I will be traveling a lot over the next three months for both presentations and Work Together Anywhere workshops. Lined up before me are Greece, Spain, France, Belgium, Vietnam, and Germany (not to brag ;).

I’ve written before about my ultimate recipe for “work holidays”, which is where one travels to a new place and works while exploring. This time, I want to focus on the things I like to take with me for getting work done on the road.

First on the list is my very recently purchased noise canceling headset that I suddenly can’t imagine life without. When I travel for more than a few hours, I usually arrive at my destination fairly exhausted. I always thought it was the movement of travel that tired me out, but I’m now sure… it was the noise: the roaring airplane and train engines, the piercing loudspeaker announcements, the screaming children having meltdowns… all of these things add up over long hours on the road and contribute to fatigue. If you’re sensitive to noise, they’re expensive, but worth every penny.

Next up, a mobile router which gives me internet connection anywhere in the Netherlands. This isn’t very useful once I leave the country, but for that hour and a half that I’m on the train on the way to the airport, and then for the next hour sitting around waiting for my flight to board, I’m happily finishing up a few tasks.

A global power adapter. If you’re traveling a lot internationally, you just can’t go wrong with one of these!

Extra battery power! I rely on my phone for too many things: my boarding passes, directions, weather, pictures, and sometimes even calling. I got tired about stressing where my next charge was going to come from, so I bought an external battery charger that can charge my iPhone up to 6 times! I’d have to travel pretty far to use that all up.

My iPod shuffle. It’s so tiny I’m afraid I’ll lose it, but so far so good. My phone is packed with podcasts, and it’s nice to have a pocketful of tunes to switch to.

And last, but not least, Kendra The Kubi, who travels everywhere with me. She’s not very useful while traveling, but she’s great to have around when you’ve arrived at your destination and want to show your friends and family where you are. It’s nice to hang out with familiar people in new places!

Who or what are your favorite travel companions?