What’s in My Tech Bag

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I have been a remote worker since 2011. My job used to require weekly travel, but these days my travels are limited to trips to the local library or coffee shop when I’m looking for a change of scenery.

These are the items that help me stay productive for the day job and organized while allowing me to find moments of creativity for my personal projects.

iBagbar Business Laptop Backpack

This backpack has been an old reliable for me over the past couple of years. I received it from the company to check out and have found it to have the compartments and padding I needed to keep me organized while keeping my gear protected. I have been looking around for a new backpack, but I keep realizing that this backpack is versatile enough to handle most of my needs.

Camera Insert Bag

I like carrying my DSLR everywhere I go just in case I come across anything interesting I would like to film or shoot. This bag can hold my Canon T5i and 2-3 lenses depending on their size. This camera bag insert is perfect for those who want to carry a DSLR, but don’t want to advertise they’re carrying a DSLR by carrying something more discrete.

Late 2011 13″ MacBook Pro

This thing is ride or die! This is my first and only MacBook. It is a non-retina display, but that hasn’t presented a problem. Apple’s displays have always been pretty great. I did swap out the spinning disk hard drive for an SSD by Crucial and upgraded the RAM from 4 GB to 16 GB.

I used to edit a lot of 1080p video on this machine using FCPX. I did try editing some 4K footage from my old Samsung Galaxy S8 on this laptop. I was able to do it, but that was a pretty rough experience. The battery still has plenty of life on it despite it being an almost 8 year old computer. It gives me all the ports I need (except for USB 3.0 speeds), which are severely lacking in the modern MacBook Pros. I was able to update to Mojave using a patch and it works flawlessly.

iPhone XS

I recently made the switch from Android (Galaxy phones) back to iOS. I changed carriers and they were offering up a deal that I couldn’t turn down. While I miss the customization of the user experience that is possible through Android, I do like this phone. It is a good size. It works well with my other Apple devices. iMessage is everything Google Hangouts (or Duo or Allo) should have been.

It’s a smartphone. It’s fine.

iPad Pro 10.5 (w/ Smart Keyboard Cover and Apple Pencil)

As much praise as I gave to the MacBook Pro, I realize its days are numbered. This is why I have begun migrating much of my workflow to the iPad Pro. I already have begun video editing on the iPad Pro with LumaFusion being my Final Cut Pro X replacement. I have started editing photos on the iPad with Affinity Photo. I sketch with Procreate using the Apple Pencil. Heck, I’m even typing up this post with the Smart Keyboard cover. I house the Apple Pencil in a Belkin case.

The company I work for uses a virtual environment that I can access through the Horizon client where I can access a full Windows desktop on the iPad if needed. Outlook for iOS (and Android) is my preferred email client right now on any OS.

That’s basically it. These are the main items I carry with me whenever I need a change a scenery during the workday. This isn’t top of the line equipment. Many of the items have been with me for several years, but these are tools that I am comfortable with and are efficient enough to help me get the job done.

What do you carry? Let me know in the comments below.