I live what could be considered a perpetual traveler lifestyle. This means that I am often moving from place to place and in different types of accommodations. Although I do love to travel my decision to live this way is not my number one preference. I just happen to be born in a time where the economy is going through a great transition.

Globalization and information technology is completely changing the playing field and is sure to bring about a giant change in the way that the human race organizes itself. While of course I would rather this be a positive change and will certainly try my best to push it in the right direction, I have to look at the world objectively in order to make the best decision for my future. I believe that the global economic system of the world will be incredibly volatile and uncertain for my entire lifetime. I come to this conclusion by comparing the rather insignificant time that I will be on this earth to the time it takes to complete a change in global social structure. In order to stay competitive in the world today, it is imperative to be willing and able to follow opportunities wherever they may be.

I came to this conclusion five years ago when the real estate market crashed. I was 25 years old at the time and living what might be considered a normal American yuppie lifestyle with a nice house, car and dog as well as friends and family that had always been very supportive of me.  I had made good money on a house that I purchased when I was 21 as well as some trades in the stock market which had gone in my favor. I thought I had it all figured out and that the way to success was by buying as much real estate as possible and following Jim Cramer’s orders to by “buy buy buy” or “sell sell sell” like a trained monkey.  (If you ever think you can achieve success by sitting on your butt and watching TV or getting some guru to tell you exactly what to do, you’re a sucker). I had a real estate renovation company I started with a friend of mine which now had a giant drop in customers. Not only that but both of the properties I owned were now underwater and the rental market had quickly gone soft. Once I ran the numbers I came to the conclusion that my best choice was to shut down the company and let the bank foreclose on both of the properties (yes I was one of those “strategic defaults“). Many people decided to not take that path and are still living out the fantasy that everything will turn around while giving their hard earned money every month to the bank for a house that in real terms will never be worth what they bought it for.

The traumatic experience of having my dreams ripped out from under me during the crash of 2008 was what caused me to wake up from my slumber and understand the dramatic changes taking place. In this way the failure of my business turned out to be more of a gift than a curse. I was able to put aside my worldly possessions and think outside of the box to plan what the next chapter in my life would be.  I found one a highly accredited university in Madrid where I could study international business while exploring Europe at the same time. I decided that would be my best form of action and sold everything that couldn’t fit in a suitcase and was on my way. This turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. The things I learned, people I met, and experiences I had made me the person that I am today.

After realizing all this world has to offer and getting past the initial fear of moving to another country, I have had incredible opportunities presented to me. I do have to admit I have not always been as comfortable as I would have been in my own house with all my “stuff” in it but who really wants to be comfortable? Comfort is what causes us to be passive and apathetic to the world around us and forget what we are meant to be doing. It is usually an uncomfortable feeling that spurs us to action and forces us to think outside of the box in order to progress.

That being said there certainly are a few things that I need in order to be somewhat comfortable and able to operate in the place that I am living; namely my own computer, stereo, TV with the shows/movies I want to watch, my favorite books and a reliable phone. These things are pretty much necessities in todays world and can dramatically change where you are living from being a place that you don’t want to be to a place where you can relax, work and entertain guests. Over the years I have gathered five things that take up barely any room in my suitcase and make it easy for me to walk into a house, hotel room or apartment and make it home in less cialis generic canada than twenty minutes.

1. Macbook Air –In my beginning days of traveling I would use computers in libraries, schools, and at friends’ houses. Then when I finally did get a laptop it was big, clunky and needed to be plugged in constantly. When I finally got my hands on a used Apple Macbook Air I knew it was something I could now not do without. Today there are many computers much like the Macbook Air but it is still my first choice because of the user friendly OS as well as its seeming immunity to viruses. With this computer I am able to travel with it in a backpack, folder or side bag with no problem. While working on my computer I can change scenery from the house to the coffee shop to the bar with ease, no waiting to shut down or power up and no need to plug in to an outlet. If the computer is lost or crashes it automatically backs up my e-mails, files and music on the cloud and I am able get back to work within minutes. Also, on the off chance that someone does steal my computer or it is misplaced I can use the icloud software to locate it, I have used this in the past and it has worked beautifully. In short as someone who travels a lot and does business on the go I cannot think of a better machine.

2. HDTV adapter – With a small inexpensive adapter I am able to hook up any flat screen TV to my laptop. This is great for watching movies, sports or youtube videos. Netflix has a seemingly never ending selection of movies and shows to watch in high definition. Many people don’t know that it is very easy to watch the US Netflix from anywhere in the world simply by downloading plug in such as Hola to your browser. This is great because the American Netflix had thousands more movies then their overseas counterparts. Another great option is to download movies through a peer-to-peer service like isohunt. You can basically find any video or movie there and download it for free in HD quality. You will then need to use a player such as VLC player to play it. I know that many people out there are probably outraged that I would talk about “stealing” movies online so casually. I would be happy to discuss intellectual property with anyone but I won’t go over it right now, I’ll just put it this way:  it doesn’t exist!

So there you go between those two options and youtube you should be able to watch whatever you want in high definition on the flatscreen TV. As a side note the new google chromecast seems to have the ability to stream video wirelessly from my computer, I haven’t tried it yet but if so I will definitely be  replacing the HDTV cord with that.

3. Audio adapter – Another thing I keep with me all the time is an audio adapter. This allows me to hook up my computer or iPod to any stereo. I love to listen to music and the little speaker on my laptop don’t cut it so this cord has turned out to be a real life saver for me. Also when watching movies or videos I can hook the computer up to whatever stereo is available and then boom! – instant traveling theater.

4. Kindle – I love to read but being on the road with physical books isn’t very practical. I actually prefer having physical books but it was one of the sacrifices I have to make. I fought the e-book for a long time and would be on the road with a box of books everywhere I went. I would send boxes of books back and forth from my parents house which would cost $75 each trip.  Needles to say, I finally gave in and purchased a Kindle. At the time it was under a hundred dollars and it has been well worth it. There are thousands and thousands of books on Amazon and if you do a simple search on Google you can usually find a free PDF of most books. In this way I can have my own mobile library, hundreds of books at my fingertips wherever I happen to be.

5. Magic Jack – This is something I have just recently come across. With this small device and an internet connection I can hook up a normal phone and have the same number no matter where I am in the world. It is only $20 a year for unlimited calls to the US and 2 cents for international calls to landlines. You can then set up a voice mail service so that if you are not at home and someone leaves you a message it will be delivered to your e-mail inbox. The phone quality seems to be much better than Skype and I like the ability to use an actual home phone.

So there you go! with those five devices you can walk into any place and have your computer, TV, stereo, library and telephone hooked up within 20 minutes. If there are any other devices that you use that you think I should add to my list please leave a comment and let everyone know.