30Apr / 2013

Electronics for digital nomads

This is a Hipmunk post from Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads.

Clayton from Spartan Traveler quit his job over a year ago in San Francisco and has been traveling the world ever since. He recently posted about what technology you would need if you wanted to work on the road, breaking each piece of equipment down to pros and cons, as well as what he’s used it for. A helpful list for anyone looking to travel long or short term and still be able to get work done along the way.

An excerpt:

“The equipment that allows me to work from almost anywhere was thoughtfully accumulated over the last 18 months, and it’s a balance of price, weight, and power. There’s no need to go gear-crazy if you’re just starting out (or ever). All you really need is a decent laptop, some cheap headphones, and a place to work.

There are plenty of “top # pieces of gear for digital nomads” out there, but most of them range from borderline excessive to absolutely ridiculous. I’m assuming here that a) you have a budget or you’re just starting out and b) you don’t want to carry 80lbs of extra gear with you (that can also be damaged or stolen).

[...]

The point is: you can get started cheaply, so don’t assume you need the latest and greatest gadgets to make it happen.”

You can check out all of Clayton’s recommendations here. Among them is the iPhone 5, so for those shaking their heads at the Asus in the photo above, fear not

-Jodi

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24Apr / 2013

This Mother’s Day, Give the Gift of Travel

Finding the perfect gift for someone can be exciting, annoying, frustrating, or downright difficult – especially when that person happens to be your mother. Countless times we’ve given our mothers a day at the spa, flowers or a framed photo. While the gifts are always appreciated, they just don’t seem to convey exactly how much we love our moms. What is the perfect gift that can show mom just how much we love and appreciate her? We say travel.

Giving the gift of travel is actually gifting someone with a unique and memorable experience. Whether a trip to Paris, New York or Hawaii, each holds the possibility for memories to be made that are guaranteed to be cherished. Seeing a gorgeous sunset in Bora Bora or eating the best gelato in Rome are some of the types of memories that we fondly remember when we speak about our travels. Giving someone the opportunity to experience a new city or country is a gift that quite doesn’t compare to a dozen roses. But what may even be better than sending your mom on a relaxing beach vacation, is actually going on a trip with her.

We think that giving the gift of travel is overlooked. We can all get caught up in our day to day, and when the moment comes, it’s easier to send a bouquet of flowers than it is to plan a memorable trip for that special woman in your life. But we challenge you to think about giving travel. To help inspire you, some of our Facebook fans shared with us how they have given the gift of travel to their mothers.

So this Mother’s Day, we encourage you to think about giving the gift of travel – whether a weekend getaway or a two week safari – we’re certain this gift won’t compare with others.

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18Apr / 2013

Surreal “postcards” from Google Earth

This is a Hipmunk post from Jodi Ettenberg of Legal Nomads.

Sometimes even Google makes our world look even crazier than it actually is, as evidenced by these surreal and quirky screenshots of Google Earth collected by Clement Valla. In his own words:

“I collect Google Earth images. I discovered strange moments where the illusion of a seamless representation of the Earth’s surface seems to break down. At first, I thought they were glitches, or errors in the algorithm, but looking closer I realized the situation was actually more interesting — these images are not glitches. [...] These uncanny images focus our attention on that process itself, and the network of algorithms, computers, storage systems, automated cameras, maps, pilots, engineers, photographers, surveyors and map-makers that generate them.”

For the full collection, see Clement’s site Postcards from Planet Earth. For more about this collection and why the images are as skewed as they are, see this great Rhizome magazine article.

-Jodi