Top 7 Gadgets to bring when you get out more

In the past seven years that I’ve been blogging full time, I never really cozied up to the idea of just staying at home and blog the whole day. The only time I’d ever want to stay at home is when me and friends play DOTA or Starcraft 3.

So, yes, even if all the dozens and dozens of gadgets that I have at home and all the time in the world to play with them, I’d often look forward to just get out, hit the road and stay in some place I haven’t been to.

Here are the top 7 gadgets I would always bring when I’m travelling — whether for a tech coverage or just plain vacation.

1) Ultrabook. My last 5 laptops were all ultrabooks, sort of. All three generations of Macbook Air 11.6″ and two generations of Asus Zenbook. They’re thin, light yet very powerful.

2) Pocket WiFi. I’d say I’m never out without a pocket WiFi like the ones from Huawei. I have that high-capacity battery that lasts like 10-12 hours on a single charge. I have a postpaid plan and a back-up SIM of all networks just in case.

3) Tablet. I started out with the iPad for many years, then moved on to many others as an alternative. I’m now hooked to the Google Nexus 7 because of its portability. For long haul flights, I turn to the Transformer Prime for extra long battery life (very useful during my 16-hour trip to Europe earlier this year).

4) Camera. Before, I’d always bring my Canon 7D and take 2 or 3 lenses along but that would easily add 2 or 3 kilograms to my backpack weight. I’ve scaled that down to a Canon S100 (just rbing an extra battery).

5) Smartphone. Funny that a smartphone is not at the top of this list. But then again, when I’m on a trip, I really don’t want to be bothered with the idea that I need to answer phone calls or text messages especially if the trip involves a lot of outdoor activities. While I notice many people would use their iPhone as a replacement to a point-and-shoot, I’d prefer something more rugged, shock-proof and water-proof.

6) Portable Battery. I got a lot of the portable batteries to recharge my gadgets (mostly for the pocket WiFi and the phone). I’ve tried the ones from Energizer, Mili, Noontec, Choiix and as long as they have high-capacity ratings, I’m good with it.

7) Portable Speakers. It used to be mostly X-Mini speakers (got almost every type of X-Mini that came out) but I’ve also tried a few others like the ones from Razer.

For the most part, I really liked using the iPhone with iMovie since I’m able to take quick videos and do a mash-up on iMovie then post it right away on YouTube.

Anyway, these 7 devices are always on the top of my list whenever I have a trip (whether it’s for coverage or personal).

After many years of just blogging, it’s actually refreshing to just have a change of scenario. I had this dream before of just going back to my home town in Guimaras, put up a cabana in our grandfather’s little beachfront property. I’d fill up the place with all the gadgets, get satellite internet and blog from there (I also bought a small piece of property in Tagaytay and was hoping to move there before).

These days, I just make it a point to really pick a new destination — the Surfing Camp in La Union, wakeboarding in Calatagan and CamSur, surfing in Caliocan, Samar or mountain hiking in Mt. Famy. These give me opportunities to maximize the use of my gears and gadgets and really take them to a stress test.

Anyway, do check out the video above (the first YouTube clip) and tell me if you can identify the places shown in there. Been trying to play it over and over again to pick which ones I’ve actually been to.

To make this more exciting, let’s do a little giveaway as well. Just answer the questions in the Rafflecopter widget below.

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