mat t hewwo o dward.co .uk http://www.matthewwoodward.co.uk/tutorials/how-to-blog-work-on-the-road-while-travelling/

Matthew Woodward

How To Work & Travel On The Road

While travelling this year I have learnt a lot about how to work and travel on the road.

Mostly by learning the hard way =D

So f ar this year I have blogged f rom the mountains of Snowbombing – Austria, the tropics of Costa Rica andFort Worth airport.

You have to be prepared f or every possible situation and I have been caught out a couple of t imes while outand about.

So this guide will teach you how to work and blog on the road no matter where you are in the world and beprepared f or any situation lif e throws at you.

In f act I’m writ ing this post f rom the seat of my f light between Texas & London so we can add that to the listas well now!

Everyone around me is sleeping so shhhh! Daphne date raped herself with a sleeping pill and woke up f or 30seconds to tell me about genocide.

A bit distracting but crazies aside let’s take a look at how to blog & work on the road while travelling!

Live In The Cloud

One of the biggest problems I f aced was been able to access all of my f iles and applications f rom anywhere inthe world.

Whether I was using my laptop on the side of a mountain or only had access to a web browser in an internetcaf e, having access to my f iles and applications was crit ical.

So I decided to move everything to the cloud with Google Drive which of f ers a f ew benef its.

First of all it keeps all of my devices in perf ect sync with each other – if I edit a f ile on my laptop, it is instantlyupdated on the of f ice machine and vice versa.

Secondly it allows you to access all of your f iles f rom any device that has a web browser, which is pretty mucheverything these days even some f ridges have a web browser!

But most importantly it means that everything is always automatically backed up so if your laptop was stolenabroad or your crazy ex burns the house down; you’re still good to go!

At the moment 100GB of storage costs just $5 per month which is pocket money compared to the benef its itof f ers.

However you can get 5GB of storage f ree of charge to give it a whirl if that t ickles your f ancy.

Sett ing It Up

Just sign up f or Google Drive and install the application on your PC. This will create a new ‘Google Drive’ f older,anything you place within it is automatically sync’d and backed up in the cloud.

However I changed the My Documents location on all of my computers to be the Google Drive f older.

Check out this guide, this guide or this one to do the same!

The process is pretty much the same f or most versions of windows!

I also did the same with the My Pictures f older so every day I copy all the pictures f rom my camera and they areinstantly backed up.

I would be gutted if I lost pictures f rom my travels and this setup helps to protect against that.

Also check out CloudVault f or your Android phone/tablet to automatically upload pictures and videos to thecloud!

Portable Applicat ions

You can also get portable versions of applications that you don’t need to install.

Just single executable f iles that can be ran f rom your computer, a USB drive or straight f rom the cloud!

So I have portable versions of all of the applications I use regularly stored in the cloud ready to rock and rollanytime I need them.

Google around f or them – they are pretty easy to f ind!

Dealing With Large Files

The only drawback to this was a lot of my video tutorials, the raw f ootageand project f iles can span 10-20GB each.

It doesn’t make sense to have these accessible via the cloud so I created aseparate of f line documents f older and marked it as a f avourite f older inwindows.

This f older gets backed up and archived separately on my network & aremote destination using SyncBack.

Music

Music is my lif e and soul that keeps me going throughout the day; I would be lost without it!

So how do you make sure you always have access to all of your f avourite tracks?

Google Music will allow you to store up to 20,000 tracks in the cloud and access them f rom any device or webbrowser.

So that’s the sof tware side of things dealt with but what about everything else we need to have a smoothexperience working on the road?

Working On The Road Essentials

There are a couple of essential pieces of kit you will need if you are going to blog on the road or work as youtravel.

Reliable Laptop

I recently bought a new laptop because my current one was on its last legs af ter surviving a f ew rough knocksand bumps. It even cartwheeled its way down the stairs one time!

So I decided to buy a laptop that was strong, lightweight & powerf ul. It needs to be good enough to edit videoswith, but without adding unnecessary weight to my travels.

There are a f ew good options on the market like the HP Envy but eventually I settled on the cheaper AsusU32V.

It is made of aluminium so is strong &light (1.7kg) but also f eatures a core i5processor, 2GB dedicated Nvidiagraphics and 4GB of ram.

Not seen it cartwheel down the stairsyet though.

Decent Camera With OpticalZoom

You will also need a decent camera tosteal souls and capture thoseprecious moments in lif e.

It should be able to shoot good qualityphotos and HD video, but mostimportantly it needs optical zoom.

A DSLR provides the best imagequality and lens options but is f ar toobulky to be carrying around everywhere.

Trust me a phone just doesn’t cut it in most circumstances, digital zoom makes f or terrible pictures!

You might have the latest handset but my cheap 2-3 year old compact camera will spank it every time.

At the moment I’m using a Panasonic DMC-TZ8 which I have had f or a couple of years out of a bargain bucketbut it does the job beautif ully and has 12x optical zoom.

They have just released the DMC-TZ40 which has 20x optical zoom and some other nif ty f eatures though,tempting! Perhaps when I break the $10,000 barrier.

Or maybe someone f rom Panasonic is reading and wants to donate one – who knows ^^

Travel Bag

If you really want to travel cheaply then you’ll want to avoid the additionalf ees of taking a suitcase with you, which you then have to carry around aswell.

So to make the most of the (usually) f ree hand luggage I purchased a CabinMax bag which gives you the maximum amount of storage possible – 44litres in f act!

It also has a padded compartment f or your laptop – perf ecto!

They are stupidly cheap to buy as well in comparison with some bags Ilooked at.

Day Bag

You also need a decent lightweight day bag f or when you f inally get to yourdestination.

I just use one of those cheap ass draw string bags – you know the type.

Simple but ef f ective and I can carry everything I need f or the day including wallet,laptop, camera, sun screen and so on.

Gadget Insurance

The problem with carrying all of this kit with you is it makes you a prime target to be mugged.

This is a greater risk in some countries than others although regardless of the country you will always read‘horror stories’ online.

So make sure you protect yourself against thef t and accidental damage abroad with comprehensive insurancef or your gadgets.

In my case this was already included on my homes content insurance so check your existing policy as you mightalready be covered!

If not it ’s usually only a couple of dollars a month to add to your existing premium.

Anti-Theft / Locat ion Tracking

I use the PreyProject to track all of my devices.

I have it installed on my laptop, home computer and phone.

If I ever lose a device I can track its location, set of f an alarm, view its camera, watch what they are doing,erase it remotely, lock it with a password and so f orth.

You can activate any of this instantly via the website control panel or by sending your phone a text message.

Not had to use it yet though!

Get more posts like this direct to your inbox to read on the road!

Peripheral Preparation

You’re also going to need a f ew odds and sods to make sure you’re prepared f or every possible situation.

If you prepare f or the worst, then the worst can never happen right!?

When I went to Snowbombing I had Wi-Fi and could stream f ilms, but I didn’t have a HDMI cable to bring it to thebig screen in the room /doh!

Portable Speaker – X-Mini 2

This is the most important peripheral you need. Music gets me through theworking day!

So having a decent portable speaker was crit ical. In the corporate world I wasdemonstrated the XMI X-Mini speakers which produce an unbelievably richand deep sound f or their size.

They are lightweight, charge via USB and last f or around 8-10 hours. Z ing!

You really need to hear these f or yourself to f ully appreciate them!

Avoid the cheap clone knock of f s they are no way near as good, trust me Itried

Travel Adaptors

This one probably goes without saying but having a worldwide compatible travel adaptor is prettyimportant.

I chose to get one that provided both a plugsocket and a USB socket to keep all my basescovered!

Plug Socket > USB Adaptor

Even though my travel adaptor has a USBsocket I also decided to get a plug socket >USB adaptor.

I haven’t actually used it yet but I’m sure a timewill come when having access to 2x USBpower sockets will save my skin!

Retractable Network Cable

It might sound stupid but you’ll be surprised how this has helped when Wi-Fi wasn’tworking or available.

At Fort Worth airport in Dallas, Texas it costs cold hard cash to use the Wi-Fi.

However there are loads of stations that allow you to use the internet f or f ree andcharge your devices, if you have a network cable that is.

See my bag in that picture? Everything I need to work and live anywhere in the world right there!

Retractable Micro USB / Mini USB / Apple Cable

This is the coolest cable in my whole setup – did I just say that? Never getting laid again.

Anyway this lit t le beauty (damn it) gives me 3 plugs in one andcovers a lot of bases f rom my phone to my camera.

To be honest you need one of these even if you’re notworking on the road.

Retractable HDMI Cable

Ok so let me explain the retractable obsession. This is justcable management on steroids and when you have a bag f ullof cables it ’s a pain to untangle them.

So any cables you get; make sure they are retractable – itjust saves a lot of hassle!

A retractable HDMI cable is always handy and allows you to hook up to most TV’s in hotels or projectors ifneeded.

Memory Cards

I always like to have 3 memory cards f or my camera at hand. I never ever come close to f illing one up, nevermind 3 but there is method in the madness.

I have 1 in the camera at all t imes, 1 in my wallet and 1 where I’m staying.

Half way through the day I swap the memory card f rom my camera with the one in my wallet. That means if Iever lose my wallet or my camera I only ever lose half the days pictures.

At the end of every day I copy the pictures f rom the camera, to the laptop which automatically get backed up tothe cloud.

The 3rd memory card is a just in case spare – they are easily lost/misplaced so it ’s good to have a backup atthe ready!

USB Flash Drive

I carry a 32GB USB f lash drive with me f or the ride as well – this is just an empty drive that serves no specif icpurpose other than ‘just in case’

This saved my skin in Costa Rica when I needed to quickly transf er f iles f rom a client’s computer to mine whenwe didn’t have internet access.

The Doomsday Flash Drive

I also carry another 32GB USB f lash drive that looks totally dif f erent to the other one so I don’t get them mixedup.

This provides a bootable windows environment along with portable versions of all of the applications I need.Follow this guide to create yours.

I haven’t had to use this yet but if worse comes to the worst and I lost my laptop, I could just plug this into anycomputer and instantly be up and running with everything I need in seconds.

Spare Batterys

Call me paranoid but I like to have a spare battery f or my phone and my camera f ully charged and ready to go.

You never know when you’re going to run out of juice, either while you’re out or just bef ore you head out andthere is no time to wait f or things to charge.

So keep a spare battery charged and ready to go f or yourcamera and phone.

I don’t do the same f or my laptop though because of thesheer weight of the battery and I can access everythingthrough my phone anyway thanks to living in the cloud ^^

VPN Connection

Of ten while you are working on the road you have to usepublic Wi-Fi to gain access to the web.

The problem is this is not very secure at all – with nothingmore than a rooted android phone it is possible to snif fout logins f or a range of websites.

The bottom line is if you ever use public Wi-Fi to do anything you are at risk of having your accounts hijacked,its not even that hard to do.

So to get around that I make sure I use a VPN connection f rom these guys.

This encrypts all of my data/traf f ic so no one can listen in! This also works with my phone.

You can also use it to quickly change your location online to test things like ad targeting or searching Googlef rom other countries in one click etc.

Portable Mouse

The one thing I hate more than anything with laptops is the touch pad to control themouse.

Things just take longer to do with that thing than they would if you had a decent portablemouse!

I went with the Microsof t Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 which is compact, lightweightand has all of the buttons I need.

There is no need to carry a separate receiver as my laptop has Bluetooth support.

Other Travel Essentials

That’s pretty much all of the techy side covered – with all of that in hand you can deal with most problemsquickly and easily.

But what else might you need?

Credit /Debit Cards

In general credit cards are better f or spending on abroad as theyof f er the lowest rates and charges when compared to debit cards,unless your withdrawing cash.

So f ind out which credit card has the best rates f or spending onabroad and get one – just don’t spend more than you can af f ord topay back!

You also want to f ind a debit card that of f ers good rates on cashwithdrawals.

When you go out always leave one at your hotel or wherever you’restaying so if your wallet is lost/stolen you can instantly hire a hitmanto get it back f or you ^^

Travel Insurance

I know we already discussed gadget insurance but you’ll also want to consider travel insurance as well.

This protects you against a bunch of stuf f including injuries, illness, cancelled f lights, companies going bust orif you need to cancel f or any reason and so f orth.

I have an annual travel insurance policy that keeps me protected everywhere I go all year long.

Be sure to do your research though as some have signif icantly better payout rates than others – you get whatyou pay f or in that respect.

There We Have It!

You should now have everything you need to work and blog on the road without a hitch!