Digital Nomad Gear Guide 2024 Edition

Digital nomads need to be productive, agile, and efficient while on the go.  But pulling this off requires the right gear and services. Which is why we put together this list of our favorite tools for digital nomads.  Keep in mind we don’t go for the most expensive stuff out there.  We prefer things that are durable, lightweight, and just work reliably. This is stuff that we actually use on a daily basis, takes a beating, and enables our digital nomad family life!

Laptop

We are hard-core Mac fans and I have been extremely happy with my most recent Macbook Pro. New Macs with new M2 and M3 chips especially have amazing battery life and are stupid fast and lightweight while still being really well-made. They are not cheap, but they are essential tools that are worth investing in. Our entire family has used them all over the world and we have never been disappointed. They are like appendages with stickers at this point.  There are some things that we need a PC for (like the corporation version of Turbotax only is available for PC for some reason?) but for those rare occasions we just use Bootcamp.  I highly recommend you get a case.  We all have different versions, but I use this one which is pretty bulletproof.

Mobile carrier and eSIM cards

Most everybody already has a phone they are highly attached to, so I won’t presume to suggest one, however I do suggest you pick an ecosystem and stick with it across your devices.  Digital nomad or not, it just makes life easier if your devices are working together for you.  In terms of service, we were Verizon people in the States but switched to T-mobile Business because they have a more reasonable international plan.  For unlimited international service for 5 lines, it’s around $250/month with good network coverage. This lets us continue to use our old U.S. numbers and provides all the data we need.  But to accomplish some things in-country, you also need a local number.   So we also have Spanish phone numbers using electronic SIM cards that we can toggle back and forth with for voice calls and/or data.   Holafly has good prices on eSIMs for pretty much any country you might want to go.

Critical digital nomad gear

• Universal power adapters (more than one)
• A high capacity external hard drive or thumb drive, mostly for backup and peace of mind
• Depending on location, a supplemental power pack. I have this one from Mophie but there are good cheap ones too.
• Noise canceling headphones are essential.  I also love the good AirPods but constantly misplace them so switched to something harder to lose
• I have this case that has enough space to carry everything plus random stuff and a snack. There are more streamlined ones out there, but you need a little capacity
• An uninterruptible power supply for working at home, because the power grid and in-house electrical can be dodgy depending on where you are
• For really important calls, my husband avoids WIFI altogether and strings an ethernet cable across the house and connects his Mac directly to the router with this ethernet adapter.  While that is the fastest, most stable connection possible, one time our Labrador got tangled up in the cable and panicked and it ripped his computer completely off the desk from the other room.
• I like this square light for supplemental front lighting in remote meetings.  It doesn’t create the circular reflections in my glasses that the ring-shaped lights do.

VPN service

You will need a VPN to access sites you may not be able to access from your location. My husband accesses a number of public agency sites for work that won’t let you in if your IP address is overseas.  And even if you don’t need it for work, you may need to watch your favorite shows.  We are watching the Sopranos at the moment and could not do it from Spain without a VPN. We like ExpressVPN because it’s pretty cheap and it works fine.

Virtual mail service

If you don’t want to bother a friend or relative with your mail once you hit the road, check out virtual mailbox services which is a fantastic resource for digital nomads.  You route all your mail to the physical address they give you, they scan it, and you can see whatever it is on an app on your phone.  You can tell them to trash it, send it to you no matter where you are in the world, and most importantly, if it’s a check, deposit it for you.  This has been instrumental for us and getting paid by clients who still send paper checks.  There are other services out there, but we are really happy with Earth Class Mail.

Quickbooks

Being a nomad is liberating and overall wonderful.  But it sometimes can make me feel a little disjointed financially with different currency conversions, international bank fees, and travel expenses coming in rapid-fire.  QuickBooks is a helpful antidote to this. Having everything in one place and pre-organized helps me stay sane and actually allows me to think less about spending money and more about my projects that are making money.

I can link banks from several countries, categorize various income sources across the globe and easily pay bills, payroll and other expenses from one central spot. Quickbooks is a total game changer financially for us, and not only helps simplify things but helps with budgeting and saving while traveling the world while working and tops the list of our digital nomad gear must haves.

Those are some of the digital nomad gear essentials for that help us immensely, but let us know your favorite digital nomad tools are!

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