7 Things You Need To Be A Pro At Working From The Road

Unsplash/Andrew Neel

Whether you’re tackling the remote work life full-time or simply traveling for work over one long weekend, you’ll need a slightly different setup than your office cubicle. Here are seven tools you’ll need for working from the road (domestic or abroad) to make it feel as easy as a work-from-home day.

1. Universal Power Adapter

Different countries in the world use different outlets, and they don’t always work with the two or three-pronged plugs like in the United States. You can buy an adapter that has different plugs all in one, so no matter where you are in the world, you can get those electronics fully charged. We’d also recommend packing an extra one that has a USB plug-in so you can have your phone plugged in while your computer charges.

2. Portable Cell Phone Power Bank

Speaking of your phone’s battery life, make sure to bring a remote charger for your phone in case you need a backup. Maybe you drain your battery by taking too many photos of the cool cafe you’re working from, or maybe that Google Hangout meeting went too long and now you’re low on charge. Either way, you want a way to charge your phone without access to an outlet. Long story short, get a portable charger.

3. Cloud Storage Or External Hard Drive

You’ll want a place to store your documents (and travel photos) in addition to your laptop’s hard drive. Travel can be hard on electronics, so don’t depend on your one machine to hold all important information and files. Back that stuff up on the cloud. Google Drive is easy to access everywhere. And if you’re old school (or paranoid), you might want to have an external hard drive just in case.

Unsplash/Brooke Cagle

4. Worldwide Phone Plan

You can upgrade your current phone plan or get some add-ons to make sure you’re contactable abroad. In fact, it’s pretty crucial. On T-Mobile and Sprint, your cell phone plan includes free texting in most countries, while calls cost $0.20 per minute. On Verizon, it varies by plan. On almost all cell phone plans, you can add faster data for an extra fee.

5. WiFi Finder App

Even if you shell out for super-speed data around the world, you’re still going to need WiFi access for your computer. So you’ll need an app, like WiFi Map, so you can find a spot to get online at any time in any place.

6. Headphones With A Microphone

Come on, you can’t just chill on a conference call holding your phone for hours. You’ll need a pair of headphones with a mic so you can go hands-free and not annoy your neighbors at the cute coffee shop/office of the day.

7. Vitamin C

You can’t get any work done with a sore throat or, God forbid, a full-blown cold. So pack yourself an extra boost to help ward off sickness and keep yourself healthy and ready to rock that remote work life.

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