The life of a blogger can be nauseating. You’re a rolling stone and wherever you lay your laptop is your home. Your laptop bag is essentially your corner office and must contain everything needed for a day’s work.
What follows is a gift guide for your favorite blogger, but can easily apply to college students, city dwellers and anyone else living out of a messenger bag.
Brunton Power Knife
A good blogger is always prepared and should have the Brunton Power Knife somewhere on their body. This clever gadget packs the most popular charging cables in a Swiss Army Knife package. Best of all, the cables do not pass data so a person can recharge knowing none of their data will be secretly transferred.
Aeropress
Coffee. It’s important and there isn’t a better device to make the sweet brew than an Aeropress. This classic gadget is magical and lasts forever. Just throw in some ground beans, top it off with hot water, and slowly press the plunger over a mug or tumbler. It’s impossible to make a bad cup of coffee with an Aeropress.
The Aeropress is $25 and is available in most housewares stores.
Memobottle
While coffee is essential to life, water is nice to have, too. Not many of today’s bags make it easy to carry a plastic water bottle, but the memobottle does away with the traditional round bottle. Instead, it’s shaped like a pad of paper so it can easily fit in most bags. The memobottle is available in different sizes. For a bottle the size of a sheet of letter-size paper, it’s $33. Smaller sizes cost less.
Sadly, this gift will have to come with an IOU. The memobottle will not ship until early 2015.
Kindle Paperwhite
Sometimes you just need a good book. The Kindle has long been the stalwart leader of the ebook market and the $119 Paperwhite version is the best bet. Sure, you can save some and get the $79 Kindle, but then you lose the built-in light. And then there’s the fancy $199 Kindle Voyage, but at just $119, the Paperwhite offers enough e-ink goodness for the price. Just don’t forget the case, but skip the official Amazon case and opt for this generic one instead. It’s 75% less and is just as good.
Karma Go
Wifi isn’t everywhere. Bring it with you. Karma is a great solution for occasional use. Unlike similar products from the wireless carriers, it doesn’t require a subscription or contract. It’s just $14 per gigabyte, which is plenty of room for email, Facebook and reading TechCrunch. Plus the data never expires.
The Karma Go costs $150 and the company is currently throwing in $20 worth of data for free. The device will ship in December.
Moto Hint Earbud
Ignore the fashion faux pas. Sometimes a Bluetooth headset is a lifesaver and the Moto Hint Earbud is small enough no one will notice you’re wearing one. The tiny headset costs $149 and comes with a sleek case that doubles as a recharging station. It’s compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled device, but when paired with a Moto X, the headset can retrieve information from Google. Ask it the weather. Ask it stock quotes. Just don’t ask it to make you look normal when wearing it.
Parrot Zik 2.0
For those that work in busy surroundings, noise canceling headphones are a must. Just slip them on for silent solitude. There isn’t a better bet than the new Parrot Zik 2.0 headphones, either. At $399, they’re a touch expensive, but they’re worth the cash compared to the alternatives. They feature Bluetooth connectivity, long battery life, and touch controls on the sides of the leather ear cups.
The Parrot Zik 2.0 will be available in various colors for $399 starting this month.
Whipping Post Vintage Messenger Bag
When your bag is your office, you want something nice. The $300 Whipping Post Vintage Messenger Bag is one of the finest leather bags currently available. Made of huge swaths of leather, the bag easily lives up to its name as a vintage messenger bag. The leather will age beautifully and is durable enough to survive even the most brutal subway rides. The bag lacks silly nonsense like pen slots, headphone holes or other needless add-ons found on many of today’s bags. Your grandfather didn’t have those things and he survived just fine. The Whipping Post Vintage Messenger Bag is just a damn fine bag.
Macbook Air
For homemakers to professionals, the Macbook Air is a fantastic choice. The svelte notebook has evolved over the years into a tiny workhorse. The 11-inch version starts at $899 and is perfect for students or constant notetakers. But for everyone else, the 13-inch models are better bets. The larger screen is well worth the extra $100.
The latest MacBook Airs run OS X Yosemite which beautifully integrate with the owner’s iPhone.
