A 20 year digital nomad in Chiang Mai made me rethink my whole setup

I was grabbing coffee at that Punspace spot on Nimman last week. This kid next to me was running three clients on a tablet and a folding keyboard, no laptop at all. I've been hauling a 15 inch gaming laptop and a separate monitor for 5 years. He asked why I carry so much and I couldn't really give a good reason. Anybody else downsized their gear recently or am I just stuck in old habits?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_vera1mo ago

God yes, this hits close to home. I was the same way for years, hauling a heavy backpack with a laptop and all these extras. Finally switched to just an iPad and a small Bluetooth keyboard last year. Turns out 90% of what I do is email, Slack, and basic document editing anyway. The freedom of not having to check a bag or worry about my gear being too heavy is huge. Honestly feels stupid now that I spent so long lugging around stuff I barely needed. You're not alone in questioning it, that kid probably did you a favor.

bell.taylor1mo ago

Is it weird that this makes me wanna go dump my whole bag out right now and see what I actually need? I feel like I'd be way happier just carrying less.