The gear that powers my full time traveling office

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I only moved one piece of furniture from Los Angeles to Atlanta: my motorized standing desk. 15 years in LA and that was the one thing I thought I couldn't easily replace.

It's now sitting upright in a storage unit.

Other things I used to think I needed: a giant second monitor, a fancy podcast mic, YouTube lighting, a white noise machine and a cool background.

Last year at this time, I had an office. I rented one because my living situation in Atlanta was shared and I needed a dedicated space to work. Coworking wasn't going to cut it because I was hosting so many live workshops and doing those from phonebooths would have been pretty miserable.

The office was a beautiful, productive space for me. But I get bored doing the same thing every day. I was itching to go travel full time. That meant I needed to figure out the minimum gear I needed to work on the road. And it had to fit in one carry-on luggage with all my clothes.

It's been a lot easier than I thought it would be to work without the full setup I had in Atlanta and LA. Here's 7 things I have with me that make it possible to do everything I need to do while moving from city to city.

🎙️ Microphone

I record YouTube videos and sometimes classes or sponsored content so I needed a better mic than my standard AirPods. I already had the RODE Wireless GO II so I packed it to travel.

I also have one of RODE's plug-in lavalier mics. I don't really like or recommend either of these microphones. The lavalier picks up SO MUCH background noise, probably more than the AirPods. I never use it, but it's a theoretical back up and it's very small and easy to pack.

The RODE Wireless GO II is great when it works and doesn't pick up much background noise—important because I shoot outside—but I still haven't figured out why some of my videos don't route the audio through the mic when it's on. I feel like it's overly complex to operate and I've had issues with it recording mono when it should record stereo. All that said, the sound quality is good when it records. And if it breaks or I get sick of it, I will be buying a new portable mic because I use it enough to replace it. Probably the DJI Mic Mini everyone on TikTok loves.

📹 Tripod

I have a great tripod from Sensyne that I love back in my storage unit in Atlanta but at the last minute I decided not to bring it. I regretted it pretty much right away because I shoot a fair amount of videos and the phone needs to sit higher than on the table. (I shoot videos on my phone. I almost brought my Nikon camera but I am glad I didn't. Cinematic mode on the iPhone is good enough especially when I shoot my videos outside.)

I found a smaller, portable tripod at an electronics market in Bogotá for $10 (I don't remember the brand) and I set it up on a tabletop to shoot my videos.

🛋️ Tiny bonus light

I used to have 3-4 special lights in my office for filming videos and even for video calls, but I did not bring any lighting on my trip at first because it's big.

That caused a few problems for me in Bogotá when I had to rely on my apartment lighting so when I came through LA in June, I ordered a small, portable light from Amazon. It's about the size of two credit cards side by side and the thickness of a normal book. You can adjust brightness and color temperature plus it comes with filters. I don't use it that much but it's a very helpful fill when shooting YouTube videos and classes, especially if I can't be outside.

✉️ Separate laptop sleeve

My handheld carry-on has a built-in laptop sleeve but I knew from past trips that I would want to throw my laptop in a tote bag to go to cafes. I don't always want to bring my bigger bag and have to dump everything out of it.

I got an Incase sleeve at Best Buy with the credit I had from selling them my old MacBook Air (Best Buy pays more than Apple for trade-ins by the way.) I use it every day and I even use it inside the built-in sleeve because it protects the computer better when I'm hauling around airports.

💻 Laptop stand

I had bought a Logitech Casa Pop-up desk when I sold my iMac to my roommate and didn't have a monitor at home. I took it on this trip because I do enough video calls where I don't want to be seen from under my chin.

The Casa Pop-up comes with an external keyboard and mouse and it all packs together inside a book-like case so it's easy to carry as one piece. I use it mostly when I'm hosting events or appearing on a livestream but it is fairly bulky in my suitcase and it's heavy to walk around with all day. So I might trade it out in the next year for something slimmer like those folding laptop stands or something like the Airstand.

🎧 More than one pair of headphones

I use AirPods every day to listen to music and for my video calls. Sometimes they fail me so I have two backup wired Apple headphones. I bring all three with me to coworking spaces and I would replace any of them if they break or got stolen.

📸 The cheapest GoPro

My newest addition to the gear set is a GoPro HERO. Mine came with everything pictured below and I bought an extra wrist mount for it at a GoPro shop in Bogotá.

I use the GoPro to shoot some of my travel content because it's not ideal to have your phone out in Latin America and because I don't want my phone falling off my bike into the street. It's nice to have a separate camera that's not my phone and one that I wouldn't mind if someone jacked (obviously I don't WANT someone to jack it, but it's low risk to have it out while I'm biking or walking which means I can film more). This is work-adjacent gear as I could shoot my work videos without the GoPro but it's been a useful purchase and I'm glad I have it with me. The case is small enough to find a spot for it in my carry-on suitcase.

I thought I'd miss my bigger workspace setup when I headed out on my trip in March, but it's been about six months and I don't.

The creative gain from being able to work wherever I want to has been so massive that it offsets the every once in a while feeling that I'd like to see something bigger than my 13" MacBook Air can display it. Video editing is maybe the only exception because it is tough to see what I'm doing with just the laptop, but that also forces me to keep it simple and not overthink my videos.

Gear makes up about 20% of what I bring from place to place. I can't pack any more stuff without removing clothes and I’m already down to just one pair of jeans, so this is going to be the setup for at least this year.

What kind of gear do you travel with? Whether you're going to the coffee shop down the street or to another country, I want to know what you bring with you. Leave me a comment below.

P.S. Want to know what software powers my business on the road? Check out my digital toolkit.