5 tech items to take on work trips

Q. I found your December 2023 Technology Q&A article “Four Hardware Tips to Improve Your Work Experience” to be really helpful. Recently, I have been traveling more. Do you have any recommendations for travel accessories?

A. Travel workstations bring all sorts of new challenges to being productive. The technology travel kit that I use includes a few items people do not expect. My kit enables me to work from a hotel, coffee shop, library, or coworking space and still complete almost as many tasks as I would from home. Here are the items I take when I travel.

SHORT EXTENSION CORD

The first but simplest item is a short, three-prong extension cord with three plugs at the end. Most hotels have power at their desks, but there often is only one plug. Some hotels have no power at their desk.

I frequently need three plugs: one for my laptop, one for my phone, and one for a charging station. The additional plugs on the cord enable me to plug in everything at the hotel desk.

If I am in a coffee shop or at the airport, the extension cord’s length enables me to run just the one cable from the power outlet to my location. I prefer a 6-foot cord. I find that is the sweet spot where it is not too long to be unmanageable but not too short to be useful.

CHARGING STATION

I have multiple devices that use USB for charging. Instead of bringing multiple power blocks, I bring a charging station. This saves space in my bag by consolidating my charging needs into a convenient package with its six ports. The station I use is just large enough for the USB plugs themselves (see the photos above).

The one feature I don’t like is the charging light while it is plugged in. The light illuminates the room at night while I am trying to sleep. I used a small piece of electrical tape to cover the light to solve that problem. See it on Amazon.

RETRACTABLE USB CABLES

These cables are great for a few reasons. First, they save space by having coiled the cable into the retracting housing. This keeps the cables more organized in my bag, preventing a tangled mess with some of the other cables that do not retract. The second reason is that they are easy to put away. Once I pull the cable to its full length, the spring activates and pulls the cable into the housing I can put in a pouch of my backpack. The third reason is that it has three types of plugs: USB Micro, USB-C, and Lightning. This makes them interchangeable with any of my devices. See it on Amazon.

TRAVEL DUAL MONITORS

My biggest productivity boost is having multiple screens. This is my mobile screen setup.

This setup adds two 1080p high-definition screens. It includes an adjustable stand for mounting each screen to the left and right of the laptop. I previously traveled with separate mobile screens. While it was functional, it was awkward due to the positioning of the plugs. My setup gets the monitors off the tabletop and frees up space. When I pack it up to go, my setup uses magnets to fold into a slim profile, as shown in the photos below.

Here are a few things to keep in mind with this device:

1. These use USB to power the screen. Newer laptops will be able to power these devices from the laptop, but if you have an older laptop, you will need the charging station I mentioned earlier to power it.
2. These have speakers built in, and they are bad. This is not much of an issue because I switch my audio back to my laptop or headset, but it is something I have to do every time I plug in.
3. The stand can be front heavy if you angle the screens too far inward, resulting in it being forward heavy. I keep the screen aligned flat across to prevent this.
4. The included adapter will convert USB-C plugs that are data-only but does not do a good job. The screens will have a lag. This is a solvable problem with the next item.

The above points may make it seem like these screens have too many problems, but these are minor compared to the productivity I gain from having the extra screens in a clean compact form factor. Now I do not travel without them.

See it on Amazon.

DUAL HDMI SPLITTER

The last item I bring with me is a USB-C-to-HDMI Split/Extender. This is higher-quality compared to the included adapter for the screens mentioned above. My laptop is a few years old and only has a data-only USB-C. It does not have the newer USB-C plugs that can support more power and video data. This small box gives me two HDMI plugs for the mobile monitor. This might not be an issue for those who have newer laptops. See it on Amazon.

Adding all these things to your bag does add a decent amount of weight. The additional screens alone are 5.25 pounds, which is a lot. Most laptops weigh 3-4 pounds on average. The screens and other accessories make it feel like you’re carrying two additional laptops.

I carry my tech travel kit in my backpack, which I can attach to the top of my luggage so I can wheel both at once and avoid having to keep the backpack on my back. Once I get to my destination, I unload most of these items to lighten my load while I walk around the event.

This technology travel kit lets me match my productivity when I am away from home.

About the author

Wesley Hartman is the founder of Automata Practice Development.

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