HAVE LAPTOP. WILL TRAVEL
Your travel checklist.
Firstly you need a dream. This in my opinion is the most important thing, a dream. Without a dream you’ll never rise to the challenge, work with determination to spread your wings.
I have worked for myself for years, but, it was only in 2014 that I really began to think about regular travel, laptop in hand. A virtual studio serving clients worldwide, from wherever I was at that time. Ok, my kids are grown up so I have a certain amount of freedom to play with. That’s where the dream comes in, you have time to make sure that your dream comes true.
There are so many ways to travel and earn, opportunities to teach, sell or work remotely are available in abundance. If you work for yourself, there isn’t much in your way besides a good plan and the tenacity to make your dream happen. I follow a couple who live in Portugal, they worked and planned for 10 years before moving to a small holding in central Portugal. They set up passive income streams, grew a considerable You Tube following as well as having Patreon followers. They had a dream, they planned and now they are living the life they dreamed of.
Right, you’ve planned, saved and now you are ready to go. Practically there are a few things you need to invest in.
A great laptop.
Working remotely requires you to be able to take your office with you. Your laptop is your office. If you are buying a new laptop, try to get the lightest one you find to be suitable. Believe me a laptop in your backpack can get quite heavy while your walking around the shopping district at your lay over air hub.
This brings me to the next couple of items on your list.
Cloud storage.
I have cloud storage (My G Drive) where all my work is stored, it syncs automatically with my desktop. No matter where I am, what laptop, desktop I am working on, all my files are right there. If bad luck strikes and your laptop is stolen, at least your work is still where you left it. This saved my bacon when my laptop was stolen through my window (in my home office) I was blooming mad that some twit had had the cheek to come onto my property and steal my lovely laptop…. but, I’d have been inconsolable if my work had of gone too.
Insurance.
Make sure to have your laptop, camera, mobile phone insured. Make sure the insurance people know you are travelling. Speaking of insurance — even if you don’t need a visa (who would want to see insurance for your time away), get medical insurance.. Don’t be that person who needs a back a buddy to get home.
A smart phone.
You will definitely need a smart phone with a good international SIM plan. Data and Calls. You never know when you might need to post a fabulous drool-worthy pic on Instagram!
A Wifi / Mifi dongle thingy.
Traveling to Italy as I do, I find that internet in apartments or small homes is patchy at best. Sometimes the only internet has been at the local bar. So, I have a wifi dongle which I equip with the SIM that the locals suggest, at least then I have internet connectivity at home.
A reliable camera.
Most of our mobile phones have reasonable cameras, but, if you want more professional images — a good camera is a must. If you’re buying a new one, one that is wifi enabled is brilliant.
Universal travel adapters
Essential if you’ll be doing an international travel. No point in having all the electronics and no way to use them.
Portable power bank
If you’ll be working from any shared spaces like hostels, consider carrying a power strip with you to ensure you’ll always be able to charge your devices.
E-reader
If you’re a big reader like me, consider packing an e-reader. It’s much, much lighter than lugging a few novels around for months and months. And, you can download the latest novel in the language of your choice, which for me is a big thing — try finding an english bookshop in Italy for example.
Extras:
External hard drive
Some people like to have an external to back up to, but, I consider backing up to the cloud to be far superior, for all the reasons mentioned above.
Noise-cancelling headphones
Make life easier on yourself by getting a set of noise-cancelling headphones so that working in public spaces becomes doable. Especially like me if you are bothered by noise when trying to work. Although, having grandkids living in our home is helping me develop selective deafness.
Electronics organizer or dry bag
While certainly not a necessity, an electronics organizer will keep all of your most important things (and their chargers!) in one place. If you’ll be traveling to a lot of potentially wet locations, you could also use a dry bag instead.
Happy planning. Let me know what your travel plans are in the comments.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope that you’ll follow along on my Italy adventure.
You can follow me on social media, explore my website here.
