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Would you love to have enough money to travel the world?
You can!
If you work while you travel, you get the best of both worlds. You get to see all the sights and experience other cultures, without sacrificing your career.
I started my proofreading business after moving from Ireland to Canada in early 2017. In 2019, I took a 10-week trip around the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, and paid for it completely from the money I was earning from my business. My savings didn’t suffer at all!
(I talk about how I got inspired to plan a trip like this one in this post!)
Taking this trip was amazing, but a lot of planning went into it as well. We didn’t just get up one day and decide to take off for nearly three months!
We thought about it, booked flights and accommodation, booked activities, and purchased resources we would need on the road.
Below are the exact products I brought with me on our 10-week trip that I needed to both work and travel. I highly recommend all of them!
If you’re planning to go location independent, then check out these essential items for digital nomads.
Many of these items are available on Amazon Prime with 2-day shipping if time is starting to run out. If you don’t already have Amazon Prime, you can grab a free 30-day trial here!
Table of Contents
Essential Resources Digital Nomads Need to Work
Laptop
An obvious one! If you’re a digital nomad, then you work online. I recommend purchasing a lightweight laptop as you don’t want to be hauling a brick around with you everywhere you travel.
Look for one with good battery life as you may want to work on public transport in cafes where access to electricity isn’t readily available.
Make sure you get one with a webcam in case you need to make work calls.
I purchased the HP Pavilion x360 convertible laptop because it was very lightweight.
Mouse and Mousepad
Personally, I find it difficult to use the trackpad on my laptop, so I prefer to use a mouse and a mousepad when working for prolonged periods of time.
Travel Adaptor
If you’re traveling outside your home country, don’t forget to check if you need an adaptor to charge your tech items! Even though we lived in Canada and were traveling in Canada, the US, and Puerto Rico, we still had to bring some travel adaptors because we had bought a lot of our tech items at home in Ireland.
(BTW, I stayed at one hotel in Tenerife that had travel adaptors built into the plug sockets. That was awesome!)
Vaschy Laptop Backpack
I love, love, love this bag! I got my boyfriend to buy it for me for Christmas last year, and I’ve told him how much I love it at least once a month since then!
The Vaschy laptop backpack is very stylish while also being functional. It’s got a padded section to protect your laptop as well as several little pockets to keep things organized. The straps are also padded so the bag is very comfortable to wear when you’re traveling.
I can’t recommend this bag highly enough!
3M Earplugs
As a digital nomad, you’ll sometimes have to work in noisy cafes or airports. Or you might find yourself sleeping in a noisy hostel room!
To drown out the sound, I recommend investing in some earplugs. It’s a small price to pay for your sanity!
I’m very particular about my earplugs! I’ve tried lots of different brands, and I found many of them either uncomfortable or they wouldn’t stay in my ears, so the brand I recommend is 3M.
Notebook
I know almost everything happens online these days, especially if you’re a digital nomad, but I still found it handy to have a small notebook with me all the time.
Are you a proofreader too? Don’t worry, you don’t need to haul around your reference books! You can get digital versions of all of them! Check out this list of the reference books every proofreader needs.
Essential Travel Resources for Digital Nomads
Gonex Compression Packing Cubes Set
The Gonex Compression Packing Cubes set was a life-changer for me! We traveled carry-on only for our 10-week trip, so space was at a premium. With these compression packing cubes, I was able to squeeze a lot more clothes and other necessities into my small suitcase.
Spacesaver Roll Up Travel Compression Storage Bags
My boyfriend preferred these Spacesaver roll up compression storage bags. You squeeze all the air out of these bags by rolling them, so you don’t need a vacuum cleaner to do it.
Gonex Packable Backpack
This backpack was essential for sightseeing during the day. I didn’t want to have to keep taking my laptop in and out of my other backpack, so the Gonex Packable Backpack was perfect.
MPOW Selfie Stick
I’m an extremely shy person, so asking a stranger to take our picture when we were sightseeing was a no-go for me! Having a selfie stick was great. We got lots of pictures together without having to talk to strangers. Lol!
Light My Fire Spork
A girl’s gotta eat! We packed a couple of these sporks so that we could eat on the go. They were perfect for eating leftovers with on travel days!
Dock & Bay Microfiber Towel
If you’re traveling to a sunny area with beaches, you might find it handy to bring a microfiber towel with you. These towels soak up so much moisture and dry really quickly. Mine came in handy in Puerto Rico.
HDMI Cable
You kind of get sick of looking at your laptop with your headphones in when you travel, so sometimes it’s nice to watch Netflix on the TV in your Airbnb instead. Not all Airbnbs come with Netflix, so you might want to pack an HDMI cable so you can hook your laptop up to the TV.
Kindle
If you’re a die-hard paper book reader, now is the time to embrace technology. You do NOT want to carry around books in your backpack or suitcase! You’ll have enough back problems as it is from the contact moving without adding books into the equation. Do yourself a favor and invest in a Kindle!
Stainless Steel Water Bottle
Drinking water is essential for all travelers, but especially those traveling in hot climates. I typically struggle to drink enough water but carrying around a water bottle with me encourages me to drink more. It’s also a great way to save money on buying bottles of water, and it’s more environmentally friendly.
I highly recommend getting a stainless steel reusable bottle rather than a plastic one because your drink will stay cold for much longer and there will be no condensation on the bottle.
Toiletries for Digital Nomads
Tide Sachets
Although we tried to always book accommodation with laundry facilities, they weren’t always in our budget, so sometimes we resorted to washing some items in the sink until we got to the next place. These Tide Sachets were really useful for this!
Downy Wrinkle Release Spray
If you’re doing something a little bit fancier while you travel, like going on a cruise or going out for nice dinners, you might find this Downy Wrinkle Release Spray handy. No need to iron your clothes!
Lush Shampoo Bar
One of the drawbacks of traveling carry-on only is that you can’t bring full-size toiletries with you. Everything must be 3oz or 100ml. One way to get around this is to bring toiletries in solid form like this Lush Shampoo Bar.
Poo-Pourri Before You Go Toilet Spray
If you’re easily offended, skip this one. Sometimes when we travel and eat out all the time, our stomachs get a bit iffy. Making sure the bathroom smells fresh after you leave it is just good manners. Take one of these Poo-Pourri Before You Go Toilet Sprays with you to save you blushes.
GoToob Travel Bottles
If shampoo bars aren’t for you, then consider getting reusable travel bottles. I like these GoToob ones because they’re made of silicone instead of plastic. They’re much more squeezable. Lol!
GoTubb
These GoTubbs are handy for dispensing a small amount of moisturizer or foundation into a tub. You don’t want to carry the whole container unless you have to.
There you have it; my essential items that every digital nomad needs to bring with them when they travel. If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to know where you’re going! Let me know in the comments!
If you’re a digital nomad, do you think I forgot anything? Is there anything you found useful that I didn’t mention?
Haven’t set up your business yet? If you want to be a proofreader, sign up for my ultimate guide to starting a proofreading business below!
