Getting ready
When we decided it’s time for us to try that famous Digital Nomad lifestyle, we made sure we were well prepared for it. First of all we liquidated assets that we won’t need anymore… at least for some time. My lovely car found a new owner, the most important documents and old photos were sent to my parents for safekeeping. We had to do some shopping though. Since we spent so much time living in one place we didn’t really have anything that could be needed during our travels.
Our shopping spree took us about 2 weeks. All the things that we have decided are crucial, purchased … at the expense of our savings accounts. But that’s what savings are for after all. The last thing that we still needed to do was sell or throw away things we don’t want or can’t take with us. We had very little time to do that – one and a half months because we already bought our tickets. The thing that took a lot of time to sell is my car. This is usually not a quick thing to do.
The first and arguably most important thing that we bought are cabinzero backpacks. Due to the fact that they are very lightweight and small enough to take it on the plane as a cabin luggage. Additionally, it has an easy access to the stuff inside it as it opens just like a normal suitcase. It is quite important when you plan to live on the road most of the time.
In addition to this, I decided to buy cubes for sorting and packing clothes in luggage. It is so important that when I look for one thing, I am not going to make a total mess with the rest of the stuff. Of course, this purchase is not out of necessity, but when you travel a lot even a small thing that gives you some kind of comfort is nice to have. We already got rid of many nice things that are good to have at home but not so much while travelling, things that give us a sense of comfort so why not to have that small thing that actually helps?
Since we have something to sort our clothes, an obvious thing to get is something to sort our electronics. After all, we are going to work while travelling and all our work needs electronic equipment. Hence – the mass of cables. Although the backpacks are already waterproof, I decided to go with the additional waterproof item just in case. I prefer to be sure that none of our equipment gets wet and destroyed in some alien country that most of the people don’t speak English and don’t understand what I want from them. Perhaps my fears are completely unfounded, but on the road, I will rather be prepared for everything than getting surprised by something as stupid as this. With time, I will probably learn what is actually needed and what is just additional and unnecessary baggage.
Another thing I had to buy was a new laptop of course. Until now I have been working on a desktop computer but obviously, I will not take a desktop computer with me ?! The choice was not simple. I needed a laptop that can do everything I normally do and it is not overwhelmingly expensive. Considering the fact that I play a lot of games … heh … such a job (?) the most important thing is the right graphics card. I did not want something that looked like a ‘classic’ gaming computer though with a rainbow of lights everywhere. In my opinion, it doesn’t help in any way, and I dare to say that they are distracting. My laptop does have a keyboard backlight, but only one colour (red) and obviously I keep it disabled at all times anyway.
For long hours in aeroplanes, I decided to get, like any self-respecting traveller, a book … or rather many books – a kindle reader. This purchase quickly turned out to be more than just a time killer on the go. I keep reading it all the time while I am still at home. Just in case I have no access to the Internet I decided to get as many books as possible for the future. Looking through the library, I discovered that on the British Amazon there are three (!!!) Polish magazines that can subscribe. One I excluded from the potential reading list immediately since I know this paper is famous for years and years of fake news. The second one I took for a trial period but after few articles that bored me and many others that I scrolled through I decided it’s not for me. I finally found Tygodnik Powszechny. The monthly subscription price is ridiculously low. Articles in it feel almost like a good book. It draws me to the point that I read the first weekly edition I got from cover to cover. I like the idea of weekly subscription magazines because in case I’ve read all the books I bought I can always read a magazine, it will update on my Kindle every week so there’s always something to kill the time with. We have not left yet, but I already spend most of my time reading. It’s probably the best purchase I made for a long time. I have always been a bookworm, but motherhood, work and daily life have distracted me from books. Now once again I find myself fascinated with it.
All my travel arrangements wouldn’t be complete without a power adapter. This one is ideal because it has 4 USB ports and a combination of US/UK/AU/EU/Asia AC outlet plugs, covering more than 150 most commonly visited countries. This is very important because in case we stuck somewhere at the airport we can still charge most (if not all) of our devices at once. At least that’s what I hope for. We will find out soon enough if any or all of those things were actually needed.
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