Nomad Life

The Remote Work Toolkit That Actually Works

After three years fully remote across six countries, here's the exact stack I use to stay productive, healthy, and connected.

The promise of remote work is freedom. The reality is a daily negotiation with loneliness, distraction, and the eternal question: “Should I work from the café or the coworking space?”

After three years and six countries, here’s my actual toolkit for making remote work actually work.

Hardware

The Non-Negotiables

  • MacBook Pro 14” - The right balance of power and portability
  • Sony WH-1000XM5 - Noise cancellation for noisy cafés
  • iPhone 15 Pro - For when your laptop dies and you need hotspot
  • Anker 737 Power Bank - 24,000mAh = never run out of battery on flights

The Nice-to-Haves

  • Roost Laptop Stand - Ergonomics in any setup
  • Magic Keyboard + Trackpad - For when I’m staying somewhere for a month
  • CalDigit TS4 Dock - One cable to rule them all at home base

Communication

Async-First Stack

  • Loom - Video messages when text isn’t clear
  • Slack - Work channels, muted aggressively outside hours
  • Superhuman - Email at the speed of thought
  • Time zones - I use Gravel to visualize team availability

Video Calls

  • Zoom - Still the standard
  • ** OBS + Virtual Camera** - Background blur and removal when hotel WiFi is sketchy

Productivity

My Daily Drivers

- Notion: All my notes, tasks, and wikis
- Linear: Project management (moved from Jira, never going back)
- Raycast: Launcher + window management + clipboard history
- Arc: Browser with spaces for different "modes" of work

Deep Work Protection

I use a simple system:

  1. 三大优先项 (Three Big Rocks) written in Notion every morning
  2. No meetings before noon (protects 3 hours of deep work)
  3. Phone in another room during focus blocks

Health

Movement

  • Stretching: Morning routine from Physical Therapy YouTube channels
  • Walking: Target 8,000 steps minimum
  • Gym access: Always factor into apartment search (coworking spaces help)

Mental Health

  • Headspace - Meditation, even 10 minutes helps
  • Weekly therapy - Video calls with my therapist back in the US
  • Boundaries: No work on weekends, no Slack on vacation

The Nomad-Specific Tools

Connectivity

  • Airalo eSIM - Data in 80+ countries, no physical SIM needed
  • TravelRouter - Backup connectivity for important calls
  • Local SIM - For longer stays, buy a local SIM card

Finance

  • Wise Card - Borderless debit card with real exchange rates
  • Revolut - Backup for when Wise has issues
  • Cash - Always have local currency; some countries are still cash-heavy

What I’d Tell My Younger Self

  1. The perfect setup doesn’t exist. Stop chasing it.
  2. Boundaries are harder remotely. You have to be intentional.
  3. Loneliness is real. Build community wherever you go.
  4. Your environment shapes your output. Invest in good spaces.
  5. The tools matter less than the habits. Get the fundamentals right first.

Remote work gave me freedom I couldn’t have imagined. But freedom requires discipline. These tools help me stay disciplined without losing the flexibility I worked so hard to gain.