Laptop Accessories and Alternatives (for Working While Traveling)

If you work while you travel, your laptop is probably the biggest, heaviest, most expensive and most fragile thing in your bag, and it's the thing you can least afford to lose. So it's worth spending ten minutes deciding what you actually need to carry to get work done, and what you're carrying out of habit.

This post walks through the options, from a full laptop down to nothing but a phone, and then the short list of accessories that actually earn their space.

What are the options for getting work done on the road?

Think of it as a ladder. Each rung down is lighter, cheaper and less capable, and the right rung depends entirely on what your work looks like.

1. Full laptop: If your job involves heavy software (video editing, development environments, design tools), or you work eight hours a day and need a real screen and keyboard, this is your answer, and there's no shame in it. Just pack it well: a waterproof sleeve or dry bag, and nothing else that isn't essential. My laptop lives in a 13L dry sack, which doubles as my electronics bag.
2. Thin and light laptop: Same idea, but if you're buying new for a trip, prioritize weight and battery life over power. A laptop that lasts a full day without a charger means one fewer thing to fight over at the hostel outlet.
3. Tablet with a keyboard: Good for writers, email-heavy jobs, spreadsheets and anything that lives in a browser. Lighter than a laptop, better battery, and it doubles as your movie screen on the bus. The catch: the keyboard case adds back most of the weight you saved, and some desktop tools just don't work. (Yes, I told you to leave your tablet at home; that's a tablet in addition to a laptop, not instead of one.)
4. Phone with a folding keyboard: A folding Bluetooth keyboard and a small phone stand weigh almost nothing and fit in a pocket. For answering emails, quick edits and light admin, it works. For a full workday, I'll be honest, I've tried it, and you'll hate it and get nothing done. Test it at home for a week before committing.
5. Remote or cloud desktop from any device: The interesting one. You leave the powerful machine at home (or rent one in the cloud), and connect to it from whatever you have: a cheap laptop, a tablet, even a phone. All your files and software stay in one place, and if the device in your bag gets stolen, you lose a cheap device, not your work. It depends on decent wifi, which is the catch, but it's getting better every year. I go deeper on where this is headed in The Future of Work and Travel.

If you're not sure which rung you're on, start with But I NEED My Laptop, which is a short list of questions to ask yourself before you commit.

Which accessories actually matter?

Very few. Here's the whole kit, and everything on this list fits in one small pouch.

• A compact GaN charger: One small multi-port wall charger that can charge the laptop, phone and earbuds at the same time. GaN chargers are noticeably smaller than the brick that came with your laptop, and one charger for everything means one fewer thing to lose. Check that the wattage matches what your laptop needs.
• One good USB-C cable: Long enough to reach from a wall outlet to a bunk (six feet is about right), and rated for charging your laptop, not just your phone. One cable, not four.
• A universal travel adapter: Non-negotiable, and available everywhere. The ones with built-in USB ports can replace the charger above for phone-only travelers.
• A slim sleeve: Waterproof if possible. It protects the laptop from the rest of your bag and from sudden rain, and it's the thing you carry to the cafe instead of the whole backpack.
• Earbuds: For calls, and for the hostel dorm. Cheap in-ear ones are fine, and easy to replace anywhere in the world when (not if) you lose one.
• A travel mouse (optional): If you work in spreadsheets or design tools all day, a tiny mouse saves your wrist. If you mostly type, skip it.

For more on the small stuff that earns its space, see Essential One-Bag Travel Accessories and Space Saving Items.

What should you leave behind?

All the things that make a desk at home nicer, and a backpack on the road heavier.

• Docks and hubs: Unless your laptop has exactly one port and you need three, skip it. If you must, get the smallest one that does only what you need.
• Portable second monitors: They're convenient, and they're also a large, fragile, expensive slab of glass that needs its own sleeve, its own cable and its own worry. I'm still convinced that any extra item, especially an expensive one, just adds to your stress when you're out seeing the world. If you need more screen, that's an argument for a bigger laptop, not a second one.
• Laptop stands: A stack of books, a folded hoodie, or the box your hostel breakfast came in. Stands are a home-office luxury.
• External keyboards for a laptop: Your laptop has a keyboard. If it's bad enough that you need another one, the problem is the laptop.
• Spare everything: A spare cable, a spare charger, a spare battery. If the first one breaks, buy the second one where you are.

What are the security basics?

Nothing fancy. A few habits cover most of the risk.

• Back up before you leave, and keep backing up: Cloud sync for your working files, and a full backup at home before the trip. If the laptop disappears, the worst case should be annoying rather than catastrophic. This is also the strongest argument for the cloud desktop option above.
• Use a VPN on public wifi: Hostel and cafe wifi is shared with strangers. A VPN is cheap, takes one click, and keeps your work traffic private. Turn it on and forget about it.
• Use the locker: Most hostels have lockers; bring a small padlock and use it every time you leave the room, even for five minutes. A laptop sitting on a bunk is the easiest theft there is.
• Turn on disk encryption and a login password: Both are built into every modern laptop and cost nothing. A stolen laptop that can't be opened is a lot less painful than one that can.

Final thoughts

The best laptop setup for travel is the smallest one that lets you do your job without hating it. For some people that's a full laptop and a good sleeve; for others it's a phone, a folding keyboard and a lot of patience. Figure out which one you are at home, before you're figuring it out in a hostel with a deadline. And whatever you land on, the accessory list should fit in your hand: charger, cable, adapter, sleeve, earbuds. Everything else is a desk you're carrying on your back.

Read Next: But I NEED My Laptop