After reading, watching about nomads and remote working, there is no substitute to getting out there and actually trying this out. Reading, watching is different from hearing, seeing, tasting and living. I believe traveling can sometimes help with life choices and career choices that we often dont see back at home. While all of this exciting, not all trips are easy. There have been times I’ve fallen sick, gone completely broke.

A little bit of prep can help and I’ll be writing about travel preparation in a series of posts to come. Mostly focusing on the things available and people looking to travel from India.

There are some benefits to traveling light

1. Save money — If you’re flying on a budget airline, the cheapest option is to just go with hand baggage. Just avoid paying the extra baggage charges.

2. Some relaxed travel — No giant suitcases to take around. The backpack can go under the seat and the hold luggage in the cabin. Best if the backpack has enough room to hold your tech and the clothing and just travel around with a single bag. I’m still yet to get there.

Luggage basics

Laptop and Work day pack

AmazonBasics Adventure Backpack — I’ll be working for roughly 10–12 days, need a backpack to stuff the Macbook Pro 15" and the other accessories in. This backpack wont let you down as it can carry laptops upto 17", separate compartments for tabs, documents, padded strap for extra comfort. The empty bag takes up 1.1kg with amazing build quality and sturdiness.

Travel Day pack

AmazonBasics Ultra thin Foldable Day Pack, 35L — Good enough space for a pair of slippers, clothes and side pockets for bottles. Folds into a compact portable pack to save space and super light.

Hold luggage

American Tourister Cabin Trolley— I’m flying on a budget airline and the cheapest way to travel is with just hand baggages and avoiding checkin baggages. Most budget airlines allow Laptop bag + Cabin baggage upto 8kgs. Bought in 2011 and this rough rider has stayed with me since then.

The idea is someday I will be able to move in and out of any place and country with just the luggage I’m carrying around.

Tech

Laptop

Macbook Pro 15" — Decent config with 250 gigs SSD and another 250 gigs in thI. expansion card for Macbook Pro. Transcend JetDrive Lite is the ultimate hack for more storage space in the pros. Barely visible once plugged into the SD card slot and Amazing read/write speeds. Don’t have to carry the external HDDs if you’ve one of these. Check support for your model before buying.

Cameras

With 360 photography being the focus of these days, my photography gear is simple with a point and shoot 360 and an iPhone.

LG 360–Entry level 360 camera with 2K video support. A great device to get some hands on experience with shooting 360 videos and photos. Available at Rs. 17–18k and get a LG vendor to order it for you as there aren’t many vendors selling this item. The magic happens with the software/mobile app that works as a remote, view finder and will be directly able to upload the photos and videos to Youtube and Facebook. Alternatively check Ricoh Theta S

iPhone 6 will be clicking and shooting a bunch of instagram stories + remote for 360 cam.

Accessories

MTT® KUKE 2400 mAh Ultra Slim Battery Case for iPhone 6 for some extended battery life. 1.5 hours for a full charge and a life saver.

OnePlus Power Bank 10000mAh Before buying the battery case, the powerbank came in handy. A single charge will power the iPhone upto 3 times. A must have.

Apple Earphones Love them. Music, podcasts, movies, calls.

Mivi Dualport USB wallcharger Charge camera, mobile simultaneously with the dualport instead of looking for multiple plug points.

Carry a travel adapter that provides grounding/earthing as most common complaints are getting shocks or damages to sensitive electronic components.

Clothing

Usually I pack around 5–7 days of clothing and just wash recycle as moving around. You would want to vary or go with more layers depending on the destination’s weather. Extreme cold weather would need a some heavy duty gear and I tend to either rent or avoid these places for long trips. The current pack should work for staying light and cool in a tropical country.

Shoes

Adidas Gazelle Boost CC Such amazing pair of lightweight shoes. These have come a long way 300kms+. They serve as my running, trekking, exploring all rounder activities.

Star Wars Crocs May be force be with me while traveling. Feather light. Best slip-ons.

Shirt, Sweater and Tees

NH7 Weekender Love this one. Almost everyone asks “Where were you?” pointing to “I was there” and all the artists who played during the weekender are at the back side of the tee.

March Tee A friend runs this online store. Simple high quality casual work tees. Usually has limited stock.

Shorts & Trousers

I’m usually a shorts person. They’re super comfortable. Just carrying around a trouser if I’ve to hit some fancy bars and events.

The other stuff

Nabaiji Compact Microfibre Towel dries super quickly after use.

Sock combos — 2 no show socks, 3 thick running socks, 2 casual NBA team socks (Lakers and Bulls)

Running/Workout — Love to go on runs. Nike Compression wear, Shorts and a Kalenji running jacket.

Extras

Things I’ve missed here — Toiletries, medicines &first aid kid. Medicines and First aid kits tend to be too specific. Usually get the body wash, shampoos and other toiletries from the local store.

Took a travel insurance that covers $100000. One of the nationalised banks in India gave a good deal on the forex. You can also check Bookmyforex for exchange rates and forex cards.

And That’s all folks. Not too exhaustive I guess and will keep updating when I add more things. Checkout Cashoverflow blog Travelfish Legal Nomads Tom Wahlin for complete travel and nomad guides. The format I’ve followed here is inspired from Tom Wahlin’s one on single backpack.

Next post will be on finding cheap tickets, acquiring and redeeming travel miles for free trips ;)

The Ultimate Packing list — becoming a pro packer and travel light