The travel work setup
Issue 253: Creative work while constrained
In 2006, while touring for With Teeth, Trent Reznor found himself in a creatively restless place — inspired, but without a proper studio. Instead of waiting to return home, he began composing what would become Year Zero from the back of a tour bus. Armed with a laptop, minimal gear, and small pockets of time between shows, he built an entire dystopian concept album on the road. Co-produced with Atticus Ross, it came together in hotel rooms, dressing rooms, and makeshift setups — far from any traditional recording environment.
That lack of ideal conditions became the point. No guitars, no studio acoustics — just digital distortion, glitch textures, and layered atmospheres born from limitation. Year Zero wasn’t just a creative project; it was a product of constraint, mobility, and improvisation.
The lesson holds: constraint isn’t the enemy of creativity — it’s often the spark.
Whether you’re traveling for work or carving out personal projects while on the move, mobile workforces are a shift. You start solving for new Jobs to Be Done. You experiment with new gear. Like Reznor, you adapt. Sometimes what emerges isn’t just functional — it’s transformative.
The temporary desk
The two biggest things you lose away from your main workspace are screen real estate and ergonomics. That’s what I focus on replicating when I’m on the road. The iPad Pro makes an excellent second display using Universal Control, giving me the extra screen space I miss most when I’m traveling. My goal isn’t to mirror my desk setup exactly — it’s to recreate just enough of the environment that I can think clearly and execute well.
Here’s what I carry:
Laptop: MacBook Pro (14” for personal and 16” for work)
13” iPad Pro and Apple Pencil
Roost laptop stand
Opal Tadpole camera
Logitech MX keyboard
Magic trackpad
It’s a setup that balances portability with posture. The right angle, elevation, and keyboard feel make a huge difference, especially for long sessions in hotels, cafés, or coworking spaces. This isn’t a mobile compromise. It’s a flexible workspace optimized for creative work anywhere.
On the go
Working with a laptop on the go is one thing, but what happens when you don't have your laptop? When traveling, you must take advantage of the pockets of time you have on the go instead of having a dedicated desk.
Coding
On Mac OS, I rely on Cursor and Xcode to write (and vibe) code. But when I’m moving, I shift my stack:
Working Copy and Pythonista let me access and lightly edit repos from my phone.
Replit is my go-to for more involved mobile development, especially when paired with a conversational coding workflow.
This setup allows me to make tweaks to an existing project or ship full apps. Working on the go allows me to think deeply on the constraints of mobile and come up with ideas I otherwise wouldn’t while sitting at the desk.
Drawing interfaces
This is where my workflow shifts most. Without Figma, I’ve learned to embrace alternative methods:
Paper sketching
iPad Pencil flows
Even hand-drawn wireframes turned into UI through AI
You’d be surprised how much fidelity you can get without the canvas of Figma. Sometimes, lower fidelity invites better focus — and better questions.
Writing
Writing on a phone can be effective for email and brief documents. When you want to write longer form, it can be challenging on the phone, regardless of size. Last year, I found a great solution that works for me using the Moft iPhone stand. This is the best MagSafe stand I've ever had. Its vertical elevation helps with ergonomics so much.
In addition to the stand, the Logitech Keys-To-Go 21 is the perfect typing case. It's small enough to fit in a tiny bag without being backpack-sized. Between these two accessories, I've been able to write newsletters and blog posts on a train or plane without being too exhausted. Using this setup is a lesson for me that the ergonomics of the accessories are more important than screen size in some instances, and it pairs nicely with my physical notebooks.
Recap
Working on the go fosters depth of work in planning rather than executing. It doesn't mean you can't be productive based on the constraints you have. Because I'm coding and writing on the phone, it encourages different outputs. I create a lot of mobile-optimized site experiences on Replit and shorter pieces of writing. The thin moments of work encourage rapid tiny interactions over deep work. I've learned to embrace that workflow; writing a blog post in a dozen small sessions instead of the deep work that a studio allows.
List of gear
If you’re curious about what makes this kind of setup possible, here’s everything I use — no affiliate links, just what works for me:
Logitech Keys-To-Go: This keyboard is so slim and efficient I can take it with me on the plane or at a cafe without a bulky laptop
Leuchtturm 1917 Notebook
Index cards: Very useful when I don’t want to carry a notebook; only a pen and my phone
Laptop: MacBook Pro (14” for personal and 16” for work)
13” iPad Pro: It's my tablet when I go to a coffee shop and also my
Logitech MX keyboard
Magic trackpad
Constraints aren’t always the problem. Sometimes, they’re the push. I hope this inspires you to rethink your mobile setup — and maybe create your version of Year Zero.
Hyperlinks + notes
A collection of references for this post, updates, and weekly reads.
Make sure it’s 2 as the first version was not great.
Keeping the cat off the lap also key for ergo.
Knew this would be good and helpful when you referenced Trent :) Do you leave the MoFT tripod stand on your phone at all times or take it on and off ?