How much gear do you need to take?

I mean, how much do you really need to take?

When we recently headed down to Florida for a holiday, we both wanted to shoot birds, scenics and general snapshots...which translates into a lot of stuff, most of which we would want to carry on board the plane. 

   

Oh, and don't forget the laptop too.

Luckily we currently live in the USA where the carry-on rules are much easier than back home in the UK...but it is still a lot to carry!

Add a couple of tripods and all the other stuff, like chargers, and you have a lot of gear to check too...oh yeah. Apparently we needed to take clothes, shoes and toiletries too...thats girls for you!

...and I'm not taking any proper lighting gear...

Having humped all this gear on and off the plane, it got me thinking about two things...how should I pack if I need to check some of the gear and how could I travel lighter?

So, first off, Chase Jarvis recently did a video showing how he organises and packs his gear. OK, so Chase's work means he carries more than most of us but it is useful, interesting stuff. Find the full version of the video here on his blog.

He also did a shorter version, more akin to what many of us would carry...

That is all very well, but I want to think about packing less, not more...

...bring on the Fish.

Steven Frischling's blog, Flying with Fish, is dedicated to helping photographers make the most of whole airline travel thing...including packing and traveling light.

So, it seems that I do travel with too much stuff...who knew?