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There’s one way to test the reliability, usefulness, and battery life of any techtravel 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)

Adventurous Kate McCulley

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

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 baron wandering earl

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
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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

barbara weibel hole in the donut

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.)

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 dean blogger

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

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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

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

runaway juno

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!