As a digital nomad that country hops every few months, I cannot afford to bring my home office setup along.

Thankfully, a good portable monitor goes a long way to helping me be as productive as I was back home while living the nomad life.

P.S. If you’re looking to a portable monitor one, I recommend checking Reddit for authentic reviews. Here’s a compilation of top monitors according to Redditors

However, one problem is that portable monitors are designed to stand BESIDE your laptop. Which means that I still need to look down to my screens.

This leads to bad posture while working.

Like this:

Bad posture looking down at laptop

Ideally, my main screen should be eye level to reduce the strain on my neck and back.

I’ll be sharing with you the options I’ve tried to raise my screen to my eye level, along with their pros and cons.

Option 1: Stack on Top of Stuff Around the House

Didn't have a photo of my monitor on top of random stuff, but you get the idea from this
Didn't have a photo of my monitor on top of random stuff, but you get the idea from this

When I first started nomading, this was the first solution I tried.

I basically gathered as many appropriate items as I can find from around the Airbnb, stacked them up, and plonked my monitor on top.

Pros:

  • Super simple
  • No need to carry around anything

Cons:

  • Unreliable because many Airbnb don’t have enough appropriate items

I gave up on this method after I realized that most Airbnbs don’t have enough big books which is usually the best suited items to stack.

I had to resort to using a pot once. But then we had to use the pot and I would have to rebuild my setup each time… So yeah not recommended.

Option 2: DIY Cardboard Stand

DIY cardboard stand for portable monitor

I’m pretty proud of this one. It is stable enough and folds flat for easy packing. It is also super light.

I decided on the triangular design because I figured that’s the most stable structure that uses the least materials (so that it’s as thin and light as possible for packing).

I built it by taking scrap cardboard and scoring them along the fold lines, and then using hex bolts and nuts to fasten the cardboards together to keep the triangular structure.

Pros:

  • Very light
  • Folds flat for easy packing

Cons:

  • Effort needed to DIY
  • Setting up is not as seamless

Option 3: Tripod + Tablet Clamp (Favourite)

Tripod with tablet clamp to raise monitor to eye level

This was what I came up with for my wife (To be exact, I came up with this for myself and my wife claimed it).

It consists of a flexible tripod attached to a tablet clamp that can hold the portable monitor.

The tripod is very handy for taking photos when my wife and I are out exploring outside our work hours - so it’s something I would’ve brought along anyway.

Pros:

  • Adjustable
  • Very sturdy
  • Easy to setup and move around

Cons:

  • A bit heavier than the DIY cardboard stand
  • Tripod is extra weight if you have no use for it

Hope this helps!