NVO: What gear to travel with
- 2008-12-29
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- gear nvo
If you’re working from home chances are you are also working at least some when you’re travelling. At least if you have a business like mine. It also probably means, in general, you’ve got a lot of electronics involved with your travels. I’ve been mobile a bit more than usual and finally worked out my kit – maybe I was good and Santa’ll bring me these bad boys.
As a precursor – depending on what you do – but if it doesn’t require serious horsepower, grab an ultralight notebook with at least a 12″ screen, full keyboard and it should clock in at less than 3lbs. Save your shoulders!! The slimness of them also makes them easier on your carry on and somehow makes it easier to take them out of the bag for the stupid airport security lines. I grabbed an old Macbook Air and have loved every minute of it, but there’s plenty of other options if that isn’t your bag.
Then I want to grab one of these travel wifi kits. It is surprising how few hotels seem to offer decent wifi – I still find a lot of ethernet cables in the room and sometimes I just don’t feel like working at that damn desk. Snagging one of these will free me up – and if I’m travelling with some other folks who get nearby rooms I only have to pay for net access for one room and everyone can share in the joy. As a side benefit it also lets the old iPhone take a break from EDGE/3G. If you’re roaming international style this is a good time to sync a variety of things off the clock.
If you do travel international – I’ve found having a good voip provider really convenient. I use Vonage and will sometimes bring my voip router with me to take my US number with me wherever I go. It’s pretty good times since I can take and make calls as though I was home. I’ve got an old router but have been looking at their latest which seems more compact which is always a bonus.
And on the power side… I’ve been eying this Belkin travel strip as the most compact strip around. Since it also has 2 USB ports it is great for the ol’ iPhone. The problem is that the outlets are so packed together it’ll require a bit of gymnastics to get everything plugged in. An alternative is the Monster strips (they come in a few sizes), which don’t have the USB and are a good bit bigger, but provide much more space and better positioning for all your big plugs.
Lastly, I’ve been looking at the PowerGorilla (or something like it) which provides some extra juice for all that gear when you’re on the move. Por ejemplo, on the plane it can give you a few extra hours with the laptop or if you’re travelling without much convenient access to power it’ll provide a whole host of energy for your iPhone and digital camera and what not. Seems like a convenient backup.
All those add just a little bulk and weight to your kit, but provide a lot more convenience when you travel. What do you grab when you travel?







