Freelancing From The Road: The Tools to Take With You!
One of the great things about being a freelancer, is the freedom that comes with having chosen this career path. As a freelancer you can take to the road when you need, and the best part is, that you can also take your job with you! Now this is conditional on being able to put together the proper toolkit to take with you on your journey.
The freelancer must be as prepared as a scout for any situation they may face when breaking out of their ‘Lance-Cave’ (which is like the Bat-Cave, only slightly less cool often accompanied by the aroma of stale food and energy drinks). So we wanted to help out with this element of freelancing and give a few pointers on what to pack as you venture out on the road. Below are the freelancer ‘must-haves’ that we feel are necessities whenever we leave the comfort of our home.
Laptop
Naturally if you are going to work, then you need access to your computer loaded with your different programs that you keep you functional from wherever it is you roam, so you are going to generally need a laptop to take with you. Even if your main computer is a desktop, if you plan to take your business on the road, a laptop just may be one of the wisest career investments that you can make. Make sure that you can stay connected with your professional contacts and colleagues, and keep from falling behind without the hassle of having to find a way to drag your desktop computer along with you.
A Reliable Internet Connection
Now in the interest of keeping in touch, since social media tends to play a large role in this area of the freelancer’s life, a reliable internet connection is a must! You want to make sure that when you need to access the world wide web…you can. This can sometimes be taken for granted by the more technological savy nowadays. The internet has become such a basic part of our lives that we just figure whichever road we take will have an open wi-fi signal on every street corner just waiting to stream you onto the world wide web.
Online Storage
Another great means of keeping in constant contact with your most important files, is to use some form of online storage so that you may be able to access them from other systems besides your own. This can prove a beneficial backup should something happen to your hardrive while you are away from home, so that you can limit your downtime as much as possible, and maintain as much of the workflow as you can should anything unforeseen befall you or your files. Viruses and simple corruption of files can aggravatingly grind your work to an unexpected hault while away from your fortress of freelancitude.
Multi-Plug Extension Cord
Another important toolkit addition that tends to slip passed many a mind, is the packing of a multiplug extension cord. Owing to the fact that in a lot of hotels the number of electrical outlets that you have access to are oft times scarce or inconveniently placed, especially if you have a couple of extra plugs that you need to power along with your laptop like we have run into a time or two when out and about. This allows for you to focus more on comfort over convenience when you have to set up your workstation.
The Ability to Let Go
The final bit for your kit would have to be the ability for the freelancer who cuts loose to also fully let go! This is an important thing to remember overall, but it really applies in this situation. For once you break free from the little nook you have worked hard to carve from the fabric of society, you will have to be able to relax and relinquish a little bit of the control over your environment that we tend to like to maintain. It may not be the easiest element to take with you on the road, but it may be the one that keeps you the most sane, as very little of your immediate environment is truly in your hands while away from home.
That’s Your Pack
Those are our top five tools to take along with you as you try freelancing from the road. What would you add to your toolkit to make sure that you could keep on track while trekking? Leave us a comment below to let us know.
Rob is the talented author and graphic designer, celebrated podcaster and poet, who is now the co-editor and imaginative co-contributor of Fuel Your Creativity. With a background working through most areas of the arts, Rob works from a creative wellspring that shows no signs of running dry.
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Nice reminder that we are, after all, FREE.
I’m afraid I’m still rather attached to old-fashioned paper, so I would be taking along a book or two.
Oh, and something to prevent glare on the screen when I’m sitting outside on the sun deck, looking over the ocean.
Juliet
Ooooh, sun deck, huh? Nice!
A usb key is pretty standard these days, headphones are a must for me. Working in public I find I need to seal myself off from the room and a good set of headphones and some driving music help. And ADVIL, for all the clients you wish didn’t give you headaches.
By usb key are you talking about an adapter to turn one usb port into many, or a usb flash drive? Either way, they could come in handy…and packing a usb drive would have saved me some room since I just tossed my external hardrive in my laptop case and carried it along. ;D
As for the headphones, good addition to the list. Since there are two of us, however, we brought a small set of external speakers to hook up so we could both get a listen. Advil…check!
That elusive key, The Ability to Let Go! Certainly something I have not mastered, but key indeed! Thanks for a great list! I’m packing my bag in between posts so thanks, I’ll be sure to bring the extension cord… great idea!
Thanks, Eric. Glad that we could be of assistance. The extension cord was key…this way we don’t have to spend the day rearranging the furniture in the room so that we can setup our workstation.
I would suggest a good two shoulder rucksack!
Made the mistake of investing in a ‘decent’ one shoulder satchel, only for my back and shoulder to soon find fault with the weight and discomfort.
Can also make you surprisingly immobile when even slightly heavy (I.e. Laptop and papers)
Now looking for a new rucksack to accommodate a shift from 15″ to 17″ – any good suggestions?
Boy howdy, do I know what you mean there. If I find that rucksack, then I will let you know. My shoulder and back are wishing that I already knew of one though. Thanks for the comments and suggestions.
I have both a shoulder bag (handier for walking or easy plop-down-and-work sessions) and a backpack – the laptop backpack I got came from a new company called Everki (www.everki.com). It came with my Macbook when I ordered it, and when I discovered an inside tear in the seams, the company just sent me a new one – a newer model, at no charge so I now had 2. That was excellent customer service, and the first thing I think of when others ask about computer bags.
It has all sorts of pockets for USB drives, power strips, cords, pens, erasers, sketchbooks, and a snug padded slot for the computer. Because of all that, it can be a bit bulky so that’s why I prefer the shoulder bag for quick jaunts. The computer isn’t very heavy, but weight adds up quick when adding the other stuff in.
Great article.
But, where can you find a power strip that is easily portable? All that I have seen are bulky.
I don’t mean a power strip, because of the room as you mentioned. We have a small three plug ended 4 to 6 foot extension cord. It works great, though it doesn’t offer any protection against surges.
I want to get one of those little internet sticks that the mobile companies have available now. I just don’t know how much use I’d get out of it for the cost. They seem really neat and useful though.
Not sure I am familiar with those…hmm. Thanks for the comment, though, I will be going to look those up soon.
Maybe you should make a give away knap sack of all those goodies? eh eh? :) I’ll provide the bottle of letting go.
That would be neat. :D ….now who’ll send in the laptop….hmmmm. ;)
Hahaha! hmmmmm
Business cards! Particularly if you are working in a public place, it’s not uncommon for someone to be curious about the work you’re doing (especially if it’s very visual). It’s an opportunity for spreading the word about your work outside of your usual networks, so having your business cards easily to hand can be invaluable.
Good point. I actually keep a stack of business cards on my at all times. Never leave the home-office without them.
nailed that one on the head Robin
I would agree
Great advice! While I was a full time freelancer 2yrs ago, I had a trip to Argentina, and took my gear with me… I was so busy having fun that I didn’t get much done :)
Thanks for posting
hey you gotta work hard and play hard
I’ve been wanting to travel to Argentina
any flikr photos of your trip?
Multi-Plug Extension Cord? Hmm i think its more practical to have a laptop with good battery
I think a good battery is also important, but my traveling pants, so to speak, also carry a set of external speakers for drowning out the world around us, and an external hardrive, both of which require power, and I generally aren’t going to get all of them reaching where I comfortably need them to reach. Hence, the multi-plug extension cord. ;)
Now a days a portable scanner and portable printer are a really good investment, and the price has come down along with the size. A Portable Scanner is small enough to fit in your laptop bag’s accessory compartment, and with EFAX or a similar service you never have to worry about not being able to get important documents or send them at a moments notice.
You know, that would be handy…yes, it will add to the weight that you are carrying, but this could save on locating printing services wherever you are traveling to assist you.
Where are the darn products!?! (bag packs, bags, cords, extension cords, an iPhone hack that works)…I wanna see pictures, and cool products I’ve never seen before, and how they can make me the ultimate nomadic freelancer! Urgghhh!!!!
(Sorry, this freelancer woke up in a bad mood today)
:)
As you probably already discerned, Christian, this is not that kind of post. ;p Besides, we couldn’t include photos, as you can see we didn’t pack a camera. ;)
As an illustrator, I always try to have a sketchbook, sharpened pencils and inking pens handy. I snagged a plastic pencil case from my kids’ school supply stash because my lead kept busting off in the backpack. A pencil sharpener would be good too, because what good is a pencil when it’s busted…
Angie carries her moleskines with her wherever we go. :) They are like an extension of her almost. Good idea on snagging the pencil box! :)
Which online storage company would you recommend? Helpful post btw!
Dropbox is my personal fave and since their backup system has saved my words on occasion, I have to throw my vote their way. The auto-sync and backup is one of the reasons I like them so much.
Thanks Rob! I’ll check them out!
Rob, your post is somewhat like a dream. It looks and sounds great, but may be a little difficult to realize in real life. I feel it very difficult to work away from the familiar ‘mess’ of my home desk. Sure, once in a while, I too feel like heading out and settling myself down under a big tree in the middle of a faraway field and work from there. But there are too many distractions. And limitations, the biggest of them being a stable and sustained power supply.