We’ve been slow traveling for 6+ years and our packing list has evolved a lot over the years. Our tech and electronics items are definitely the most essential items that we can’t imagine traveling without. Whether you are digital nomads working full-time or simply slow traveling as nomads, here is our packing list of essential tech that will come in handy on your journey.
If you’re looking for our comprehensive packing list beyond tech gear, check out Men’s carry-on packing list for nomadic long-term travel and Women’s packing list for nomadic long-term travel.
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Essential Tech Gear: Laptops
Apple MacBook Pro and Apple MacBook Air
Our laptops are probably the devices we spend the most time on(even more than our smartphones). We like MacBooks and we both have different versions.
I use an Apple MacBook Pro and Mrs. NN uses an Apple MacBook Air. The former is great if you need heaving computing power to build mobile apps or websites (like NomadPurse). Mrs. NN likes the Apple MacBook Air because it’s light and covers all of her needs.
Essential Tech Gear – Laptop accessories
Laptop stand
Laptop stands are essential to avoid neck injuries from staring at your screen all day. We like the Nexstand Laptop Stand (read our extensive review: Elevate Your Work: A Comprehensive Review of Laptop Stands where we compare a few models).
Bluetooth Keyboard and TrackPad
I personally prefer using a dedicated keyboard and track pad. I found the bluetooth versions are the best as they are wireless. I like the Apple brand for its quality, build and durability.
I use the Apple Magic Trackpad
and the Apple Magic Keyboard Wireless.
Essential Tech Gear: Mobile Phones and Digital Watch
Iphone 12
Having a good phone is arguably the most essential tech item for travel! We use it for photos, navigation, researching and connecting with others. We are ok with not having the latest version as long as it meets our main needs. Having a great camera and eSIM functionality are probably the most useful reasons to get a later model of a phone. The latest iPhone is the iPhone 16, however you can still get the iPhone 12 for a fraction of the cost of the latest model.
Pixel 6
Mrs. NN is an Android user and prefers Pixel phones. In addition to not needing the latest version, she has had good experiences with purchasing them refurbished for a big discount. The Pixel 6 she bought is still available at a very affordable price.
Apple Watch
As an Apple user, I love the Apple Watch to track our hikes and overall activity levels. It has a lot of gamification embedded into it which makes me accountable to exercise!
Essential Tech Gear: Sound
Beats Fit Pro
Whether it is to listen to music while working, or podcast while at the gym or on the go, I love a good pair of noise canceling headphones. While Apple is leading the pack when it comes to earbuds, I love the Beats Fit Pro as they seem to be a better fit if you are very active like we are. These fit tightly into your hear especially if you go on a run.
Air Tube headphones
Mrs. NN prefers to plug in her headphones in order to avoid using bluetooth since she is concerned about EMF(electro-magnetic fields). The KINDEN Air Tube earbuds also uses air tubes to avoid direct contact of the wires into the ears.
Essential Tech Gear: Journaling and Digital Readers
Remarkable
After starting to journal using a paper notebook, I quickly found myself with a bunch of them in our luggage which was taking space quickly. I then discovered the amazing Remarkable device (read: The ultimate note-taking solution for nomads) and I have been using it since 2021! You can have a lifetime of notes on this sleek, lightweight and well designed device!
IPad
An iPad is not necessarily essential because you can do everything on a phone or laptop. For us, we decided it was worth carrying because the added space and weight was minimal.
Kindle
Carrying physical books take up a lot of space and is very heavy. In addition, it can be difficult to find a book you are looking for while traveling. Thankfully with the Kindle, you have access to all books digitally at your fingertips. You can technically save a device by reading on a phone or IPad but the Kindle is really great at imitating the experience of reading paper.
Essential Tech Gear: Photography
We started traveling with a Canon digital camera with multiple lenses. However, we quickly found that we could not rationalize the weight and space for the minimal usage. Unless you need a really large zoom, the photo quality from mobile phones nowadays are great. However, we do carry other photography devices that have different purposes.
DJI Osmo Action
While GoPro has been pioneering the Action camera, DJI Osmo Action took the lead in 2018 and has been our favorite Action camera since we started our travel journey!
DJI Drone
Drone is a fun tech item if you’d like to add a cool dimension to your travel photography/videography as you can see on our Youtube channel. We still carry the original DJI Mavic Pro drone that has been discontinued years ago. Once our drone no longer works, we will happily upgrade to the lighter DJI Air alternatives that are more compact and lighter!
Insta360
If you would like to not having to worry about framing the perfect shot, we like to carry with us the compact Insta360 camera that takes 360 degrees photos and videos.
Essential Tech Gear: Miscellaneous
Battery bank
Battery banks are essential while we are on the go, especially for a couple of days. They allow us to charge most of our electronic devices, especially when we are in remote locations.
I like the INIU Portable Charger because it provides a clear indicator to check the charge and also holds 20000 mah which is enough to charge your iPhone and iPad a few times per charge. It also offers 2 USB-A and 1 USB-C connector, making it very universal.
External Storage Drive
Having backup of all of the digital data we carry with us is important (in addition to some cloud backup). We have a few SSD drives that we use for various purposes: carrying photos/videos that won’t fit on the laptop’s hard drive, creating a full backup of our laptop to protect against accidental failure. We like 2TB Extreme Portable SSD
Charging station
Since we are long-term nomads, having a device that keeps our devices organized while charging is important to us. There are definitely more minimal options out there. Hopefully one day there will be a product that is both minimal and organized. We like the Creative Design charging station.
Non-Essential Tech Gear: Health
This tech gear is definitely not essential but we really prioritize health and have made space for extra gear. You may have your own special hobbies and passions that require carrying some extra gear too!
Air Quality Monitor
As we travel to several countries, we like to measure the quality of the air that surrounds us. Even if the air quality outside is good, the quality inside could be very different. We like to check the Air Quality Index (AQI) as well as CO2, PM 2.5, TVOC & HCOH, Temperature and Humidity.
The Temtop M10+ provides all of this information in a very travel friendly format. The device connects to the internet to upload the data, so you can look at trends overtime or per location.
Red Light Therapy
Infra Red (IR) and Near Infra Red (NIR) light therapy can help with improving skin and hair health. After traveling with a Red Light Therapy Mask for a year, we decided to upgrade our setup with a much larger device that is much more powerful: the Joov Go 2.0.
Oura Ring
We like to make sleep our top priority and to make sure we can get the best sleep possible, we track it by wearing the Oura ring. It is quite a compact design and provides us with a lot of insights on how we sleep and how active we are. (Read: Making sleep a top priority)
Final Thoughts on the Essential Tech Gear Packing List
So here is the latest essential tech gear on our packing list. The available compact tech gear has definitely enhanced the travel experience over the years. If you are traveling more minimally, you can certainly go with a smaller list. These are the items we decided were needed to enjoy our nomadic journey and it may look different for you. What is your favorite piece of tech that you would not be able to live without? Please let us know by leaving a comment in the comment section below!
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