio cables, we use just about everything regularly.
Some of photos of our set ups
Dubrovnik Setup
You may also like
