What’s in my pack?

Good nomads travel light. We might live in a time where our car-sized suitcases have spinner wheels attached, but the earliest human travelers understood that moving quickly and freely is what mattered most . . . . and they packed accordingly. As a modern-day nomad, I try to follow their example and underlying concept: Take what you need, leave the rest behind.

With every journey I embark upon, I learn new approaches to traveling light and efficiently, while still making sure that I have everything I need and close at hand so that I can report my travels in a speedy and digital fashion. That means being able to set up and dismantle my portable office within minutes.

Readers often ask me what kind of gear I carry and what it is I’m working with at any given time, so I am finally showing you here. When I dump out all the contents of my backpack on the floor, this is what it looks like — See? I have no secrets! All the items pictured above (and listed below) make up the gear that I am traveling with right this very minute.

Obviously, I also travel with some clothes and shoes (1 or 2 pairs) which I pack in a small carry-on suitcase. As a principle, I travel carry-on only, be it only for two days or two months. Some of the world’s most exciting and far-flung destinations also have the most stringent luggage limitations, and I never like to be limited.

Of course, you don’t really need all this stuff to be a good digital nomad. A passport and a half-decent smart phone is enough to see,  save and share most of the world around you. But all these extras help me do my job in one way or another, so here it is:

• Canon EOS 50D digital SLR camera
• Canon 28-135mm ultrasonic lens
• Canon Powershot S95 camera
• Kodak Playsport Waterproof HD digital video
• Apple iPhone 4
• Apple MacBook Pro laptop computer
• Apple iPad 2
• iPod Nano 16 GB
• Lacie 500 GB Rugged external hard drive (Firewire 800) X 2
• The Complete National Geographic on hard drive
• Skull Candy headphones
• Moleskine Large Ruled Notebook
• Moleskine Ruled Pocket Cahier
• Moleskine Volant Notebooks (ruled)
• XShot Camera extender
• Suction cup camera mount
• 32 GB Flash Card
• 2 GB Flash card backup
• 16 GB SD card (X2)
• 8 GB SD card
• 4 GB SD card
• Duracell flash card reader
• 3-way splitter
• 5-ft extension cord
• Extra USB & Firewire 800 cables
• International adapter
• 2 GB flash drives (x 4)
• Pens (2 black, 1 red, 1 Sharpie)
• sewing kit
• National Geographic Walkabout Rucksack