How to pack a camera bag for international travel

Some of my stuff

Sometimes in life I imagine myself toeing the line of minimalism. My home is simple, stripped down, no clutter. I can fit all the clothes I own in one bureau. But I have to reconcile with the fact that I am a photographer, videographer, and aspiring filmmaker.

That’s the contradiction. I mean most of the video below was originally me ranting about “What do you actually need?” and then proceeding to shove a significant amount of expensive camera tech into my bag.

But, I have gotten better with traveling lighter, more efficiently, and more intelligently. I attribute that to my days touring in a punk band around the US, Canada, and Europe. You don’t bring 30 shirts with you because you’re on tour for 30 days. Actually, you bring a handful of clothes into the shower with you and wash them by hand and hope there’s enough time for them to dry before hitting the road to the next city.

For my current mode of travel, I tend to film and photograph a mixture of stuff related to hiking, nature, wildlife, cities/towns and anything else in between. So again I ask, what do I need? I think back to all the mistakes I made on my previous trips - bringing 2 cameras, gimbals, 6 lenses, etc. I’m happy to report that, although it wasn’t always like this, I no longer look at camera gear as something that will help me bridge that creative gap and get to where I’m going. The gear today is great, and if you’re smart about how you use it, you don’t even need a lot of it. *I’m still on the fence if I’m even bringing my drone to Switzerland (but I’m definitely bringing it to Newfoundland).

As you’ll see in this video, you don’t even need a suitcase if you keep everything light and efficient.

Alright I’m ranting. Enjoy.