My $450 portable monitor broke after 3 weeks in Lisbon, and now I'm a paper notebook guy on the road

I've been doing the nomad thing for about 2 years, mostly bouncing between Portugal and Mexico. Last month in Lisbon, I grabbed a cheap portable monitor to set up a second screen at cafes, but the screen started flickering after 3 weeks and totally died on day 24. Instead of buying another one, I switched to a simple paper notebook for my daily planning and budget tracking. Turns out, writing things by hand makes me remember my client deadlines way better than having a glowing panel next to me. I also save about 10 minutes each morning because I'm not fussing with cables and adapters. The weird part is that I still use my laptop for actual work, but the notebook handles the thinking part. Has anyone else ditched a piece of tech on the road and found a low-tech replacement that actually stuck? I'm curious what else I might be overpacking.

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nelson.gavin18d ago

Bought a $30 knockoff Kindle in Barcelona last year for the beach, and it died in the pool on day two. Left it on a lounge chair, someone stepped on it, screen cracked like a spider web. Now I just bring a paperback and a ziplock bag for my phone. The book weighs less than the charger I was carrying for the Kindle anyway. Funny how the stuff we think makes travel easier just ends up being more crap to babysit.