My Urban Nomad Packing List.
This year I will be living in solely Airbnb’s, working out of WeWork offices, and using other platforms to live in the Shareconomy while building my startup. Here’s the list of everything in my backpack.
“A digital nomad uses technology to work from anywhere in the world.”
Over the course of the year, I will be traveling to 20+ US cities living solely in Airbnb’s, and embracing a Sharing Economy lifestyle with my two co-founders.
There is a cultural shift towards a modern village mentality with the rise of peer-to-peer sharing. As our world shifts from an “ownership society” to an “access society”, we will be in the trenches observing the evolution.
Our startup, Coral, is a tool to create an app for your home or workspace that you can share with your guests. Your space’s app has all the info your guest would need to get settled easily and connect with neighborhood and city to have a local experience. Living nomadically was the only way to effectively build this product.
When I was figuring out what to pack, it took WAY too much time. There were no definitive information sources to turn to for tips on how to get started from scratch. All in all, I hope you find this list helpful, and the stories I am going to publish throughout the year will be aimed at the aforementioned purpose.
Instrumentation is key. It is the infrastructure to your day and trip so you can focus on what matters…Get the right tools for the job!
What’s really compelling about the digital nomad lifestyle is the ability to live and work with complete freedom. Where ever, whenever. However, regardless of the length, packing for a trip pretty much sucks. In my opinion, packing becomes an issue because we have too many choices and as result, premonitions. When purchasing my tools for a nomadic life, focusing on simplicity, comfort, and versatility was my saving grace.
Having said that, I would have found it much more difficult if I hadn’t removed the material connection to my previous possessions. Aside from the fact that they don’t serve my needs anymore, it was emotionally liberating to give away, sell, and eliminate them from my life. I could only fit what I absolutely needed into my bag. The reality of that hits you hard when you realize you don’t have food, supplies, extra clothes, etc. readily accessible while on the road.
When picking out your gear, you should be able to mix-and-match your clothes effortlessly, giving you a bunch of outfit combinations, without taking up a ton of space. For shirts, I stuck with white, black, and grey. For pants/shorts, I bought khaki, blue, and will likely pick up a grey pair.
As a nomad you need to optimize your day to find the balance of work and play. So basically, you should strive to limit the amount of time you have to put into thinking about what to wear and the mental bandwidth used to make such decisions. Your clothes should fit you well and be the same brand/size so you can feel confident and comfortable. This is critical.
This new mindset helped me come to a realization: Your brain can only make so many decisions, effectively, in a day. Shuffling through drawers and clothes each morning proved to be time wasted on a meaningless task. Make it easier on yourself and focus that brain power on making more important decisions!
Some keywords to be mindful of that reflect the needs of a nomad are: moisture-wicking, odor resistant, wrinkle-free, and merino wool.
The Packing List
Packs & Organizers
Minaal Bag x 1
Tortuga Daypack x 1
Eagle Creek Packing Cube Set x 1
Eagle Creek Expandable Cube x 1
Tops
Woolly Clothing Co. T shirt x 1
LuLu Lemon Men’s Tank Top x 1
Bottoms
Bluffworks Relaxed Fit Pants x 2
Coming soon: Olivers All Over Shorts x 1
Footwear
Gadgets & Misc
Apple Macbook Pro 13"
Iphone 6
Philips Norelco BeardTrimmer 7300 Vacuum Trimmer
Bose SoundLink II Around-Ear Wireless Headphones
Miscellaneous
Creatine Monohydrate Pills
Essentials Amino Acid Pills
Centrum Men’s Daily Multivitamin
Cologne
Sunglasses
We will be in the following cities, let’s get together!
9/22–10/5: Boston, MA
10/5–10/18: New York City, NY
10/18–11/2: Philadelphia, PA
11/2–11/16: Washington DC
11/16–11/28: Nashville, TN
11/28–12/11: Atlanta, GA
12/11–12/22: Austin, TX
Winter 2016: West Coast — San Diego up the coast to Seattle.
Spring 2016: Mid-West US
Summer 2015: TBD
I hope you found this helpful! If you are interested in staying in the loop with our journey as Sharing Economy nomads, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Additionally, join our community here!
I will create individual reviews for some of the items listed above and other options/recommendations, so stay tuned!
