If there’s one thing that never seems to get easier, it’s packing to be abroad for months.

Over the past 1.5 years, I’ve slowly learned to refine my packing skills as a digital nomad. Typically every three months, I’ll return home to visit my family and to pack for the next three months abroad. I’m currently on my sixth cycle of this. And every cycle, I make a mental inventory of things I packed but didn’t use to help me pack more efficiently for the next trip. Although I haven’t managed to get my belongings down to just a backpack and carry-on suitcase quite yet, I’ve gotten a lot better at trimming the unnecessary things.

So, without further delay, let’s dive into what I pack as a digital nomad.

Luggage

I always travel with a backpack and a medium-sized suitcase. In the backpack, I pack all of my expensive electronic equipment that I don’t want to risk losing. Everything else goes in my medium-sized suitcase, which I check-in.

I’m currently trying to downsize even more to fit everything in a smaller backpack and carry-on suitcase.

The backpack I’ve been using for the past few years is the Ebags Mother Lode. However, it looks like Samsonite has purchased this company, so that bag is no longer available. The medium-sized suitcase I use is from Desley, but I don’t particularly recommend it since it has cracked.

I also travel with a small crossbody bag for daily use. The one I’ve been using this past year is the Uniqlo nylon crossbody bag, which almost every other traveler seems to be using.

Flight Comforts

If I know I’ll be flying a lot or on a long flight, I’ll pack some flight comfort items.

Neck pillow—I have four neck pillows, and this one is my favorite one. I like that you can bend and adjust it to the most comfortable position.

Blanket—I sometimes use this blanket on flights, but most of the time, I use it at my destination. As someone who gets cold easily, I always like to have a small blanket with me that I can use as an extra blanket in bed or as a couch blanket.

Duo neck pillow & blanket—This is not as comfortable as the first neck pillow, but it’s great if you want both a neck pillow and blanket without bringing two separate items.

Clothing

While planning to move abroad for the first time in 2011, I read some packing advice on an online forum. The advice was to bring half the clothes you think you need and twice the money. Thirteen years of travel later, I still believe this is great advice, especially if you have a tendency to shop.

Currently, I pack about two to three weeks of clothing for each 3-month trip. However, I’m trying to reduce the amount of clothing I bring. Unlike me, my boyfriend packs only about a week of clothing. For the trade-off of carrying less weight, he does have to do laundry more often.

One thing I always recommend to people is packing cubes. They make it much easier to keep all of your clothing organized. I’ll never go back to the chaos of digging through a suitcase for an article of clothing again. Not only do I pack my clothes in packing cubes, but I often leave them in them the entire time. I unzip my packing cubes and set them on whichever shelving is available at my accommodation.

I converted to these compression packing cubes about a year ago, and they have been holding up great. Before that, I used these mesh packing cubes for a few years. If you’re planning on traveling with just a backpack or carry-on, I recommend the compression ones, as they’ll help you pack your clothing tightly. To pack my shoes, I use zipper shoe bags. These help keep my shoes from getting everything else dirty.

Here’s a rough count of the clothing I bring —

Undergarments:

• 10 – underwear
• 4 – bras

Outer garments:

• 1 – rain jacket
• 1 – denim jacket
• 1 – cardigan
• 1 – sweatshirt or hoodie

Dresses:

• 1-3 – dresses

Bottoms:

• 1-3 – skirts
• 1 – pair of hiking pants
• 1 – pair of leggings
• 1-3 – pairs of pants/jeans

Tops:

• 1-2 – long sleeve top
• 3 – T-shirts
• 1-2 – spaghetti strap blouses
• 3-5 – cropped tank tops

Shoes:

• 1 – pair of sneakers
• 1 – pair of hiking shoes or hiking sandals
• 1 – pair of waterproof sandals
• 1 – pair of dressy sandals

Remote Work Gear

As a digital nomad, I carry quite a bit of gear to work more comfortably from wherever I am. Working only on a laptop for 8+ hours a day is not very comfortable, in my opinion. While most of these items are not required for working remotely, they can enhance the remote work experience.

Here’s what I bring for my remote work setup —

Laptop

Portable external monitor—This portable monitor works great, though it adds a pound of weight. If you have an iPad, you can use it as an external monitor with the Duet app.

Keyboard—I’ve tried a few portable and foldable keyboards, but I don’t like how the keys feel. This keyboard feels great to type on.

Wireless mouse

Laptop stand—This is not the lightest laptop stand, but I like this one better than the foldable plastic ones.

Wireless earphones

USB C dongle adapter

Camera Equipment

As a photography enthusiast and content creator, I also carry a lot of camera equipment—possibly too much, considering most of my content is taken with my iPhone…

Here’s the camera equipment I bring on my travels —

Waterproof action camera

Drone—I don’t bring this on every trip, as drones are banned in some countries.

Mirrorless camera

Small portable tripod—I have several tripods, but this is my favorite one for travel. It folds up nicely and doesn’t poke you from within your bag.

Mini cellphone tripod

SD card reader

E-Reader

In addition to the electronics I need for work, I also bring an e-reader for reading books.

Electronic Accessories

I try to minimize the amount of charging cables and accessories I bring by packing multi-purpose items. These are the accessories I use for keeping all of my electronics charged —

Travel adapter

Travel power strip

Multi charging cable

100W wall charger—This works for charging your laptop as well, so you don’t have to bring a separate laptop charger.

I used to pack all of my electronic accessories in this electronic organizer. However, I found it a bit bulky, so I carry everything in a mesh zipper bag nowadays.

Toiletries

I pack mostly facial care products since I’m pickier about what I use on my face. The rest of my toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, etc.) I purchase when I arrive at my destination. I used to pack everything, but it added too much weight. Additionally, toiletries are relatively cheap to get in most places.

For oral hygiene, a water flosser is a must-have toiletry item for me. I used this travel water flosser, which worked great until it died after 1.5 years. I’m debating whether to repurchase it or try a new one.

I pack my toiletries in this 3-in-1 toiletry bag. I’ve used several different toiletry bags over the years, but this one is my favorite. I love how you can unzip each compartment and carry just what you need for shorter side trips. However, you can’t fit a lot of toiletries in this one.

I used to use this toiletry bag, which has much more storage capability but is a bit more bulky to pack.

Hair Tools

The only hair tool I bring is this dual flat and curling iron. It works as a hair straightener and a curling iron, which is handy when I want to do different hairstyles.

I used to bring a travel hair dryer, but I found that most accommodations usually come with one, so I leave it at home most of the time now.

Cosmetics

Every trip, I downsize the amount of makeup I bring after realizing that I don’t use most of it. Nowadays, I try to bring at most one of each makeup item. I currently use this travel-sized makeup holder. My goal is to downsize to an even smaller one, though.

I also bring along this adjustable-height travel mirror. This is my favorite travel mirror because you can adjust the height and not have to stack your mirror on random objects. After a year of owning it, I do notice that the light doesn’t shine as brightly, which is a bummer.

Jewelry

I love jewelry and travel with a few earrings, bracelets, and necklaces in this small jewelry holder. It’s small, but the zipper pouch can hold a decent amount.

If you wear a lot of jewelry, I recommend this bigger travel jewelry organizer. I used to use this one but downsized to the smaller roll-up one.

Medicine

I typically bring a small supply of pain medication, anti-diarrheal medication, laxatives, and allergy medication, which I pack in this clear, small travel organizer.

However, I’m considering downsizing to just bringing a small bottle of pain medication as I haven’t used much of the medication I’ve been bringing along. In addition, you can find most generic medications pretty easily abroad.

Random Stuff I Pack

Quick-dry towel—While most accommodations offer bath towels, I like to bring a quick-dry towel along for any beach trips or water adventures.

Pashmina scarf—A pashmina scarf is a great multi-use item. I’ve used it as a wrap in chilly weather, a beach mat, a towel, and a light blanket.

Folding yoga mat—I recently started packing this folding yoga mat. It folds down nicely to fit in a suitcase.

Portable hiking bag—This is a great travel hiking bag that packs down very small. I also use it as a day bag and a grocery bag.

Ear plugs—I strongly recommend packing earplugs if you’re sensitive to noise. Nothing is worse than ending up in a noisy accommodation and being unable to sleep. These earplugs are comfortable to wear.

Eye mask—Similarly to ear plugs, a light-blocking eye mask can help you sleep better if you stay in an accommodation without blackout curtains. I’m more sensitive to light than noise, so having an eye mask is a must for me.

Liquid stain remover pen—This is great to have on you in case you spill stuff on your clothes. As my boyfriend can attest, this has come in handy many times.

Toilet spray—I carry this when I travel with other people since most accommodations don’t have air freshening sprays.

Portable soap sheets—I’ve also encountered problems with places not having soap, so these soap sheets have also come in handy.

That completes my packing list! I don’t always bring everything on this list, but I pack about 80% of these items on every trip. What I pack typically depends on where I’m going, the weather, and the planned activities.

What are your favorite items for travel? I’d love to know!