Staying Productive on the Road: My Travel Tips and Tricks

One of the main reasons I got into IT is the flexibility and freedom I get. Traveling has always been a passion of mine, but until I started working for myself it was limited to however much my parents could afford, and mostly to neighbouring countries. ⁠

⁠In this article I will list out the gear that I am using to stay productive, and give you an idea of how you could create your own portable office.

⁠** There may be affiliate links in this article, meaning if you sign up through them, I will earn some money, at no extra cost to you. **

I am using a Macbook Pro since late 2019, I've been using it for almost 3 years, lately, I've been having overheating problems, planning to switch to the new M1 ones, what do you think of them?

This is a tricky one, be careful which one you buy as metal stands are usually forbidden on planes, so unless you're traveling on land or with checked-in baggage look for plastic options or some that you can be sure is allowed. This is the one I am using. And no I don't take it always with me especially if it's a shorter trip.

Whether you decided to travel with or without checked-in baggage you still need to have a reliable backpack, the one I am using has everything you would need, from a secure laptop sleeve, 10s of pockets for organization, and the possibility for extensions between 18L to 30L which I find very useful, as it gives me the freedom to use it as a day bag when I am at the destination. To read more about it click here.

If you've been working from home or in an office, you're probably used to having 1 or even 2 extra monitors. This is the case with me, and I can't even imagine working without an extra monitor. Well when traveling I don't have the pleasure of working with my widescreen monitor, however I do have a reliable replacement, I am using the portable Mobile Pixels Duex Plus. ⁠ ⁠Basically how it works is, they sent you these 4 circle magnets that you glue to your device, and you can just attach the screen like the picture below.

What's that? Well up until recently I didn't know about them either, now I can't travel without them. They not only help me compress clothes so they take less space, but also helps me organize my backpack better. ⁠ ⁠What I love about the ones I'm using is the diversity of sizes they came in, from XS to XL, it's more than enough, although I usually find myself packing M and XL. M is used for underwear and socks, while XL is used for shirts and pants. Picture below is of the set I'm using but there are 100s of different brands on amazon if this one is not in your taste. Read more about them here.

There are many routes to take, I personally love the freedom of traveling light, I don't usually carry extra baggage other than my backpack. Which puts me in a unique position where I can easily pack my stuff and get to the next destination, as a bonus I can book the cheapest plane tickets.

All these things are important to me, if you're on a budget make sure you don't cheap out on the backpack, it's the most important piece of the puzzle.