Packing light means being able to say no…

In March 2021, I wrote a post on my packing list to let people know what I took with me on my photography trips, and you can see an updated version of the list below. However, I thought it was worth revisiting the topic to try to help people pack light.

Many people I travel with are amazed that I only carry hand luggage and don’t check any bags. They either tell me that they couldn’t possibly get away with it or that they’re determined to pack lighter in future—or at least try!

Given the incredibly strict weight limits on some internal flights in Africa, India and other locations, I thought I’d share a few tips to help you lose weight and still look good!

Trade-offs

I once spent a week in the Alps with a girl who took four ski jackets with her—yes, FOUR! I couldn’t believe it, so I asked her why she needed all four. She then explained to me that the first was for skiing in the sunshine, the second was for skiing in bad weather, the third was for après-ski and the fourth was for going clubbing.

The way she explained it, it sounded quite reasonable—from her point of view. And that’s the thing. Packing is about priorities. This was a very attractive girl who wanted to look good on the slopes and in the bars and clubs of Val d’Isère. It made sense to prioritise her clothes over the weight of her suitcase—and she had a husband to do any heavy lifting…!

Jane’s priorities and mine were very different, and I imagine if you’d unpacked our bags and compared the contents, the only thing we’d have had in common would have been our ski gear and a few toiletries!

In my case, I’d done five ski seasons, and I wanted to avoid all the palaver of renting skis and boots in the resort and be ready to go off-piste at a moment’s notice. I also wanted to minimise the number of pieces of luggage I had to check, so I put everything in a board bag, including my skis, boots, clothing and toiletries.

Problems, Problems…

These days, 90% of my luggage is camera gear, so that gives me a different set of problems. If I take both my long lenses (a 400mm and a 600mm), my camera bag weighs about 20 kg—which is more than the hand luggage weight limit on most airlines! By the time, I’ve added a few clothes and personal items, I have no chance of following the rules.

That makes travelling rather stressful. There are so many things that might go wrong that I never know if they’ll let me on to the plane until I’m actually sitting in my seat!

I’ve had a lot of baggage-related close calls over the years:

• In Buenos Aires, I couldn’t take my tripod on the plane as the check-in staff told me it could be used as an ‘offensive weapon’. I had to pay $25 to wrap it in plastic and put it in the hold…

• On my way to Santander, I was told that the flight was full and there wasn’t any room for all the hand luggage on board. I tried to reason with someone, explaining how expensive and delicate my camera equipment was, but all he could do was advise me to ‘speak to one of the guys in the hi-vis jackets on the tarmac’! Fortunately, I managed to board early enough to bag an overhead locker all to myself…

• On an internal flight from Wilson Airport in Nairobi, I was asked to weigh my camera bag at check-in. It was about 20 kg (as usual), and the guy told me the weight limit for the flight was 15 kg. I asked if I could put some stuff in my jacket, but he said that wouldn’t reduce the actual weight of the aircraft. I started to argue that that wasn’t the way the rules worked, but then he just said it was fine and let me go…

• On my way to Churchill, Canada, my camera bag was over the weight limit (again!), and I had to transfer just about all my cameras and lenses to my jacket pockets. I had a few nasty moments when I thought I’d lost something or something dropped out, but I made it in the end…

Fortunately, the airlines don’t generally weigh hand luggage, so I’ve only once had to pay an excess baggage fee (60 quid to Ethiopian Airlines). However, I have experienced other problems, including almost being kicked off the plane for being rude to a very unhelpful staff member at Heathrow, almost not being allowed to board as I didn’t have proof of yellow fever vaccination and being stranded for two days in Frankfurt on my way to Namibia after the lab lost my Covid test!

Solutions, Solutions…

So what’s the solution? Well, it’s true that airport staff almost never check the weight of your hand luggage or punish you if you’re over the limit. However, to reduce your stress levels and speed your process through the airport, I suggest doing what I do, which is stowing all my camera gear in my rollaboard and putting any items that don’t fit in my jacket. It makes you look a bit like the Michelin man, but it works!

You can usually check in online the day before and go straight to the gate at the airport rather than having to queue at one of the check-in desks. You can also relax in the knowledge that all your fragile and expensive camera gear is right next to you while you’re waiting to board the plane. If you’re anything like me, that gives you the chance to start the festivities early by ordering smoked salmon a glass of champagne at the seafood bar…!

In addition, you obviously don’t need to worry about collecting your hold luggage at the other end, and you can go straight to passport control. That’s especially handy if you don’t have much time before your connecting flight or if you’re a transit passenger. I’ve been in that situation before when passing through Miami Airport, and it was a complete nightmare having to collect my bags and go through security again!

Camera Bag(s)

One of the keys to making your airport experience less stressful is to buy a decent camera bag and put an Apple AirTag in it so you can track it at all times. I have a couple of Tenba Roadie Hybrid bags, and they’re excellent for any photographer:

• The ‘hybrid’ label means they convert from a rollaboard case to a backpack.

• Wheeled luggage makes life a LOT easier!

• They’re both designed to be the maximum size for hand luggage on all major airlines, so they fit in the overhead bins (unless it’s a very small turboprop plane!).

• They have pouches and straps to hold a tripod or monopod securely.

• They have Kensington and combination locks for added protection.

Unfortunately, camera bags generally aren’t big enough to hold more than one long lens. That’s a problem in my case, and until recently I was always afraid to bring another bag in case it wasn’t allowed on board.

However, after consulting with a couple of wildlife photographers, I learned that you can bring a lens in a sling as your ‘personal item’, and I’ve never had a problem since then.

Jacket

Photographers often end up going on trips to places with extreme climates, from Africa to Antarctica. That means you need a decent jacket (or two) for all weathers.

I have a very old Callaway golf rainproof that comes in very handy. It has an internal breast pocket that runs all the way round the body, which means I can put all my clothes in there as well as any other items that won’t fit in my camera bag.

The only problem I’ve ever had with it came when I wore it to go on a cruise around the Galápagos Islands. I left it on the coach when we went to a tortoise sanctuary, and I was pulling my hair out worrying about how to carry all my stuff back on the plane!

Fortunately, the tour guide told me on the final morning that he’d managed to track it down and that if I ordered a taxi immediately I’d just have time to collect it before catching my flight. Phew…!

Camera Equipment

When I spent four months in Tanzania and Kenya in 2019, I took all my lenses with me—and only used two of them! In hindsight, I have to admit that was a bit daft. It meant I had to break my usual rule and take a rucksack with me as well as my camera bag, and it was a pain transferring between lodges and when making my way through each airport.

If you’re a photographer, taking pictures is obviously your priority—I would hope! That means you must make sure you have all the equipment you need. I once got into trouble with Paul Goldstein when I went to Kicheche Bush Camp as I hadn’t packed a wide-angle lens. He couldn’t believe it and spent most of the next two days reminding me of my mistake…!

Having said that, there are always pieces of kit that are ‘nice-to-have’ rather than ‘need-to-have’. I used to take a smartphone gimbal with me on my trips in the hope that I’d use it to get professional-grade video footage of my wildlife encounters. In the event, I realised that I never used it outside the lodge, and it didn’t really make much difference anyway.

When you pack your camera gear, then, you have to be disciplined and realistic about the kind of shots and video footage you’re likely to take. That’s yet another reason to do your research in advance as you don’t want to be taken by surprise.

I went to the Brazilian Pantanal a few years ago to photograph the jaguar, and we were told by our local guide one evening that he had a ‘surprise’ for us. We walked to a local hide where several photographers had set up their flashguns to capture shots of the local ocelots. The only problem was that it was a surprise to all of us, so we didn’t have any flash kit with us! I wasn’t best pleased…

The other common question I have to ask is whether to take my tripod or monopod. Each can come in handy in the right conditions, especially for slow pans or shots of the night sky. However, they’re a bit of a pain to transport, and whether you need one or not depends on various factors, such as whether you’re going to be on foot or in a vehicle and how big the vehicle is.

Tripods are impractical in jeeps, and the Gipsy vehicles you get in India are small enough that you have to think twice about bringing anything apart from your cameras, lenses and maybe a monopod.

Finally, battery chargers take up quite a lot of space. I have two, but I realise now that I really don’t need to take them. First of all, each of my Sony a1 mirrorless cameras can fill up two whole memory cards before I need to change the battery. Secondly, they both have a USB charging cable, which is a lot lighter and easier to carry around.

Clothes

If you go to Africa, you can travel in trousers/shorts, a polo shirt, a fleece, a jacket, a floppy sun hat and deck shoes.

One of the joys of safari lodges is that most offer a free, same-day laundry service. That means you only really need to pack one change of clothes (plus whatever you wear to the airport). Once you’re in camp, you can put your ‘spare’ clothes out in the morning, and they’re ready by dinner time!

If you’re going to a cold place like Svalbard or Antarctica, you probably need a few more clothes! However, I can generally get away with packing everything into my Callaway jacket. I call it my ‘super jacket’ because it has an internal pocket that goes all the way round. Crucially, that means I don’t have to check any luggage.

Toiletries

Modern security rules at airports mean that you can only take 100ml bottles of liquid with you in your hand luggage, and they all have to fit in one of the special plastic bags, which has to be sealed.

This is a real pain, partly because it means you have to hunt down bottles of shampoo and suncream that are only 100ml and partly because you often fall foul of a security guard with a ‘jobsworth’ personality. I once had a roll-on deodorant confiscated at Heathrow because I couldn’t close my plastic toiletries bag!

I hear that the rules may change with the introduction of MRI scanners in airports around the world, but in the meantime, it at least gives you the incentive to pack light! Do you really need all those lotions and potions in the bush? I stayed with a girlfriend a few years ago, and I counted that she had 40 bottles on display in her bathroom! I don’t think she’d have coped well in Africa…

If you’re a man, one of the things you can probably do without is your shaving kit. I went to Botswana on a mobile camping safari in 2016, and there was no mirror in the tent. As a result, I gave up trying to shave myself and grew a beard—and I’ve had it ever since! At least now I don’t need to take a razor or shaving oil with me every time I travel…

Packing List

For what it’s worth, here’s my latest packing list. Some of the items won’t be necessary if I’m going to certain countries, but at least having a list forces me to check. It might be a good idea for you to do the same.

Last Minute

Laptop

Mobile phone, cable & adapter

Air Pods, box & cable

Passports (and visas)

Vaccination certificates

Travel Insurance documents?

Local currency or hard currency ($100 for Kicheche)

Cashcard

Sunglasses

Kitchen cloth?

Travel pillow

Crossword book

Toiletries

Toothbrush, charger & adaptor

Toothpaste

Shampoo/shower gel?

Razor & shaving oil

Lip balm

Sudafed

Voltarol

Masks

Malarone?

Sun spray/insect repellant?

Plastic bag?

Headlamp?

Camera Equipment

Rollaboard

Dry bag?

Rucksack?

2 x Sony a1 (with eye cups)

GoPro and accessories?

600mm lens

400mm lens

70-200mm lens

24-70mm lens

12-24mm lens

1.4x teleconverter

2x teleconverter

Polarising filters

SpiderPro belt and attachments

Tripod & gimbal head

Monopod?

DJI OM 5, tripod & cable?

Memory cards

Spare batteries & chargers

Binoculars?

Sensor cleaning kit

Lens cloth

Lens wipes

USB stick?

Three-way adaptor

Travel adaptor?

Rain covers

Bean bag

Clothing

Sun hat

Black snood

Gloves

Hiking boots/trainers

Deck shoes

Fleece

Rain jacket

2 x zip-off trousers

Waterproof and/or ski trousers

Shorts

T-shirts

Safari shirt

Base layers

2 x Underwear

Swimwear?

Thermal leggings?

Socks and walking socks

Goggles

Miscellaneous

Portable stool?

Verdict

Packing for a photography trip can be a pain, and there’s no worse feeling than finding out you’ve forgotten something when you arrive!

I hope these hints and tips will help you cut down the load and let you travel around the world with minimal hassle.

If you have any suggestions, please add them to the comments below.

If you’d like to order a framed print of one of my wildlife photographs, please visit the Prints page.

If you’d like to book a lesson or order an online photography course, please visit my Lessons and Courses pages.