The Always Connected Blogger Go Bag

As the editor-in-chief of Lifehacker (and a bit of a control freak), I try to stay connected even when I'm out of town. Today I'm showing off what's in my bag to help me stay on track.

Whether I'm heading to New York for a week at the Gawker offices or just spending the weekend out of town, I like to stay connected. It's not always a good thing—do as I say, not as I do—but I have a pretty solid set of travel essentials that help me work (keeping track of the site) and play (since all my leisure reading material is digital). Here's what always comes with me:

• The Eagle Creek Heritage Checkpoint Backpack: This is what holds all of my stuff, and it's the best backpack I've ever owned. It's deceptively spacious, has a TSA-friendly fold-out pouch for my laptop, slides onto the handle of my carry-on luggage, and is quite comfortable. Sadly, it's been discontinued.


• MacBook Air: Still my favorite laptop, even when I'm using Windows. It's thin, light, and travels like a dream. I keep it in an Incipio sleeve (not pictured) when not in use. And yes, that is an Iron Man decal.


• Grid-It Wrap: I love this darn thing. It holds my iPad Air, my rooted Nook, and all my little chargers and cables.


• Karma 4G Hotspot: I rarely find myself without internet, but on the occasions that I do, this hostpot is perfect. It's completely pay-as-you-go, so I only pay for the data I use, whether I'm traveling or just having an internet outage at home.


• EyeTV: This was a gift, and while I don't use it much, it's tiny and handy to keep on hand. Plug it into your iPhone or iPad and you can watch broadcast TV instantly.


• Klean Kanteen Insulated Water Bottle: I never thought I'd get excited about a water bottle, but this thing is amazing. Even after hours on the beach in the hot sun, this thing keeps my water ice cold. I never leave home without it.


• Beyerdynamic DT 235 headphones: These aren't my main cans, but they're good for travel. Fairly cheap (got them used), pretty good flat sound, closed-back so I don't annoy people on the plane, and a very comfortable headband. Depending on the trip or day, I'll swap these out for my smaller but much-loved Monoprice earbuds.


• Portable power strip and USB plug: I cannot for the life of me figure out what the brand or model of this little thing is, but it works well. Perfect for charging at the airport, in the hotel room, or wherever.


• Logitech Anywhere Mouse MX: Because screw you touchpads, I hate you.


• 180s earmuffs: Because New York is damn cold in the winter.


• myCharge Power Bank: It may be bigger than its more popular alternatives, but it holds a pretty massive charge. Doesn't fit in your pocket, but I don't need it to—I just need it to get me through a long flight if necessary.


• Moto X: the best damn smartphone I've ever used, hands down. I'm using Aio Wireless, which is pretty great service for the price.


• Tic Tacs and Moisturizer: Look, sometimes I have bad breath and dry skin.


• Gamma Ray computer glasses: I generally use my Gunnars at home, but these travel nicely and don't look quite as silly.

That may seem like a lot, but most of this stuff basically lives in my backpack, so when it's time to get out of town, all I do is throw in my laptop and grid-it and I'm good to go, with a pretty sizable tech survival kit. I don't travel super often, but when I do, I'm fully prepared to do more work than I should.

If you have a great go bag with a useful organization scheme and great features, let us know! You can share your bag by posting it to your personal Kinja blog using the tag featured bag or adding it to our Lifehacker Go Bag Show and Tell Flickr pool. Photos must be at least at least 640x360. Please include information about your bag, what you put in it, and any relevant details about how you made it awesome. If yours catches our eye, we might just feature it!