Which electronic gears are in our backpacks for the world tour?
We questioned a lot which new technologies to bring for the world tour. In this article we explain our choices and the electronic gears we are carrying around the world.
Smartphones
We took our smartphones to stay connected and take photos we can share online easily. We did not buy specific phones for the trip but we made sure ours were unlocked and compatible with local frequencies.
Finally, we have an international SIM card if needed (but are not very satisfied with the rates and service, if you have suggestions please leave us a comment). Moreover, whenever we stay for a month or more in a country we buy a local SIM card, it is always cheaper and convenient.
Cameras
Though choice. As a matter of fact we are beginners in photography so we asked our friends for advice. We were encouraged to go with a bridge or reflex camera but felt it wouldn’t fit with our space and weight constraint. Our criteria were based on the quality, durability and size/weight of the device. Consequently we chose the Olympus Tough TG-5 . After a few months, we also invested in the teleconverter lens for our wildlife shots (be careful we did not realize the adapter is not supplied with the lens). What we like about this camera is the robustness, the photo quality, the size, the weight and the fact that it is waterproof.
Thus, it is only possible to use it diving at a maximum depth of 15 meters. The quality of the underwater photos are very high. Nevertheless, to go deeper it is necessary to buy the underwater case. However, it is very expensive, heavy and big (for having tried it in store). We can’t carry it with us around the world.
For our deeper dives we decided, after 9 months of travel, to invest in an action camera with the underwater case.
Finally, to stabilise the camera we chose a compact tripod. The tripod allows us to take photos of us together and take shots of the sky. This is how we managed to photograph the northern lights in Alaska.
Laptops
We decided to travel with 2 laptops to be able to work at the same time during our breaks from visiting. Clémentine already had a powerful and compact computer and Nicolas bought a laptop meeting his needs to eventually perform web development freelance. We brought with us the Lenovo Yoga 900 and the Lenovo Ideapad 320S as well as a small wireless mouse.
E-reader
Due to professional distortion, Clémentine reads a lot (really a lot) but no question for Nicolas to bring books in the bags! This is the reason why we bought an e-reader: the Kodo aura. Although not as comfortable as reading on paper, the e-reader is very light and the autonomy is incredible (we don’t even charge it once a month). However Clémentine still continues to jump on all the physical books we found on our path.
Other items
- 2 small lamps rechargeables via micro USB cable
- 1 power bank to recharge all our small electronics when needed
- 2 universal adapters with 2 USB outlets (very practical for charging various electronic devices)
- 2 earphones
Multimedia storage
A difficult choice for the trip was our method of multimedia storage. We are going to take LOTS of photos and our computers have a rather reduced capacity due to their small size (and price). Consequently we had the following choices:
- Bring with us an external hard drive
- Buy a NAS server and install it at a friend or family’s place with a reliable network
- Store our photos with an external host
In the end, we decided on the 3rd solution and have a Premium Plus subscription with 2.0 Tb at PCloud . They offer up to 20GB of free storage by registering on this link: https://www.pcloud.com/welcome-to-pcloud/?discountcode=ot0S1UsMJHu6gUzTH7B5C5ZV.
We quickly eliminated the option of the external hard drive for a more reliable solution. However, we have hesitated a long time between creating a private or external cloud both having their advantages and disadvantages.
For more information about our other travel gears you can read our post world tour: ultimate packing list. Also, the list of items in our wardrobe is available on our post world tour: wardrobe.
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