As a soloist with a significant amount of travel on the books for the near future, I was stoked to recently win an iPad. Then I sat down to actually set it up and was quickly overwhelmed.

The App Store is huge (2 million apps), and, on average, iOS users download and use around 100 apps. So how do you cut through all of that and find the iPad apps that will allow you to be productive as a soloist on the road?

Obviously any tablet apps have to complement your current workflow … so here’s the list of my top 10 iPad apps. I’ve done the hard work so that you won’t have to!

Note: these iPad apps are all free. You might have to pay for extra space or features, but if you’re just starting out without a budget, you can get started for free.

1. Evernote

This is the first one I downloaded – it was a no-brainer. Evernote has been around nearly as long as tablets have been around, and for good reason. It’s one of the simplest, most straightforward apps for simple note taking, and can be accessed on all of your other devices as well.

2. Microsoft Word

Yes, there are free word processors out there but for a ‘words person’ like me, nothing quite stacks up against Microsoft Word. The app is free but you need an Office 365 subscription to be able to edit documents. Otherwise, it works nearly identically to the latest desktop version of Word.

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3. Adobe Acrobat

Don’t get confused by paid annotation software – Adobe Acrobat is free and easy to use for PDF editing, annotation and signing.

4. Slack

Slack is the best tool out there for messaging between team members. No more ‘reply to all’ emails. It’s magic!

5. Dropbox

Access to your files from anywhere … Dropbox makes this so easy. It also integrates with the iPad Word and Acrobat apps … you’ll nearly feel like you’re using a ‘real’ computer!

6. Inbox for Google

If you use Google Apps for work and haven’t tried Inbox yet, you’re missing out. It’s got some seriously great features like the ability to snooze emails or to bundle all those annoying email subscriptions.

7. Google Drive

By now it’s obvious that I’m a big fan of Google Apps. Having Dropbox and Google drive may be a double-up for some, but both are hugely useful to my personal workflows.

8. Google Keep

This one rounds out my top 3 Google apps. Keep lets you take random notes, make to-do lists, and it integrates reminders with your Google Inbox.

9. Buffer

As a social media specialist, I should probably be ashamed that this is nearly last on the list. Having Buffer on my iPad allows a simplified look at the week’s social media postings, and allows me to update my queue on the go.

10. Kindle

Last but not least, Kindle obviously lets you read all those business books you’ve got spare time to read … and what’s an iPad without a little bit of holiday reading on the cards too?

So, there’s my top 10 – you have another 90 to choose for yourself (space willing!).

Tell me in the comments if you think I’ve missed any!