There’s one way to test the reliability, usefulness, and battery life of any tech – travel extensively with it. You might know some of the tech gear and gadgets I travel with but I was curious to see what devices made the essential list of these bloggers who are also on the road most of the year.
The more you travel the more scrutiny you give to every gram you pack so if you’re looking for the right phone to hike with you through the Pamir Highway or the DSLR that will endure Lithuanian winter, you’ll probably find it in the backpack of these travelers.
Kate McCulley (Adventurous Kate)
Laptop: Macbook Air 256 gigabyte (GB) hard drive; Phone: Unlocked iPhone 6, 128 GB; eReader: Kindle Paperwhite; Tablet: iPad 2 (don’t travel with all the time; only occasionally); External hard drives: (2); International adapter: Portable power strip (US)
Kate McCulley quit her job to travel the world. Four years and 50+ countries later, she’s still traveling, and now teaches women how to travel the world safely and independently. You can follow her @adventurouskate on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Jodi Ettenberg (Legal Nomads)
Laptop: MacBook 11″ Air, 512GB, 8GB RAM plus Roost Stand for 11″ Air; Keyboard: Logitech bluetooth keyboard (for the Roost) and mouse; Camera: Olympus EP-3 with aspherical f/1.7 lens; Phone: iPhone 5; eReader: Kindle
Jodi Ettenberg quit her job as a lawyer in 2008, thinking she would travel the world for a year. Now almost 7 years later, she works as a freelance writer, public speaker, and soup eater, documenting her adventures on her site Legal Nomads.
Derek Baron (Wandering Earl)
Laptop: Macbook Pro with Retina display 2013, Phone: Nexus 5 64 GB
Derek left home for a 3 month trip to Asia in 1999 that has still yet to end. Want to know more? You can ask him directly on Plansify.
Barbara Weibel (Hole In The Donut)
Laptop: MacBook Pro 2014 13.3 with Retina Display with 500GB HD, 16GB RAM, 3 GHz Processor, two power bricks; External Hard Drive: Western Digital My Passport 2 terabyte; Cables: HDMI to HDMI for viewing movies from laptop on TV; Ethernet with Thunderbolt adapter;
- Wifi Extender: Rockland n3 USB adapter
- Phone: iPhone 4s 16 GB; Sim Card from Truphone; Audio: Yurbuds Ironman headphones
- Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL1 with two 32GB SDHC cards, two batteries; Lenses: Walk-around is my Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM ultra wide zoom. Additionally, carry a Tamron SP-70-300mm F/4-5.6 Di VC USD telephoto and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM prime lens
Flashlight: Nebo Larry 8 LED Light with Magnetic Clip; Scale: Brookstone Electronic Luggage Scale; Speaker: Brookstone Mobile Mini BT Speaker with Bluetooth connection for iPhone; Battery: Brookstone USB Backup Battery
After years of working at jobs that paid the bills but brought no joy, Barbara Weibel realized she felt like the proverbial “hole in the donut” – solid on the outside but empty on the inside. Determined to pursue her true passions of travel, photography, and writing, she started her blog, Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel, and set out to see the world.
Dave Dean (Too Many Adapters)
Laptop: Asus U36-SD 13″ display, 512GB hybrid drive, 6GB RAM, Windows 7 (It’s still going fine, but is now 3.5 years old so I’ll be looking to upgrade early next year); Phone: Google Nexus 5 32GB; Tablet: Google Nexus 7 32GB (Theoretically a joint purchase with my girlfriend, although I totally monopolize it.)
- eReader: Kindle Keyboard 3G
- Noise-cancelling earphones: Shure SE-215
- Main camera: Olympus PEN E-PL3
- Action camera: GoPro Hero3 Black
External drive: 1TB Seagate; USB Wi-Fi adapter: Alfa AWUS036H; Chargers and cables: Far too many, mostly thrown in a small dry bag where they tie themselves in knots. I’ve also got a small travel-sized power strip with 3 plugs and a USB socket.
Dave has been based out of a backpack for the last few years, writing about travel and tech from anywhere with half-decent Internet and a great view. You can find him at Too Many Adapters and What’s Dave Doing?
Gary Arndt (Everything Everywhere)
Laptop: 15″ MacBook Pro Retina, 16gb RAM, 500gb flash drive; Smartphone: iPhone 5 with 64gb storage; Camera: Nikon D300s; Lenses: Nikon 18-200mm VR, Nikon 12-24mm, Nikon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 150-500mm; Shutter Release: Trigger Trap cable + iPhone app; Tripod: Oben Carbon Fiber tripod and head
- Storage: 2, Western Digital 2 TB USB 3 drives
- Speaker: Sol Republic DECK bluetooth speaker
- Headphones: Parrot Zik bluetooth headphones
- eReader: Kindle Paperwhite
- Tablet: iPad 2
Power Cable: Monster Cable Outlets to Go, 3-port USB power strip; Mouse: Apple wireless mouse; Misc: Assorted power adapters, extension cord, USB cables, SD card reader, neutral density and circular polarizing filters.
Gary Arndt sold his house in 2007 and has been traveling the world ever since. He has have visited all 7 continents, over 165 countries and territories around the world, every US state and territory, every Canadian province, every Australian state and territory, over 125 US National Park Service sites and over 275 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Gary blogs at Everything Everywhere.
Juno Kim (Runaway Juno)
Laptop: MacBook Pro 13inch retina display, 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5; 8GB RAM; Phone: iPhone 5; Tablet: Acer iA6
Juno Kim is a travel writer, photographer, trained mechanical engineer, and life-long nerd who left her cubic farm to reclaim her creativity and inspiration. She enjoys digging information passionately if it interests her, like astronomy, comedy shows, and musicals. Currently she’s on a quest to find the place where she can call ‘home’ while publishing her work on Runaway Juno. You can also find her on Twitter @RunawayJuno and the Runaway Juno Facebook page.
What Are Your Go-To Devices?
A laptop and phone seem to be essential electronics these bloggers (and pretty much all of us) can’t travel without provided we’ve got enough batteries to stay charged. From there, depending on personal interests and focus of our work, it varies quite a bit. I’m curious, what gadgets are always by your side on a trip? Any ideas for new additions to your backpack from the lists above? Let us know in the comments right below!
Between my wife and me: one ASUS UX-32 laptop, one HP Envy 4 laptop, a Nexus 5 32gb smartphone, an ASUS Nexus 7 tablet, which we use mostly for gps navigation and as eBook reader. My wife has a Kobo Glo reader. Cameras: a really old Nikon S10 and an Olympus OM D10 with 2 lenses (specs not in my head). Backup via two WD MyPassport 2tb and a smaller combined DVD-500mb drive.
Good tech and management skills, I assume so you don’t end up fighting over any single device 😛
I always carry my iPad 2. Iphone 4 unlocked (getting a 6 soon, just got to save), a backup Samsung young smart phone just in case, Mac book pro 2009, EOS rebel T3 and my flexo light flash light. I read on my iPad and blog on my Mac. That’s pretty much all I need. But I am in the desert now and can’t take many pictures due to country restrictions so I pack my phone more than my camera.
We’ve got a similar line up – at least on the Apple part 🙂
🙂
Interesting list! Besides a Macbook pro and iPhone, I carry a solar-powered backpack when I’m going to relatively remote places and a taser gun when I’m travelling solo. The former’s a great conversation starter too, with a panel on the outside 😉
A taser!!??
When I go on short trips I usually take: iPad 2 (looking for a new tablet now) which I mostly use as an e-reader or for email while traveling, iphone 4s (saving for the new 6), a travel power strip with USB ports for hostels without enough outlets, and Cannon T4i with a couple lenses.
The new Air2 is nice 😉
Wide array of products. My go too are my phone or tablet (kindle) and external hard drive.
I’ve stopped carrying around my MacBook Pro, but that’s because I rarely do any super long-term travel anyway (always 3 weeks max, thanks to my day job). A tablet – previously a Nexus 7 (2012), now an Asus MemoPad 8 – and my phone do what I need (typically Facebook and email) just fine. (However, if I get a MacBook Air in the future, I may carry that one around.)
I still pack a point-and-click camera, but my phone (Sony Xperia Z2) does the job just fine. I usually use the point-and-click for the zoom and it’s performance in dimly lit situations, but those are rare.
I bring two powerbanks with me as well. And of course all the associated cables and charges for my devices.
The Z3 has a much improved camera – though I too, don’t trust any mobile with photos on its own, I’ve got a point and shoot handy as well.
One of my favorite posts I gotta say. The dominance of Apple laptops is blowing my mind as I assumed at least some of these would opt for a pc.
I’d like to chime in if I can:
My name is Julio Moreno (Travel World Heritage)
Comp: Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro (512gb SSD), i7 haswell
Camera: Sony Alpha 7 full sensor Mirrorless. (Couldn’t afford the 7s or 7r). Stock lens 28-55mm (again, couldn’t afford a better one)
Phone: Nexus 4 (16gb, unlocked)
Extras: WD 1tb passport (only on long trips)
Action Camera: Have an Iron X (poor man’s go pro) but rarely use it.
Will check back again when there are more comments. I am super curious.
Thanks very much. I assume with the laptops, it’s based on build quality – you know what you’re getting with a Air or MB Pro; they last. Though I too was surprised at how many appeared on this list.
That is definitely true. The Air 13 inch was my second choice, but decided to roll the dice.
Hiya! I haven’t read about the sandisk wireless media drive on any travel blogs, although i find it pretty genius and usefull, it allows me to read my DSLR SD card on my iphone, that way i don’t need to travel with a laptop ( less valuables= less stress! Minus the weight of the laptop 😉 it’s a tiny very light external drive, you can use it for backup, storing music, files, videos ( movies too) and then read it wirelessly on your smartphone ( no internet needed).. Ususl external driver really, the big up are the wireless connexion, the SD card reader, and compatibility to smartphones … I love it! 🙂
A lot like the Eye-Fi; very handy for travelers without a laptop:
http://foxnomad.com/2013/05/28/how-can-i-best-manage-my-photos-if-im-traveling-with-only-a-tablet/
(Just realized first post is waiting for approvement sorry, i thought it didnt go through, just erase one 😉 thanks
No problem, it happens!
I am not a long term traveler, but this is what I carry whenever we (my husband and I) travel:
Laptop: 11″ MacBook Air + 1TB Seagate wireless plus external drive,
Phone: iPhone 5 + mophie as the power juice
Camera: Nikon D600 camera with it’s 3 lenses (14-24mm, 24-120mm as my utility lens and 70-200mm)+gp1 for it’s gps information and of course with it’s cable and battery chargers. I also carry extra point to shoot camera – Pentax WG-1.
All exclusively for my own use. which made my husband gone mad, as it’s too much and too heavy for me alone.
My confusion now, as we are going to travel full time, should I down size my camera?
I only travel with a point and shoot, maybe some of the others with DSLRs can better answer this. I guess it depends on the goals for your travel photography (e.g. hobby, passion, etc.)
I’ve got a live chat with a photojournalist going on right now, he may have some good insights for you:
http://foxnomad.com/2014/11/04/ask-photojournalist-romain-carre-like-report-conflict-zones/#comments
Im a full time traveler and blogger. I have ditched the laptop and do everything on my 7 inch tablet with a mini bluetooth keyboard. Such a big weight / energy saving.
check out all my gear in detail here:
Lots and lots of electrical equipment, but how about… pocket knives, mosquito-repellent gadgets, USB lights, keychain gadgets…
To be fair, I did only ask for gadgets, implying the electrical variety. Though I can’t think of many times I would need to use a knife when traveling frequently enough to carry one or mosquito repellant that can’t be purchased at destination. I suppose it depends a lot on how / where you travel.
I’m nosy so I loved reading what these travel bloggers carry with them! I’m curious about how so many carry Macbooks though. I’d be nervous that it would get robbed/ I’d lose mine, if I was ever to save up enough to buy one!
I can’t travel without my DSLR, hard-drive, my Galaxy S3 and a Kindle. On my last trip I carried my Surface RT which was nice and light, but the memory is tiny, and now the keyboard has broken. 🙂
That’s how I feel about DSLRs, since they’re always out in public as a tempting target.
My favorite item to carry traveling is my rugged Pentax WG-III. Shock proof, shake proof, water proof to 45 ft and takes great pics and video. I also enjoy my Kobo Aura eReader!
Thank you for this post! I love reading about what other travel bloggers use for gadgets. I am on the market for a new laptop and am trying to decide between the 13″ Macbook Air (3 lbs) or the 13″ Macbook Pro with Retina (3.5 lbs). I like the price of the Air better but I’m concerned about running Photoshop on it. Does anyone run PhotoShop on a Macbook Air (not heavily but for some photo editing)? Does anyone have a program they use to add watermarks to their photos other than PhotoShop? Does using a 13″ laptop when you are at home suck? Thanks!
Photoshop should be fine on both and generally I like a bigger screen (I’m on a 15-inch laptop). My opinion would be to go for the Pro, since it’s only slightly heavier but a lot more powerful with a few expansion (e.g. memory) options.
Okay good advice. Thanks!
Slow traveling Costa Rica/Nicaragua since November with: Sony Vaio 15″ i5 (too big, not so great—will change soon but Apple? or maybe Chromebook Pixel? hmmm) Tablet: Nexus 7 (love it!) Camera: Fuji HS50 EXR (great zoom & all-in-one—got rid of Nikon D3000 with 2 lenses for it) iphone 4s 16gb (shall upgrade) All this in my 32 liter Deuter Act Trail backpack (with day-pack rolled inside).
Am really torn on changing to Apple or not (software too dear!) and if Chromebook Pixel good enough for blogging/photo-editing (?)–maybe leaving Nexus at home and apps all in iphone. Oh… and Gopro must join the gear!
Sounds like you’re in for a lot of digital changes, though take a close look at the Chromebook for Photoshop, might be a bit of a burden on that processor.
yea… all-in-all not sure if Chromebook (even Pixel) will suffice!
Amazing ! Nice gadgets but when I am gonna travel somewhere I just carry my waterproof gadget along with me because I really love to swim as well. Well, thanks for sharing.