Backpack business: How two globetrotting designers do it

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UX designers Holly Kennedy and James Turner run their business from the road as they travel the world. Here, the couple stand in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah during an American leg of their travels. Photo courtesy of Kennedy and Turner
Designers Holly Kennedy and James Turner run their business from the road, visiting places like Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. Photo courtesy Kennedy and Turner

The lengthy list of logistics involved in starting any business eventually lands on what to do about equipment and office space.

James Turner and Holly Kennedy run their user experience design consultancy out of a single backpack each as they trek from country to country like nomadic college students with a free summer.

Kennedy says you won’t find the couple “wearing bandannas or growing dreadlocks” but they are happy living life on their own terms — with an unconventional commute and ever-changing scenery. Cult of Mac caught up with the ex-Londoners, both 26, in northern Thailand, where they were working around spotty Wi-Fi and a client 13 time zones away.

“We’re definitely not ‘traveling’ with a capital T,” Kennedy said. “It’s very much like living in London or New York. It just so happens we move apartments and countries every couple of months. We still go to the office in the morning. It’s just that the office happens to be a co-working space or a coffee shop. We love the constant change of pace.”

James Turner and Holly Kennedy will work where ever they can find WiFi, like coffee shops and wellw-red Airbnb hosts. Photo courtesy of Kennedy and Turner
James Turner and Holly Kennedy work wherever they can find Wi-Fi. Photo courtesy Kennedy and Turner

A couple of centuries after the Industrial Revolution saw people chained (sometimes literally) to machines, technology now makes it possible for many of the information age’s highest-paying jobs to be done from almost anywhere on the planet. Exactly how Kennedy and Turner, who have been together for four years, run a business from the road might be easier to figure out than how they live and work out of a single bag each.

Their spartan lifestyle is well-documented on their blog, Wandering Designers, and includes lists of what each carries.

It took some time to get their gear together. Research led them to Tom Bihn bags in Seattle. Turner chose a 26-liter backpack called the Smart Alec and Kennedy went with something a little bigger, the Aeronaut 45, which is a duffle-backpack hybrid. Both are carry-on size.

For the job, they each carry a MacBook Pro laptop in a TSA-approved sleeve and a 2 TB hard drive, partitioned for Time Machine backups. If their equipment is stolen or damaged, they can be back in business within a day.

Turner uses a Roost laptop stand and travels with an Apple Magic Mouse and Anker Bluetooth Keyboard. He also carries a Bear Wi-Fi extender and cords that are carefully sleeved or bundled with Velcro. They use a shock-absorbing putty called Sugru on their electronics.

James Turner with some of the tools he uses on the road, including a Macbook Pro, Roost laptop stand and wireless keyboard. Photo courtesy of Kennedy and Turner
James Turner shows off some of the tools he uses on the road, including a MacBook Pro, Roost laptop stand and wireless keyboard. Photo courtesy Kennedy and Turner

Turner travels with four T-shirts, an overshirt with a hidden zipper pocket for a passport, one pair of multi-purpose shorts (for hiking or swimming), four pairs of Patagonia briefs and three pairs of Tilley travel socks. He wears Levis that he replaces after six months and leather boots. (He carries a pair of running shoes.)

The clothes are constructed with sweat-wicking, quick-drying fabric that can be easily washed by hand.

Kennedy has a few more things, but also travels with just one bag.

Holly Kennedy set up this picture to show what each carry to conduct business from the road. Photo courtesy of Kennedy and Turner
Holly Kennedy set up this picture to show what she and her partner carry to conduct business from the road. Photo courtesy Kennedy and Turner

“To do this lifestyle we had to sell everything we owned,” Turner wrote on their blog. “Beds, plates, books, everything. We didn’t own anything particularly nice so it wasn’t that hard, but it did make me reconsider how I related to ‘things.’ I now love not owning much. I love that I can pack up my entire life in five minutes (yes, I timed it).”

Three forces pushed them onto the road. Boredom with London, frustration with the creative constraints of working for big companies and a quest to find a place to eventually settle.

They started on a ranch in British Columbia in February, with a three-month break from the digital world that included milking cows, herding goats and learning how to work heavy farm machinery.

From there, the couple drove down the West Coast and through middle America during a four-month leg. They had two clients but used their time to meet other designers and get a better understanding of the market in the United States. They only accept startup clients because they are more agile and willing to work with a remote agency, they said.

In all, the wandering designers have been to six countries on three continents and will leave Thailand in February for Valencia, Lyon and Berlin.

Turner and Kennedy are struck by how well they travel together, the test of any relationship. On travel days when the stress can be high, they thoroughly research the route to their Airbnb apartment and willingly spend a little extra money on transportation to save time and energy instead of trying to find a free shuttle or get the hang of the local subway.

“We make sure if we’re grouchy with each other, we spend time apart and we don’t sweat the small stuff,” Kennedy said. “We concentrate on the big issues and try not to argue over who’s doing the washing or didn’t put the loo seat down properly. When you run a business and have a relationship together, you just need to let some less-important things go.”

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