São Miguel - Gear

São Miguel is breathtaking from above—tea fields, volcanic ridges, and layered greens. We use the DJI Mini 4 Pro for aerial photography. It’s light enough to travel with (under 250g, so it often skips registration hassles) but powerful enough to capture amazing footage.

While Lava Coliving has a separate stack of towels for beach days and hot springs, we'd recommend also bringing your own microfiber towel. A dark color is essential to prevent any residue stains from the minerals in the hot springs.

We loved the Keen Hyperport H2 Sandals for hiking on the island's terrain. They're grippy, quick-drying, and sturdy enough for muddy paths or rocky shorelines.

You’ll want a bottle you can refill at fresh springwater taps, such as Glória Patri in Furnas. This one is leakproof, easy to drink from upright or tilted, and keeps water cold all day.

There are so many amazing hikes on the island. If you intend to hike regularly, AllTrails is a very useful app. The free version is sufficient for well-marked trails. If you're a more serious hiker, the paid version gets you offline maps, weather overlays, terrain previews, and more.

We use SafetyWing's Nomad Insurance to protect ourselves in case we face an unexpected medical emergency. In addition to covering medical treatment and hospitalization, their policy also covers lost luggage, travel delays, and emergency evacuations.

It can be a hassle to buy a new eSIM every time you enter a different country. That's why we use Saily's Global eSIM, which provides coverage in all the countries we regularly travel to. It's great to land in a new destination and already have data.

Using a VPN is essential to protecting your digital life when moving through unfamiliar networks. We use NordVPN to encrypt our connection on public wifi—whether in airports, cafés, or coworking spaces.