Best Services For Digital Nomads
Sanebox prioritizes important email and summarizes everything else, leaving your inbox clean and prioritized. I have been blown away by how well its algorithms work and by the amount of time it saves me per month. E-mail is my least favorite work related task and this tool is the only way I get through it.
Nomad List is my favorite web service that provides a sorted list of cities that are friendly to digital nomads and remote workers. The service lists up-to-date advice on the best co-working spaces, phone providers, cafes, weather and a great deal of other relevant information. It is free, constantly expanding and useful!
Private Internet Access is an Virtual Private Network (VPN) service that allows you to securely access the Internet from untrusted wifi hotspots. It has the most numbers of remote server that I have seen which means you can get low latency access in more places around the globe.
Encypt.me is also a VPN but it excels with one absolutely outstanding feature. Encypt.me automatically connects your Mac and iPhone to the VPN without you having to remember to manually login. This is essential for untrusted cafe and hotel wifi connections.
World Time Buddy is my favorite tool for managing timezones and for scheduling global meetings. The tool uses an intuitive grid layout that makes it easy to see the applicable time in multiple timezones. It is free, web-based and easy to use.
T-Mobile phone and data service – Creative people don’t like being locked into long-term contracts. I have used T-Mobile for over a year and am quite happy with it. Not only does it over LTE support all over the United States, it also is contract free, offers unlocked devices and most importantly, has no extra cost international 3G data in over 150 countries.
Ookla’s SpeedTest.net is a free app and website that tests and records the speed of your current Internet connection. I use this every time I connect to a new wifi hotspot and want to see if the Internet connection will be fast enough for my planned work.
Xero is a cloud based accounting service. I recommend it over frontrunner, Freshbooks, due to price, design, and usability. It is easy to get up and running and is simple enough for a non-accountant like me use on a weekly basis. I especially like the auto-learning rules that make double entry bookkeeping much less tedious.
Earth Class Mail is a company that scans and forwards postal mail to the e-mail address of your choice. In addition, it deposits checks (for a fee), saves PDFs of your postal mail online and offers in-person pickup and package signing. It isn’t cheap but it is essential for US based digital nomads.
Best Software For Digital Nomads
Skype is the leading and near ubiquitous VoIP provider. It offers free high quality video chats and calls from anywhere with an Internet connection. It is the ideal communication tool for both business meetings and friendly video conversations. In a pinch, it also offers a paid service that allows you to call internationally.
Facebook Messenger is quickly becoming a new standard. It has emerged as an excellent tool for communicating with people regardless of whether you have their phone number or username. It has most of the same features as Skype (because it runs Skype in the background) and is free.
Best Gear For Digital Nomads
This Universal Travel Adapter is my Swiss Army Knife of electronics. A good travel adapter will allow you to plug any country’s plug into any other country’s plug. As long as you have an converter to regulate the current (all Apple products have these built into their power supplies) then this is the only tool you will need to power up.
iPhone – I recommend using an unlocked iPhone while working remotely due to the phone’s abundance and availability worldwide and its ease of use. If something goes wrong, your chances of finding a replacement or fix while traveling is higher than with other smartphones.
Extension Power Cable – When working remotely, I always pack an extension cable for my laptop charger. This is extremely useful for the much too frequent case where I am unable to plug the bulky power adapter directly into an outlet (either because space is limited or I am too far away from the outlet). Many times this single piece of equipment has saved me from a wasted work day.
Moshi makes a line of laptop covers are perfect for making your expensive laptop look less flashy to potential thieves. The main draw is that it keeps your laptop clean and scratch free while covering the lit Apple logo that can otherwise bring you unwanted attention.
Carrying an expensive looking backpack makes you a target. Avoid the fancy options and go straight for a generic backpack that will hold your stuff while not making you the likely victim of theft.
Generic Headphones with built-in microphones are essential for video chats, media consumption and as a sign that you don’t want to be interrupted while working. I recommend carrying two pairs of headphones with you while traveling due to their small size and tendency to get misplaced.
Apple Macbook Pro is the top-of-the-line professional series laptop offered by Apple. I use it for hours everyday and it handles everything from intensive video compression to complicated code compilation without problem. It is the most valuable thing I own and the most important tool for accomplishing my daily tasks. It is worth every penny I paid for it.
That is the complete list! Short isn’t it? That is intentional. When traveling, you want as little gear as possible. Use the comments below to Let me know if I forgot anything! I’d love to hear what other amazing tool all of you are using!
Just as an FYI, some of the links above are affiliate links. Regardless of whether you buy through these links, I stand by these recommendations. I have used each service and piece of gear above during my travels. The stuff above is fantastic :-p
