My Gear to Work from Anywhere

Pursuing a lifestyle of location independence comes with the need to put some thoughts into what things are really essential to take around with you.

In order to be able to get your work done on a daily basis, you need to be able to create an environment that allows you to be productive. This becomes even more important when your surroundings might change more frequently. When everything is changing around you, it’s the right gear and setup that can provide you with the necessary routine to hold on to.

Over the past two years I have been working on perfecting my equipment collection and setup that allows me to work from anywhere — given that I have a power socket and a stable internet connection. May it be for longer-term in a coworking space or just for one afternoon in a café, I can set up and pack away my own little working station in a minute.

The Perfect Everyday Carry Backpack

My beloved EDC backpack — an eBags Professional Slim laptop backpack

Considering myself being a minimalist, there are few materialistic things that I really have excitemant for. One of those few things is my passion for backpacks.

When you are moving around a lot, you tend to build a deeper relationship with your luggage, as those are your companions wherever you go. Therefore, it took me quite some time to find the right backpack that would satisfy all my needs. I needed something that works well as handluggage when I’m traveling to another place, giving me enough space to especially fit all my electronics, but also something that will do a perfect job as my daily working bag.

I found my perfect companion in the eBags Professional Slim backpack, which I love dearly. Once I found out about it and after checking a couple of review videos, this backpack felt to me like it was created by somebody who tapped into my brain and downloaded my vision of the ultimate everyday carry backpack. The material used, the compartment organization, the YKK zippers, the padding. I just love everything about it.

Every piece of my equipment has its dedicated spot in this backpack.

Few Items, High Intention

The stuff I actually use on a daily basis is very limited, but again, a lot of thought went into picking the right items.

When packing space is limited, everything I take with me needs to have its purpose. In the case of my working equipment, this really comes down to fulfilling a specific function.

Here’s all the stuff that I need to set up my workspace.

All the stuff that makes up my mobile working station

As you can see, it’s really not that many things that are required for me to be able to work from anywhere.

The heart of it is of course my laptop. I have a laptop from the HP Pavilion Series, which I manually upgraded to have two SSDs. Even though it is a few years old already, I’m still very happy with it and very grateful for what this machine is enabling me to do.

The notebook stand was probably the most important purchase I made in order to make this setup work. Working on a laptop all day long without it is really bad for my neck, but with this thing it’s not an issue at all. I would not want to work without it anymore.

The external mouse and keyboard speak for themselves. I love that my mouse has a silent clicking feature, which I’ll never be able to not have again. It’s the little things.

My tablet is a Xiaomi Mi Pad 4 Plus, which I bought last year with the main purpose of using it as a second screen for my laptop. Therefore, I also had to find a good solution to put it somewhere near the main screen. Enter the genius Mountie+ from Ten One Design. I absolutely love this little gadget and it’s the newest edition to my setup.

When working on the laptop, I’m still using wired earphones, as they are simply reliable. True wireless earphones are great for being outside, but when sitting at the desk for a day I don’t want to bother with making sure they are charged all the time.

A Full Office Setup Wherever I Go

Setting up my workspace everyday takes about two minutes. Doing it day after day, I have probably even built some muscle memory and could do it blindly by this point.

That’s how my setup process looks like.

Setting up my mobile working station featuring a dual screen setup

This setup allows me to work on all the different things I am working on and so far there was no moment in which I had missed anything.

Using my tablet as a second screen powered by the spacedesk app comes in very handy sometimes, especially when working on new designs for my print on demand business. When handling multiple browser tabs, folders, and applications at the same time, a second monitor can make a big difference in terms of efficiency. I don’t use it every day, but it’s a great feature to be able to pull out whenever I need it.

I believe taking some time to build a solid working setup that works well with what you need is essential to stay productive while moving around a lot. Today’s online opportunities offer great potential to get a lot of stuff done, with very little equipment needed.

I’m looking forward to further develop my gear in the future and to continue working from anywhere I want.

I would really love to see your setup in the comments below this article!

Also, feel free to ask whatever questions you might have.