It’s another year, I have ordered all the things and tested all the cables, there’s a little bit about tech and a little bit about life. Here’s what made the cut, now I’m going to be factoring in weight of everything as well.
The flat-lay this year was taken at my sister Charleen’s house, where she hosted Christmas for our family for the very first time. Charleen and I have worked on the home in Austin for several years and it was awesome to see it all spruced up for the holidays and also for my Mom to visit it for the first time in 13 years. Part of the idea of my sister being in Austin is that if there’s a hurricane or anything in Houston my Mom can just drive up a few hours and be totally comfortable, so we put in an elevator, solar panels, Powerwalls, fiber, and Starlink. Her house is also my Austin headquarters when I’m in town, she set up a nice desk for me to work. Christmas was the beta-test, with Mom + nurse + four dogs all up in Austin; the whole circus was cozy and comfy for the holidays.
I was telling my friend Rob Reid the stories of my Mom and sister’s homes said I had to listen to the song Get Mama a House by Teddybears and B.o.B, it’s a good earworm and I will say that getting them both in beautiful homes they love has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve spent money on. So as advice for other entrepreneurs, get your momma a house! 🙂
TL;DR on the gadgets: The most significant change to my bag has been the introduction of the Daylight Computer, which I think everyone should have and is a genuinely new platform, and that we’ve finally reached reliability and excellence on retractable USB-C cords, these Baseus cords available in a variety of colors and 3.3ft and 6.6ft lengths. I give them out like candy, everybody loves them. I’ve also started wearing Havn hats/underwear/shirts/etc to block unnecessary EMF. (They used to be called Lambs.) And I’ve found great nootropic benefits with DryWater and Celsius. Without further ado, here’s the list:
THE BACKPACK
- Aer Fit Pack 3 backpack. This is still my go-to, and it’s embroidered with Automattic and WordPress logos. This is part of our standard swag at Automattic, and I’d like to get a WP-embroidered one on our .org swag store when that’s back up.
DEVICES
- 16″ Macbook Pro, right now the M4 Max with 128 GB RAM, amazing what you can run locally on this this thing. I’m very excited about inference at the edge in the coming years.
- iPad Pro, which I use as a second display when I’m on the road using Apple’s screen mirroring giving me another 10 inches of screen.
- Daylight Computer DC-1 represents the first truly new platform I spend time on. It’s a healthier way of computing and I would like to increase my % screentime on it in the coming years. Also amazing for kids.
- Kindle Paperwhite, this might lose to the Daylight in the future but I do like its form factor.
- iPhone 16 Pro, you use your phone so much just always have the latest model. This is my primary phone.
- Google Pixel 9 Pro finally is iPhone-parity for me, I use this mostly for tethering with Google Fi and testing our apps on Android. I got the pink one, it’s really a beautiful device and I could imagine a world where it was my daily driver but there’s just so much convenience in the continuity features of an all-Apple life. It’s the little things, like copy and paste, that really hook you.
One nice thing is that the iPad and two phones all have connectivity plans, which I try to spread across different providers so I always have something that works or I can tether to.
POWER/ADAPTER
You should ABC, Always Be Charging!
- Baseus 8-in-1 USB-C hub, 99% of the time this is used as an ethernet or HDMI connector, it’s pretty reliable and not too heavy. (86 grams)
- Anker 150W Charger Block, this is just a little extra, I could probably drop it.
- Anker 47W Nano Charger, nice for setting up a charging station by the bed.
- Baseus 100W power cable, with detachable charging block. This is the core of the entire system, and most of the time I just use this. It’s chunky at 236 grams but anchors everything else.
- Belkin 37W Dual USB Car Charger, which I find myself using mostly in Europe when in transfers.
- USB-C adapters, just in case.
- Whoop 4.0 Charger/Battery Pack, I really enjoy the stress and sleep tracking features of the Whoop, and this keeps it charged. I did a podcast with their founder Will Ahmed.
CABLES
- Insignia Micro USB 3.0 Charger, this is by far the most cursed cable I carry around, which is for taking photos off my Nikon SLR.
- Cable Matters 4K HDMI Cable, I like the ultra-thin and this can be clutch when connecting to a conference room or hotel TV.
- Baseus 100W/5A retractable cables, now in two sizes 3.3ft and 6.6ft (about 100cm/200cm). These are my favorite new things! Love love love.
- Apple Watch Magnetic Fast Charger, I also usually wear an Apple Watch Ultra. I don’t do too many notifications, but it’s amazing for finding my phone.
AUDIO
- AirPods Pro Gen 2 for pairing with the iPhone, these are so good and if I forget them it’s the first thing I pick up at the airport electronics store.
- Pixel Buds Pro, for pairing with the Pixel 9 Pro, also amazing I just don’t use as much.
- Custom ear plugs, for protecting hearing when the sound or music is too loud.
- UE Premier custom headphones, this is still the best audiophile experience I have, great on planes.
- USB-C Headphone Jack Adapter
- Belkin RockStar 5-Jack Audio Splitter
- Belkin RockStar 3.5mm Audio w/USB-C Charge Adapter
MISCELLANEOUS ELECTRONICS
- Aranet4 CO2 monitor, this can change your life, if the area you’re in isn’t well ventilated then you run cognitively lower without even noticing it.
- Logitech mouse, with quiet clicks, I find a mouse is just ergonomically an easy productivity upgrade from the built-in trackpad.
- Flipper Zero, the funnest little cloning gadget I’ve tried.
- Pixel G1s RGB Video Light, can be used in party mode to set lights.
- USB-C chargeable Candle Lighter
- Petzl E_LITE Headlamp
- Universal Airplane Phone Holder
PERSONAL ITEMS
- Passport
- Hermes business card holder, which I’ve been using more since spending more time in Asia with the increased community activity there.
- Thread Wallet elastic card holder/wallet
- Hay catch-all Pouch
- Sea2See Sunglasses
- Marunao mint case
- Lockpick set, you can learn to unlock most locks in a few hours of training. Like the Flipper this is kinda a hacker tool.
- Blue Rock, a little worry stone you can hold in your hand and rub.
- WordPress ring, because I’m married to the game.
- WordPress pin, spruces up any outfit with a little open source rizz.
- Plastic holder with stickers for our various brands and products, I love seeing WordPress or Tumblr stickers in random places, and sometimes place them myself.
- Notecards from Ugmonk Analog, you can rabbit hole their entire site to upgrade your desk game. Lovely stuff.
- Maruman N196A Nemosine Notebook.
- OHTO Needle-point Pen 0.7mm, picked up in Japan and I like for when I want to draft something more thin-lined.
- Montblanc Heritage Egyptomania Doue ballpoint pen, which I like for signing important things and also crossing out todos on the Ugmonk cards.
TRAVEL ESSENTIALS
- Icewear Merino wool gaiter
- Lambs EMF WaveStopper beanie, literally a tin-foil hat.
- RAINS insulated gloves
- Gore Thermo Beanie
- Olo InVision Eye Mask
- Herb Bar essential oil blend, always nice to have something good-smelling around. Not endorsing this specifically, but I always have some essential oil around.
- Immunity Throat Spray, suggested to me by the mushroom GOAT himself, Paul Stamets, I saw him use this at an event we were both at. When I travel or am around a bunch of people I’ll do three sprays in morning and night, and I’ve often been the one in my group to not get the “conference cold” that goes around.
- Z-Biotics, introduced to me by my friend Sid, it’s kind of a game-changer anytime you drink, lessens the negative effects of alcohol. It works so well there’s a possibility of moral hazard. They have some new stuff around fiber, it’s an interesting company to follow.
- Celsius energy powder packet, this is nice to turn any drink into a Celsius, when you need an extra boost. Be careful with these as they have 200mg of caffeine! I try to avoid after 2pm, and not in first hour I wake up.
- DryWater electrolytes powder packet, I’ve switched to this over LMNT because I like the ingredients and sourcing better. Electrolytes when you first wake up is better than coffee, I’ll often mix this with tea.
If you want to get super-nerdy, here’s a spreadsheet with the weights. Basically I’m 10.7 pounds of computing devices (Macbook, iPad, Daylight, Flipper, iPhone, Pixel), and ten pounds of other stuff. Add in a bottle of water or other random things I put in the bag ends up being ~22-28 pounds most of the time, which I’d like to get down.
But with my backpack I can tackle a really wide variety of situations. It’s fun! If you have any tips or suggestions please leave them in the comments! I’m always trying out new gear.
Hi Matt,
What about the Nikon SLR your mention in point 15?
Curious to know if it fits in the bag with everything, or you have camera bag you recommend. Also – wieghts.
Additionally, have you considered ever switching to a Fujifilm camera?
They have some really compact bodies, and their website fujifilm-x.com is a WordPress site 😉 .
We haven’t met before but I hope to meet you at WC Asia this year!
-Jimmy
A would need a whole separate post on cameras! I’ve tried Fujifilm before, these days I mostly go between the Nikon and Sony.
It’s a nice and peaceful blog. I like the snowflakes. ❤
Keep your head cool and play smart.
Hey Matt … any camera for these urgent meetings outside home?
I just use the built-in camera or I can use the iPhone if I need something higher quality. Portrait mode on the built-in settings works pretty well.
Thanks Matt.. last year I bought the tadpole after I saw it in your bag and it is okay… better than the computer cam for sure … thanks Matt… please keep us inspired the “remote Starbucks workers” as they are calling us..
Thanks for sharing.
But 0.7mm for thin lines? 🙂 I switched from 0.5mm to 0.3mm and only now can say that the lines are indeed thin.
Preach. Uniball makes a .28 and it’s my goto for writing notes in books.
I know you’re busy, but is there any chance of a follow-up post on how you pack all that when you travel? I don’t travel as much as you do, so what’s in my backpack is considerably less, but I probably spend more time packing and figuring out the best place to pack the different things I travel with inside my Aer Fit 2 than I do selecting the actual items.
I often hear Alec Baldwin saying, “Coffee’s for closers,” when I have my morning cup.
Fantastic stuff here, Matt! These are other stuff found in my bag (that are not already in yours):
1. A fidget to relieve prolonged travel stress. My favorite is the LAUTIE Shuffle V3 AAA.
2. Two spare AirTag. One to be used for the bag, the other for the luggage, if any.
3. A single clothespin to clip the hotel room drapes together, if needed.
4. An inexpensive mechanical all-day-long GMT to keep track of time zones and not be robbed, such as Seiko SSK001 or others. It depends on how I wake up in the morning when I leave home.
5. And a d20 set of dice, because you never know.
6. Not technically speaking, inside my bag, but Endel on my phone
All good. My favorite is the little box of stickers 🙂
I gave him that box on a whim like a decade ago! I’ve never seen a gift get more use than that one. I found it in the craft section of Michael’s if you want one.
i’m intrigued matt. you’ve included some emf reducing threads but also use bluetooth headphones…
one of my favorite annual posts of yours!
> Lockpick set, you can learn to unlock most locks in a few hours of training.
I’m really curious, how has having this in your bag at all times come in handy for you?
Nevertheless, I want to learn to use one now!
It’s a fun skill! I use it like once a year, maybe opening up a cabinet at an Airbnb or luggage you lost the key to.
Just curious, what’s your perfume? Do you bring one in the bag?
Right now I go between Another13 from Le Labo and Molecule 01.
I have the Ohto pen and the Maruman notebook myself. We should compare stationary some time!
Always love your bag posts
What are the MacOS menubar, apps, etc. that you can’t live without?
Per the comments on cameras, I moved to using Freewell cases and lenses and it’s a game changer for taking pics on the road: https://www.freewellgear.com/en/
Love these posts….always makes me pick up something I didn’t know I needed!
Hi Matt,
I see a lot of options for listening to audio, but it’s not clear what you use as your audio source. What are your go-to music streaming apps? Do you use, or have you considered, a DAP with a higher end DAC and audio hardware with lossless files?
I mostly use Spotify, which I bet will get some cool hi-fi upgrades this year, I’ve already seen it in non-US markets.
Been waiting for the Hi-fi since 4 years now – no news so far.
Fascinating list! One thing I’ve found to be extremely useful when traveling is a medium pouch in my backpack that holds “stuff I need/want while seated on the plane” (book, iPad mini, earbuds, charging cables, tissues…).
When I’m about to sit down, I yank it out and then stash the backpack (overhead, room permitting). And by the way, the “medium pouch” is actually just a very small Eagle Creek packing cube that has a handle.
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing.
12. Belkin 37W Dual USB Car Charger – Thanks for this tip. I had never thought of this before. I will include it from now :P. I mostly miss charging while transfer!!
I posted my backpack right before you did yours. I love the Peak Design tech pouch where I fit all these cables and other things. Also, I use carabiners as a “security through obscurity” measure so that people cannot open my backpack easily. And an AirTag in the backpack so I can locate it.
Peak Design makes really great products, I think there’s a world where I could be all-in on their stuff. I just have found a sweet spot with Aer and it’s become second-nature to me.
Thank you, Matt Mullenweg, for sharing this. I believe “Get your momma a house! ” is a dream many of us share. You are truly fortunate to have turned it into a reality and to experience the joy that comes with such a heartfelt achievement.
You’re a braver man than me putting stickers directly on your laptop!
Thanks for sharing – there’s a lot of useful stuff there!
You are very organized, tidy, and well-arranged. I am a wandering mess, with everything in disarray.
I can be a mess sometimes, too! Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Each time you’ve mentioned it, I’ve wanted to get this backpack — but then I’ve noticed that it doesn’t seem to have a hip belt. Am I wrong about that? I’m a hip-belt believer! It’s a wonderful (back-saving) thing to shift weight from one’s shoulders and back to one’s hips and legs, and each time I make the transfer (this happens at least once a day), I feel like I’m putting on a special suit, like Iron Man. In 2025, I’m going to shout from the rooftops that ~22-28 pounds is too much for Matt 4.1’s shoulders!
Hi Chip! I too am a hip belt believer, not because I’m (ahem) a few years older than Matt, but because I’ve had back surgery. I am a firm supporter of Pakt (https://paktbags.com) bags because all their straps stash away and I can customize it to whatever I feel like that day. The main straps are well padded, the packing sections are wonderful, and the day pack is a lifesaver at conferences.
Bonus: I once emailed with a question and the founder answered me in a heartbeat.
Did you ditch the SmartMouth this year? I’ve been using it religiously since you shared it in 2023’s, “What’s in my bag?.”
Nope I still use it! I usually have a packet in my bag I guess it didn’t make the flat-lay this year though.
Wow, that’s like carrying a mini survival kit! Impressive how everything fits in one bag!
Seeing what’s inside your bag reminds me of Fumio Sasaki’s book Goodbye, Thing, where there’s a photo of someone’s bag contents, and with just those items, they can enjoy travel anywhere.
Be careful carrying the lock-pick set.
I know for certain that it is not legal to carry one in Japan. I’d leave it at home when travelling internationally.
Kindle is one of my favourite gadgets of all time! And thanks sharing about the gadgets you use.
Next thing might be a “what’s on my phone” thing? Would love to see your productivity systems.
Hi Matt,
How do you pack your clothes?
Is that a separate carry-on?
If so, do you do a duffel bag or a roller?
I like G-Ro for my carry-on, which went out of business but has been resurrected as Sottos: https://mysottos.com/
I also use Rimowa luggage for bigger stuff. I used to use duffels but always have wheels now.
Nice things, Matt. I’ll look into the ones I don’t know. I bought something from Apple for the first time on Facebook Marketplace on December/24—a seemingly new, cheap iPhone 8 for which I paid 380 BRL. That idea came to me because of your post about an Apple video that values the WordPress app/brand/ecosystem. Its 4k camera has great quality. I felt I needed to reduce my use of Android and Google services. I never thought that the freedom coming from the humble open-source/WordPress ecosystem would combine so well with the Apple lifestyle and ecosystem.