LAPTOP & LAPTOP ACCESSORIES

After owning a few different laptops, I can easily say that my 13 inch Macbook Pro has been my best friend for the last 5 years. ❤️

What makes it the ultimate laptop? It’s the perfect size for travel bloggers (it easily fits in purses/backpacks and only weighs 4lbs), it’s easy to put in your carry-on and work on long flights, and the battery life is great. The retina display is also crisp which makes it’s great for editing travel photos – and seeing your pretty friend’s faces on Skype :P

To protect my Macbook from ~~my clumsy-ass fingers~~ “natural causes”, I have two cases: The first is this marble hard shell case that easily clips onto my laptop, and the second is my water resistant leopard sleeve to cushion my Macbook and protect it from scratches.

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Storage & External Hard Drives

If there’s one (useful) lesson I learned in my life, it’s to always! have! your files backed up!!

I can’t stress that enough, especially after I almost lost 5 years’ worth of photos and files after upgrading my first Toshiba laptop. It’s recommended to have all of your files backed up on at least two devices, such as external hard drives or USBs. I prefer external hard drives since they usually contain more space (1 to 4 TB versus 256 GB) and are easier to store.

Here’s what my setup looks like:

I have my WD 3TB Blue My Passport Portable External Hard Drive as my regular backup, which means that I upload all my photos and files onto it first. Then, usually every two weeks ~ a month, I upload the files on my WD 4TB Elements external hard drive and store it somewhere safe. In case the MyPassport hard drive gets lost or stops working, I still have all my files on another hard drive. ;)

To carry my external hard drive and other accessories, like the USB wire and SD cards, when I’m traveling, I use the WD 4TB Elements (seen in the photo above). It’s a great case, has a carabiner hook, and is under $8!

CAMERA & PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

CANON REBEL T3i DSLR CAMERATaken with the Canon T3i in Morocco

Although I don’t take a camera everywhere I travel, my Canon Rebel T3i has been with me to more than 15 countries. I received it as a birthday present over 7 years ago, and it’s still going strong without any problems (!!).

It’s an easy to use camera and has different shooting modes like Close Zoom, Landscape, Sports mode, and Auto. I normally use the Manual setting and adjust ISO/aperture to my liking before starting to shoot – it’s that simple! The battery life is also very good and can last about 2 days of regular use, but just in case, I take a spare set of batteries if I don’t have time to charge.

Pros:
– Flip screen allows you to take photos and record videos of yourself and see what it looks like
– 13 settings plus video, including Manual settings
– Long battery life and durable design

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GOPRO HERO3+ CAMERA

Screenshot of a video that I took in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with my GoPro 3+

If my vacation includes action/adventure activities, like scuba diving, skiing, zip lining, off-road ATV, and so on, my GoPro Hero3+ goes with me (plus I get to live up to my blog name ).

It’s the best camera for action shots because it’s durable, waterproof (inside the housing case), and small enough to wrap around your wrist. Over the years I’ve purchased a few useful “GoPro attachments” to make my life easier:

▶️Waterproof Floating Hand Grip / Diving Stick – This neat little pole is perfect for stabilizing your shots underwater – and on land! I took it on our Maui trip and used it both for underwater scuba shots and as a monopod while shooting videos of volcanos and waterfalls.
Bonus: you’ll never lose it under water since it floats up!

▶️ GoPro Monopod / Selfie Stick – Similar to the one above, I mainly use this monopod to make action videos. It held up really well during a ski trip to Lake Tahoe and while racing dune buggies in the Egyptian desert, plus it’s a steal for under $10 :)

▶️ 37-in-1 Sports Accessories Kit Bundle Attachments for GoPro – Finally, if you don’t want to spend a fortune on attachments, you can get this 37 piece kit (!!) for only $20. The quality is really decent for the price and it comes with literally everything you’d ever need for your GoPro, plus a case to store it all.

Pros:
– Perfect for taking action photos, like skiing, scuba diving, offroading, etc
– Best camera for underwater travel photos (with the waterproof housing case)
– WiFi connectivity lets you view photos without taking memory card out of the GoPro