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Traveling with only an iPad: Part 1

I am an optimizer; I am always looking for ways to reduce waste and work more efficiently at home, at work, or on the road. This weekend during my trip to Fairbanks, Alaska, I decided to do an experiment to see if I could reduce the amount of stuff I take with me on trips.

I usually travel with a checked bag and a small backpack as a carryon. The backpack contains the essentials that I need onboard an aircraft, historically including a laptop. The laptop and the associated accessories (mouse and power supply) are by far the heaviest items that I am lugging around, so I decided to see if I could do without them and save several pounds out of my backpack.

For this trip, I left the laptop at home to see what it would be like traveling with just an iPad.

Work I might need to do

I thought that this trip would be a good experiment to see if I can get away with just bringing an iPad because I have a little bit of work to do, but none of it is absolutely critical, so if I find myself unable to do something, I can just defer it a few days until I return home.

This weekend, I plan on writing this and a few other blog posts, publishing some of them, coordinating a few things for Forbes, managing my resale business, making some travel arrangements, responding to emails, and doing a bit of work on an experiment I am running with Turo.

My gear

I’m running this experiment with a 6th Generation 32GB iPad and a portable Bluetooth keyboard, an AmazonBasics KT-1281 Bluetooth keyboard that I picked up a few years ago for about $20.

What success looks like

Ultimately this experiment will be succcessful if I am able to complete the tasks I need to complete without becoming unduly frustrated. At home, I work with a three-monitor setup, which makes doing things like referencing multiple websites and transfering data between email, websites, and tracking spreadsheets relatively simple. I imagine that task-switching between a web browser, Google sheets, and my email on a single screen, in a different environment will add some complexity.

Well, it’s 2:30am back home and we are on approach into Fairbanks, so it’s time to wrap this post up. So far, so good.