Technology is the key enabler for location independence, so here we’ve listed tools and resources we use and recommend ourselves to live and work anywhere.
Articles & Mini Guides
- A Comprehensive Guide To Staying Connected Globally For Location Independent Digital Nomads
- The Ultimate Mobile Office For The Location Independent Professional
- An Introductory Guide To Dropbox for Digital Nomads
Apps, Services & Tools
Below we’ve listed the main contenders, recorded a brief “Tech Talk” audio where we discuss our experiences with the different contenders & why we chose what we did and our recommended solution. In the coming months, we will be adding comparison guides, “how to” tutorials to become power users of your chosen tools and more..
Gmail via Google Apps | Fastmail | Zoho
What We Use & Why:
We use Google Apps as our main business platform which means we use it for email, office documents (word processing, spreadsheets etc.).
It’s probably one of the most popular “cloud computing” platforms of today and if you’ve ever used Gmail, you’ll find it hard to ever go back to another email system again.
Despite that glowing review, listen to why you might decide to choose Fastmail or Zoho over Google in the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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VOIP
Skype/SkypeIn | Google Voice (US only) | Ring Central (for US toll free numbers)
What We Use & Why:
Ever since we first became location independent, we’ve had a SkypeIn number each for the UK & the US (and a couple of others when we had clients in that country).
It’s our primary mode of communication and while Google Voice is becoming more and more popular, most people we communicate with these days have a Skype account whether they’re using Google for other things or not.
Skype is the current default choice for most digital nomads which is why I’d recommend having an account for use. For more additional reasons to use Skype & a few little-known benefits to using Skype, listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Postal Mail
EarthClassMail (for US addresses)| SwissPostbox (for European addresses)
What We Use & Why:
Ok so we don’t actually use this at the moment as the in-laws kindly let us use their postal address and manage most of our mail for us (we’ve cut right down and barely get anything anyway).
However we started out using Earth Class Mail to begin with and found it an excellent service – although it’s costly if you don’t receive much postal mail. At the time there weren’t many alternatives so our options were limited.
For more thoughts and advice on whether it’s worth using an online mailbox to manage your postal mail plus what you need to consider before you sign up, listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Online Backup
Mozy | Backblaze | Dropbox
What We Use & Why:
If you’ve ever lost any stuff in a great computer crash (yes, that’s an official phrase!), you’ll know why we’re obsessive about backing up and why you should be too…which is why we actually use both Backblaze and Dropbox to backup our stuff.
We’ve tried Mozy out too and while there was nothing wrong with it, we prefer the combination of Backblaze and Dropbox which we use for different things, as well as backing up.
For more details on how we use both Backblaze and Dropbox (including useful tips on getting more use out of them than just backing up), listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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VPN Service
12vpn | Hotspot Shield
If you have ever tried to access a site from overseas and had the frustration of being denied due to your location, then you need to start using a VPN (Virtual Private Network).
By installing and using a VPN service on your laptop, you’ll be able to access services and websites which are blocked by the governments of the country you’re in. This is especially useful in countries like the UAE, China and other countries which strictly monitor and control web usage. You’d be surprised at the sites which are banned (e.g. Flickr, Google etc.) so using a VPN is a smart way of ensuring you can gain access to the content you need, wherever you go.
A VPN also protects your privacy and security when you surf on open-access wifi spots so it’s highly recommended for digital nomads who frequently connect to multiple wifi spots in places where the security is questionable.
Listen to why we only recommend 12vpn (despite the numerous other services available) and pick up a top tech tip which will save you stress and frustration on the road in the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Online Invoicing
Freshbooks | Xero | SimplyBill | LessAccounting
What We Use & Why:
We’ve dabbled with a number of online invoicing systems over the past few years, including all of those we’ve listed above.
We’ve consistently returned to using Freshbooks because of the way it integrates with Paypal and other services we use and the ease of use for us and clients.
However if you need multi-currency then consider Xero or if you want a simple, cheap service that gets the job done try SimplyBill.
For more information, listen to the Tech Talk below for thoughts on each option we’ve listed and which one might best match your needs.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Payment Processors/Checkouts
Paypal | Google Checkout | AlertPay | PayPay
What We Use & Why:
Love it or hate it, there isn’t really a decent and cost effective alternative to Paypal for most people who run an online business and need to take payments online.
In the 4+ years that we’ve been using it, it’s functioned effectively and efficiently and has done everything we need to do – hence the recommendation.
However, we do have our business & online payment system set up in a way which means we aren’t solely reliant on Paypal. To find out more about the set-up we use & why you should consider doing something similar, listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Shopping Cart
1shoppingcart | ejunkie | ZenCart | OScommerce
What We Use & Why:
Many online entrepreneurs will tell you that 1sC is the standard system of all “professionals”.
Having trialled it several times (the latest in July 2010), I beg to differ. It’s clunky, expensive and complete overkill for the needs of most online businesses – especially if you’re starting out.
If you’d like to hear more thoughts about why 1SC isn’t necessary for many online businesses – and some of the key differences between the functionality of the two, listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Mailing Lists & Autroresponders
aWeber | iContact | Mailchimp
What We Use & Why:
We first started using aweber about 4 years ago but found it clunky and very unintuitive to use so we switched to iContact which had a far simpler & more friendly interface.
Since then however, aweber have marginally improved their interface and offer a few more complex options for managing your lists/subscribers which aren’t yet available in iContact and so we switched back in 2010.
Both are similar so for more details about our experiences & how we found each (and what we think about Mailchimp), listen to the Tech Talk below…
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Affiliate Management
ejunkie | 1shoppingcart | iDevAffiliate | Post Affiliate Pro | Share A Sale | Clickbank
What We Use & Why:
I spent over 15 months researching & testing different affiliate systems & platforms which would help us manage some of the more complex affiliate agreements we have. In the end, ejunkie made the most sense given the requirements we have.
My extensive research however, included trialling pretty much all of the solutions and getting some great first-hand experience and knowledge about the way they work, their limitations, drawbacks and why I wouldn’t use some of them just yet.
To hear more about my research, findings and recommendations, listen to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Online Collaboration
Google Sites/Docs | Dropbox | Basecamp HQ
What We Use & Why:
If you need to work collaboratively on files and documents with other people or share multiple resources across a project, then an online collaboration/project platform is a great tool to have.
There are plenty of options in this area but my top recommendation would be Google sites & Google docs – especially if you’re already using Google as your main email platform for your online business.
You can find out how we use these tools by listening to the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Premium WordPress Themes
Headway | Themeforest | Woothemes
What We Use & Why:
It’s no secret that we love the Headway theme for WordPress and that we use it for all of our sites and our clients’ sites. There’s a reason for that – it’s not like any other WordPress theme because it can look completely different for every single site.
Check out Shine & Glue for examples of sites built on Headway.
However, there are circumstances in which we wouldn’t recommend using Headway and would recommend other premium themes from places like Woothemes or Themeforest.
Find out when you should and shouldn’t opt for Headway in the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Memberships & Communities
aMember | Wishlist Member | Ning | Buddypress
What We Use & Why:
Actually, we’ve used several different options for membership site functionality (including Visiongate and other “hosted” options).
There are a number of reasons why I’ve used aMember on a number of occasions but have recently gone down the Wishlist route to try it out and because of its easy integration with WordPress.
As I’m a bit of a techy, I’d probably have to say that I actually prefer aMember but for non-techies would recommend Wishlist. For more thoughts about which is most suitable option for different types of content, check out the Tech Talk below.
Listen to the Tech Talk:
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Videos & Screencasting
Camtasia | Jing | Screenflow (Mac only) | iShowu (mac only) | Animoto
What We Use & Why:
We both have Macs so we use Screenflow & iShowU for longer video recordings and screencasts. However for most of our quick projects, we use Jing which is free to download and use for smaller, shorter videos.
The other service we use & recommend to create very professional-looking videos is Animoto which creates videos out of still photos & images but can also incorporate video shots and music.
I highly recommend both if you’re looking for an alternative to forking out for expensive software like Camtasia.
Forum Software/Platforms
vBulletin | SMF | phpBB |
What We Use & Why:
Once again, over the years we’ve used vBulletin, phpBB and a range of other forum platforms for projects we’ve run.
We recently moved 2 online community sites over from Ning and had to repeat the process of trying to figure out which forum software would be the most suitable.
After much research, testing and tweaking – we opted for Simple Machines (which is free!) and we couldn’t be happier.
Full disclosure: We have used affiliate links throughout this section because we’ve tested, trialled and played about with almost everything we’ve listed here…and are happy to point you in the direction of the services that might work for you. Feel free not to use our affiliate links but we’ll appreciate it if you do.
Travel Tools & Resources
Planning & Booking Flights
Momondo – a price comparison search engine for flights which helps you find and compare fares from +800 travel sites. Not a travel agency (and they don’t sell flight tickets), they simply google flights across sites to make it easy for you to save time and money.
Kayak – award-winning website for fare compares.
FareCompare – tool for comparing prices of routes at different sites like Orbitz etc. Also some very useful articles sharing insider secrets on when/how to get the best fares and discount first class tickets.
FareCast – useful if you want to know whether that great airfare you found is going to stay, go up or go even lower – a useful tool for airfare predictions.
Skyscanner – useful site for comparing the best days/weeks/months on all the budget airlines throughout Europe. They’ve expanded this now to cover more global routes but it’s less user-friendly than it used to be.
FlightAware – lets you track any flight from any airline in the US
Air Ninja – lists all budget and discount airlines that fly the route you’re looking for.
Airline Quality – ranks airlines based on a number of criteria. Useful if you’re searching for fares and you get a choice between Macedonian Airlines or Air Algerie and have no idea which airline to go for.
Pre-Flight Preparations
Seatguru – layout configurations for (almost) every plane for (almost) every airline, allowing you to pre-book the right seat with confidence. Seatguru claims to be “The ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information”.
Flagxo – quite a useful service for finding out information about the facilities and services at worldwide airports – created by other travellers.
