Photo gear for travel

Sometimes people ask me what kind of gear I carry when I travel. By the way, for some more info on how I usually travel take a look at my 2006/12/15 post:

http://bakubo.blogspot.com/2006/12/travelling-close-to-ground.html

A travel kit really depends a lot on how you will travel, where you are going, and how much gear you are willing to put up with. :-) I have traveled a lot over the years, but mostly it has been with a backpack and traveling close to the ground (public transportation, small guesthouses/hostels/etc., *lots* of walking). Also, quite a lot of it has been in rather hot, humid parts of the world where 8-14 hours of walking in a day for several weeks or even longer can really tire you out.

Having said that, I will tell you what I carried on a few recent trips:

2006/3 - 2006/4: Morocco -- KM 7D, Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6, Minolta 50mm f1.7, 1gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 7D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2006/4: France -- KM 7D, Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6, Minolta 50mm f1.7, 1gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 7D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2006/10 - 2006/12: Japan -- Canon 30D, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6, 4gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 30D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2006/12 - 2007/1: Thailand -- Canon 30D, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, Tamron 28-75mm f2.8, Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6, 4gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 30D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2007/9 - 2007/12: Japan -- Canon 30D, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OS, 4gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 30D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2007/12 - 2008/1: Thailand/Cambodia -- Canon 30D, Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6, Sigma 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 OS, 4gb of CF cards, charger and 3 batteries for 30D; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

2008/4 - 2008/5: Mexico -- Sony A700, Sony 11-18mm f4.5-5.6, Sony 18-250mm f3.5-6.3, Minolta 50mm f1.7, Sony HVL-F36AM flash and 4 nimh AA batteries, 8gb of CF cards, charger and 2 batteries for A700; Canon A540 digicam, SD cards, 4 nimh AA batteries and charger; 30gb X-Drive II portable storage device and charger; old-style extension cord with both prongs straight, plug adaptor; UV filters to protect lenses, polarizer filter

I don't plan to use the X-Drive psd anymore though. I now have 24gb of CF/MS cards and before my next extended trip I will probably buy another 16gb CF card so it would be *very* unlikely that I would need to reuse a card. Recently I bought an Asus EeePC 900HA netbook (8.9" screen, 1.6ghz Intel Atom cpu, 1gb ram, 160gb hd, WinXP) so I may carry it next time for wifi internet use. I can also back up my memory cards to it. I haven't decided for sure whether I will take it though. The size and weight of the netbook is a bit over double the psd, but provides much more functionality -- including being able to use Skype to make phone calls.

If you travel by car, stay at hotels, and/or tend to not be on the move a lot then, of course, taking more/heavier/bigger gear would be welcome. When I go on a road trip I, naturally, carry more and somewhat different gear, but for backpack travel my Mexico kit worked out well and is closer to what I used to carry when I used film SLRs.