I have been fascinated by travel since I was a child. When I was 10 years old, my mother sent me and my brother to Mombasa, Kenya. She is Kenyan and wanted us to experience our culture and meet family, but she was unable to travel with us due to work commitments, so my brother and I traveled from Milwaukee as unaccompanied minors. I just grew up and was amazed by the experience of airports, airliners, and landing in a country where English was not the primary language.
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Fast forward to 2013, when I took my first big work trip as an adult. I’m a consultant who owns a software company and a company in Sydney hired me to come to their offices to train their team.
The author was in Sydney in 2013.
Flying to Sydney was a surreal experience. The client paid for a premium economy seat on Virgin Atlantic and my hotel overlooked Sydney Harbor and the Sydney Opera House. It was on this trip that I realized how much I loved working abroad. The digital nomad lifestyle—working remotely across the country or in different parts of the world—called me.
But I can’t be a digital nomad yet
Three young children awaited me in the United States, where I had a house, a car, and everything that came with a “normal” life. I continued to travel for work, but they were short trips, which was enough to relieve the travel itch in the meantime. From 2013 to 2016, I traveled to 38 countries, including Tokyo, South Korea, London, Dublin and Cairo, on corporate consulting training contracts to learn what gear to bring in case of unexpected setbacks.
Later, when my kids grew up and lived with their mom, I started becoming a digital nomad in earnest. As the possibility of a nomadic life became more and more real, the moments of excitement were quickly replaced by the frustration of abandoning my children and family.
Therapy helped me understand that two things were possible: I could live a nomadic lifestyle, and I could still be there for my kids. My children support my lifestyle as a digital nomad. In 2016, I sold all my material possessions, sold my house, moved to Medellín, Colombia, and began living as a full-time digital nomad.
Since then I have lived and worked in Mexico City, England, Paris, Madrid, Nairobi, Bangkok, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town, Rome, Lisbon, Nice and Barcelona.
Digital nomadism has allowed the author to visit nearly 90 countries.
The pros and cons of becoming a digital nomad
What I love most about being a digital nomad is the freedom of lifestyle. I love having fewer material possessions and the ability to travel whenever and wherever I want. If I want to make things feel more like home, it’s also easy to have my favorite American products sent to me through sites like Amazon. I love experiencing new cultures, history, and food from other countries. Consulting and digital nomadism have taken me to 88 countries and lived in a dozen. I’ve been able to build my own business and become a tourist attraction; I work Monday to Friday and then explore my country on the weekends.
The difficulty of being a digital nomad is being away from your family. Technology like FaceTime, Zoom, and social media have made it easier to connect, but it’s not the same as hugging my kids and hanging out with them in person. Luckily, my nomadic lifestyle means I can travel to them whenever I want.
8 unusual gadgets I always carry
As a digital nomad, technology is critical to both work and life. If I have an office but it’s in an Airbnb, a hotel, or a rental apartment, I need to be able to do everything I want to do. Some of my gear is obvious, like my laptop (M3 MacBook Pro), smartphone (iPhone 15 Pro Max), and tracking tags (AirTags).
The author’s working hardware for nomadic travel.
Here are some of my picks for gear that are more specific to nomads.
This Bluetooth wireless audio transmitter and receiver can be used with AirPods or wireless headphones. You can plug the gadget into an entertainment center on an airplane or train to pair with wireless devices. It can create a Bluetooth connection anywhere there is a regular headphone jack.
I travel mostly with credit cards, but also use some cash, which is always helpful in other countries. A good RFID wallet gives me peace of mind. The Kings Loot Wallet is RFID protected, yet slim and comfortable, and has a front slot for AirTags.
I spend a lot of time on planes and laptops are not always convenient to use, especially on local airlines in Europe. I travel with my iPad Air because I use it to work on the plane, watch movies and streaming series, and make video calls. Apple’s Magic Keyboard Case is a protective case for the iPad, but I also use it for keyboard functionality in small spaces.
Because I have my own business, I do a lot of media interviews. Good sound quality is crucial, so I take the Audio Technica ATR2100x-USB cardioid dynamic microphone with me when I travel. The microphone is portable and has multiple ports so I can connect it to my laptop or iPad.
Early on in my digital nomad life, I learned that I couldn’t rely on airports, restaurants, or other places for electricity. When a wall outlet isn’t available, I carry an Anker MagGo power bank to power my gadgets. I like this power bank (compared to others I’ve tried) because of its usage indicator and 15x fast charging.
Battery Life Rated for up to 20 hoursNoise reduction Yes (ANC)More YesHeadphone type Over-ear wireless headphoneswater proof No IP rating
I have always been a fan of Bose headphones and bought a pair of Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 a few years ago. I use these headphones to watch entertainment on flights and where I live. Bose headphones are more comfortable to wear than AirPods.
Read our Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700 review.
Call me old-school, but I also like to carry a pair of wired headphones in case something goes wrong with my regular AirPods or my Bluetooth setup doesn’t work. If you pick these up, make sure you have the necessary dongles on both your phone and computer.
I have all the international adapters, but sometimes there can be a shortage of outlets where I live, so I always travel with an extension cord; an underrated item in my opinion. This Anker power strip allows me to use an international adapter with extension cords and then plug in all the other cables. Surge protection is also important because each country regulates power supplies differently.
Make your travel technology work for you
Whether you’re embarking on a long-distance work trip or exploring digital nomad life, the right gear will make your journey easier and more enjoyable. Experiment with your settings on your next work trip to find what works best for you.
