The term ‘digital nomad’ was coined just recently and it stands for a person who works remotely while traveling all around the world. Since their job is not bound to a physical place, digital nomads rely heavily on technology to perform their job. Being a digital nomad offers countless benefits. From being free to work wherever and whenever you want to meeting different types of people and exploring the world as a solo traveler, the life of a digital nomad can be life-changing.
And today, being a digital nomad is easier than ever with all the technology available and more technology being introduced daily. If the idea of being a digital nomad appeals to you and if you want to become one, you need to know all about the essential tech tools you’ll need to work remotely. While digital nomads try to live a minimal lifestyle, the professional side of their lifestyle requires a bit more tools. So, here are all the essential tech tools you’ll need to become a digital nomad.
Digital nomad must-have tech equipment :
Laptop
For a digital nomad, the most important is to choose the right laptop – a lightweight one, with long battery life and good RAM. Depending on your preferences you can choose a laptop that you find the best. Many digital nomads recommend MacBook Air as a perfect laptop for traveling. MacBook is light, the battery lasts a long time (at least 15 hours), it’s easy to work on, and it can grab onto the weakest of Wi-Fi signals.
For Windows lovers, you can opt for a Dell XPS 13 or an Acer Spin 3. You won’t be wrong if you choose either of these options. Both of these laptops are lightweight and thin, and they have 10+ hours of battery duration.
Smartphone
In addition to a lightweight laptop, consider investing in a good smartphone with all the necessary features. The smartphone can come in handy if something happens to the laptop or simply if you prefer working on the phone. A smartphone is really a versatile tool, it has a big enough screen to work on, it can take photos, and usually has a good battery duration.
With a smartphone, you can also either choose an Apple product such as an iPhone or you can go for the currently very popular Samsung Galaxy S8. You could also decide to try Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Both of these are great options as they offer a good quality phone for the price.
Universal plug adapters
As a digital nomad, you will probably travel all around the world where you will encounter all kinds of plug sockets. This is reason enough to invest in a universal plug adaptor. With this tool, you won’t have to worry about whether or not you’ll be able to charge your phone or laptop. Compared to all other tools you’ll need, the plug adaptors are the cheapest tools you’ll have to invest in. You can find them nearly everywhere – the nearest tech store or Amazon.
Wi-Fi solutions
Another must-have on our list is some sort of Wi-Fi solution. Since remote work can’t be properly done without reliable internet. However, when traveling, the internet is not always available or you’ll find yourself somewhere with a horrible Wi-Fi connection. How to deal with that? Invest in some smart Wi-Fi solutions.
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Purchasing a mobile hotspot is probably the smartest Wi-Fi solution. With it, you won’t have any problem traveling around the world and working efficiently. A mobile hot spot is a pocket-sized router that you can take with you wherever you go. Some of the best mobile hotspots include Skyroam Mobile Hotspot, Huawei 4G LTE E5577Cs-321, and GlocalMe G4 Pro 4G LTE.
Skyroam is probably the best option as it can provide Wi-Fi in over 100 countries without using a SIM card. Another thing to consider investing in is a Wi-Fi booster. A booster can be used to improve signal strength and maximize coverage of the existing Wi-Fi, or to create a secure Wi-Fi hotspot.
External drive
External drives are something we all need regardless of whether we are digital nomads or not. Our laptops are, unfortunately, unable to store all our data. That’s why we need to look for solutions. Online cloud storage and backups such as Dropbox and Google Drive are all viable options, but you should also consider external drives as a second option. Clouds and online backups can’t be reached without the internet, and external drives can. Regardless of where you are, you can always access data on your external drive.
Earphones
Digital nomads often find themselves in crowded planes, trains, and cafes and these places offer less than perfect working conditions. To deal with noise, think about investing in noise-canceling earphones. With earphones, you won’t need to worry about making important client calls from busy and loud places. However, when choosing earphones, make sure you get the ones with an integrated microphone.
Digital nomad must-have tools
Airbnb
As a traveler, you need to find places to stay for a night or a couple of nights. Airbnb is a tool that can be very handy when you’re looking for safe, clean, and Wi-Fi-accessible accommodations. The best thing about this tool is that it has filters that you can apply to narrow down your search and find the best options, prices, and verified hosts. This is very important when you’re visiting countries you’ve never been to before. Airbnb also features a review system, so you can sift through it to make sure that the place you’re looking at is actually as good as you think it is. Checking out reviews is probably the best way to make sure that the place is legit.
Online and offline maps
Traveling without a map is never a good idea. It’s a good thing that now we can have a map anytime and anywhere with different map apps. There are amazing map apps that allow you to download the map of a city you’re going to and later use it offline. For example, Map.me is one such app. You can use this app when you’re offline, plus it has integrated all of the hotels, hostels, and guesthouses and their rating from the Booking site.
Slack
Everyone should have a Slack, every organization, every remote worker, everyone. Why? Because this must-have workspace and communication tool takes doing effective work to a whole another level.
It’s very user-friendly, it allows you to share pictures, videos, and other files. In addition to all that, you can also create polls, send gifs and add apps to Slack to make it more customized. On Slack, you can also create channels that will keep conversations more organized. This also allows you to find shared information and data faster and easier. Slack is also great for relationship building. You can send private messages to your team members or you can create group messages where everyone can chat together.
Asana
Another very good tool for digital nomads. Asana is a web and mobile work management platform that allows you to organize and track all your tasks and projects, assign the appropriate shareholders, and set deadlines. Asana is a fairly user-friendly tool, it’s nicely designed, and thus intuitive. We can also say that it’s an organized and efficient tool that allows users to keep track of and prioritize their tasks. Asana has all the necessary features that make management and collaboration easy. Asana is well-integrated with other project management apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Trello
We can’t talk about project management tools without mentioning Trello. Trello is a pretty convenient tool because you don’t have to switch from one app to another. Instead, it features boards, cards, and lists, used to assign tasks, prioritize projects, and follow task progress. Trello is easy to use, it’s visually flawless, and best of all it’s free. This means that there are no limitations and you can use it on your phone, tablet, or computer -wherever.
Zoom
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that has become quite popular in the last couple of years. We can say that this tool is absolutely essential for digital nomads. Zoom enables face-to-face communication which is in many cases essential for doing business. In addition to video conferencing, Zoom allows you to share a screen, and it also allows large numbers of people to join a meeting room. Scheduling meetings and video calls ahead of time is also an option with this tool. If your company features any of the popular intranet solutions, you can rest assured that Zoom can be integrated with most of them.
Wise
When working remotely, you probably have a worldwide client base. This means that you probably get paid in many different currencies. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a tool that manages your money. That’s where Wise comes into play.
Wise is a tool used to send and receive payments in multiple currencies with no set-up costs and with minimal fees. All in all, we can say that Wise is a fast, reliable, and cheap money transfer service every digital nomad should know about.
Translation tools
All globetrotters need at least one translation app. Not everyone will speak English nor will you speak their language, so it’s important to find other ways to communicate with people in foreign countries. That’s why on your list of essential tools you should also add a translation app. iTranslate, for example, is a great app that can translate the words you type in, it can help you read, write, and speak 90 languages. You can also use different apps to learn a new language. Duolingo is a really popular app that provides gamified lessons that will teach you important vocabulary and sentence structure in at least 19 languages.
Password tools
Working remotely means having a lot of profiles, apps, and accounts. To log in and out of all these accounts, you need to know all the passwords. Remembering several passwords is not easy, and it’s really unnecessary with all the great password management software out there. Dashlane is one such great password management software designed to keep all of our passwords safe and to automatically log you in every time you visit your accounts.
You can also use the Dashlane password generator feature so that with every single log-in you will have a different password. Your clients can also send you passwords securely through Dashlane.
Free messaging tools
Keeping in touch with your loved ones when traveling across the world is highly important. To be able to message or talk to your friends and family, you can try downloading free messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Viber. These apps were made to rely on Wi-Fi which means that you can send regular messages, as well as photos and videos, and make voice and video calls securely. This messaging tool can also be great for business chats as well. As long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, you can keep in touch with everyone at home or on a different side of the planet.
Evernote
Evernote is a tool that can be very convenient when you need to write down some notes or ideas. This tool can help you stay organized, with it you can also save and organize photos and files, so it’s much more than a notepad where you write down ideas and thoughts. And not just Evernote, there are tons of different tools that can help you stay organized, take notes and stay on top of task management.
As you can see, a digital nomad needs a lot of tech tools. Without all this technology working and traveling wouldn’t be possible. Even if all these tools seem a little too much to you, many digital nomads swear by them. Mostly, all this technology can facilitate your remote work but it can also help you a lot with traveling. Finding accommodation, communicating with foreigners, locating places and sites, and so much more have been made easy with all this technology.
Author : Jess Cooper
