CAMERAS AND CARRY-ON

 

I’ve had a few of you ask me lately what cameras I’m travelling with/what my carry-on luggage looks like, so I thought I could take a picture of what my everyday carry-on looks like when we’re travelling from A to B!

1. My 15″ Macbook Pro Retina – this baby is heavy but necessary. I needed the size and power of this laptop while we were living in Melbourne, now that we’re on the road I wish it were a little smaller… like the 13″ or Macbook Air, but I am so grateful to have it with me. I definitely use my laptop everyday, to blog, edit, reply to emails and even when we watch movies with home-cooked dinner!

2. My Canon 5d Mark ii DSLR – my beast. This camera is super heavy, at the last minute I had a freak out about the weight of my bag and considered leaving her at home (for only a moment…). This is the camera I need for work, for fashion shoots and if I want to shoot a really fancy landscape. Otherwise it sits happily in my bag while I use my Fujifilm x100 camera everyday (which was being used to take this picture, and therefore couldn’t make an appearance!). Two cameras! I know, I’m crazy. But my fuji is so light, it’s the perfect everyday camera but it’s not quite right for my fashion/wedding work.

3. 50mm 1.4 lens – the only lens I brought with me on this trip. I almost packed my 28mm 1.8 along for the ride but sacrificed the lens at the last minute due to weight. This 50mm is what I use for 90% of my fashion images, and I can hire a lens when I need something more versatile for work.

4. Memory cards – this cute little pouch is the home for my memory cards. I have four 16gb CF cards, one 32gb SD card and two 8gb SD cards. Plenty of room for all my images. I also have a 2TB hard-drive which isn’t pictured.

5. Important document pouch – this is a lifesaver for organisation! It holds our passports, tickets, customs forms, anything we need at a moments notice when catching planes, trains and buses.

6. Pocket diary – since we’re constantly on the move, I need this dairy to jot down all our dates, addresses, train times etc. It’s nice to have them all in one place, and also if my phone battery runs out I can still access where we are supposed to be going!

7. Passports and tickets – self explanatory. If there is one item you never, ever want to forget, it’s your passport. Treat it like it’s your livelihood.

8. Journal and pen – I usually won’t leave the house without pen and paper, so of course every time we travel I need a journal for my thoughts, ideas and scribbles. You never know when a genius thought might float into your head.

9. Iphone 5s – this phone is a lifesaver. Smart phones are amazing for travelling, at first I was hesitant because I didn’t want an expensive phone that could get lost or stolen… but I honestly use this at least 20 times a day. The maps are the most useful thing I have with me! You can load a ‘cached’ version of the city you’re in, so that when you’re out and about adventuring you can still see where you’re going! (When connected to internet, just type “ok maps” into the maps screen when you’re zoomed in on where you’d like to save). Also you can load your journey before you leave home (on the internet), and your little blue dot will show you where you are along the way (GPS is amazing!). Oh and don’t even get me started on the amazing travel Apps out there.

10. Ipad Mini Retina – okay, so this is my guilty pleasure item! Not necessary but it weighs almost nothing and it’s really great for watching movies on the plane/bus, plus it’s my go-to for web surfing, Pinterest and Instagram!

11. Travel survival essentials – I’m a planner, I’ll always take a mini medical kit with us (bandaid’s, panadol, qwells, etc) but my other essentials are Paw Paw Cream  (planes are so dehydrating and my lips get really dry in the cold weather!), Hand Sanitiser (Germ freaks raise your hand! I am hyper aware of everyone coughing and sneezing on planes…), Bach Rescue Remedy (As I’ve written about before, I have anxiety. I can be really nervous before a flight so I put a few drops in my water and it really helps me to level myself.).

12. Eye Mask – why oh why do they keep turning the lights on in the plane at ridiculous times of the night? No I don’t want my lunch now… it’s 1am! Eye mask = uninterrupted sleep.

13. Earphones – also self-explanatory! I like these ones as I find if I wear the ‘inside your ear’ iPhone ones for too long I get sore ears and a headache.

14. Ear plugs –  to aid with the sleeping mentioned above! And they’re useful for snoring boys in hostel rooms.

15. UK adapter plug – we were travelling through the UK, so I needed one of these anyway… but it comes in handy when you’re catching buses throughout the UK (get a European one if your bussing it in Europe), because they often have power plugs on buses but they’re not always universal. This way I’m always prepared so I can charge my electronics.

16. Black shoulder bag – slightly unfashionable but very sensible carry bag. This is actually my Mum’s toiletry bag! But it is the perfect size to fit all of this stuff, it’s got a great shoulder strap, and it’s even full of lots of little pockets (due to it being a toiletry bag). Oh and best part? It was free! Sometimes you have to sacrifice looking like a fashion savvy traveler for practicality. It really helps having all of my heavy items in the one bag, as Martin’s and I can take turns carrying the weight, and I can easily put it down between walking. Also, never ever put your camera gear, laptop or other expensive breakables in the luggage hold of a plane/bus, you’re just asking for trouble!

Share your travel essential secrets below! I’m always looking to add helpful stuff to my kit.