How did I keep working the past year while traveling in seven European countries and road tripping across 6,000 miles worth of 22 American States and one Canadian Province? By perfecting my mini mobile office. Here’s the setup I used:
The first challenge in trying to get things done while traveling is finding a spot to work. Starbucks, love it or hate it, is always my first choice for three reasons:
- Free Wi-Fi and electricity (yes, there are places that try and charge for current)
- A predictable, comfortable environment
- Handicap accessible tables
Almost every Starbucks I visited (particularly in the States) has extra large handicap accessible tables: if you can, take advantage of them. These tables have the space to spread out paperwork and computer peripherals. Of course, be courteous and give up the table if someone who needs it requests.
The most vital part of my mobile office setup is my MacBook Air. While the machine’s underpoweredness is sometimes frustrating, its featherweight light more than compensates. It’s so light that I can’t tell if it’s in my bag or not — a particular advantage if you like to switch work locations frequently.
Rather than plug the laptop power adaptor directly into the wall, I used the power cord extension that comes with the Mac. (Many people don’t realize that you can pop the prongs off of your power cord) This both minimises the problem of blocking sockets with the wall wart and gives you extra reach if the only seat is far from the outlet.
Below the table is an electrical socket splitter. While it doesn’t have the surge protection of a power strip, it’s much less bulky. Carrying one of these is a sure way to make friends the next time Starbucks gets overcrowded with other digital nomads.
Next comes the best trick I’ve ever learned from Lifehacker: cut a wine cork in half and use it as a mini laptop stand. Because I push my MacBook Air to the max, it constantly overheats. Using this super-portable laptop stand to keep my computer cool makes a big difference.
On the desk to the left is my handy clipboard that doubles as a place to hold the lists that I make and as a pad for the Bluetooth mouse.
The bottled water is vital given all the coffee I drink. While the coffee gets and keeps my brain running, it does nothing for actual thirst. Most Starbucks have a water fountain for free top-ups.
I always bring a real, dead-tree version of a book with me whenever I can. This serves three functions: first I use the book to unofficially reserve a table. When working on my own, there’s the problem of standing in line to order and watching the last table get taken. First thing upon entering a cafe I find a seat and drop down the book as a placeholder.
The book is also nice to have when I need a break from working on the computer. Lastly it has, at times, served as a nice conversation starter (despite my normally boring selection).
Underneath the book is a folder with papers I need or want to read. Most of this usually comes from Instapaper.
Next comes the mobile phone and charger. If you’re in the EU, cheap, no-contract phones are easy to come by. Sixteen pounds will get you a good enough phone from any train station in London. In the US cell phones are more expensive and the coverage is pretty terrible. In the end we went with a Verizon pay-as-you-go which was adequate.
The single USB port on the MacBook Air is reserved for my Logitech keyboard. You can never go wrong with Logitech: both cheap and more comfortable than many of the ergonomic keyboards I’ve used.
Do you have any tips and tricks for your own mobile offices? If so, please leave a comment.
I don’t know about mobile offices- Mine is firmly tied down, but how come you have been hogging the headline spot on Badscienceblogs.
I have decided never to give myself permission as you have been exhorting me to every day for the last few weeks. you must either have some serious HTML juju or you just have a spakky blog.
i love your advice and tips on organizing life! i’m all about organizing but sometimes it’s hard to get things started! thank you!
jen
There are inexpensive, small surge protectors available (Google Products search) either to backstop your splitter or replace it.
I won’t claim that they’re as good as what you have at home, but they are better than nothing.
I like to have a decent camera phone to use for scanning documents that I want to keep, but don’t want to carry. It’s also good for keeping notes from whiteboard brainstorming sessions or flipcharts. Get one with a flash, and take photos at a slight angle to the item to be recorded, to avoid a white-out from the flash reflecting straight back.