Ah, vacation.
Most gearheads travel, for business or just for fun. Prior to starting this blog, the three of the four members of the Case clan spent three weeks in Europe – roughly a week each in Barcelona, Florence and Venice. Being a technophile, I lugged around more tech than I really needed, but I used almost everything I took.
Florence at Night, Looking Across the Arno River. (Nikon D300s, 16-85VR, f4.8, 1/30th, ISO 3200)
Long trips are different than short ones. Given luggage restrictions and the limits of carry-on bags, some hard choices had to be made. My desire not to haul around too much gear in my backpack while hiking around various locales was also a factor.
My choices, of course, weren’t perfect. Let’s take a look at what I hauled with me, and what I might do differently next time.
Traveling for three weeks necessarily meant careful packing. I had one rolling suitcase. Although it was the maximum size to be a carry-on bag, that one became checked baggage. I carried onto the plane a LowePro Fastpack 350, which housed the laptop and dSLR, plus assorted other items. The other carry-on was an old Timberline messenger bag, with lots of small compartments. Food, Nintendo DSi, headphones and other accessories lived in the messenger bag. In a pinch, I could stuff everything into the LowePro, but it would become stone-like, and cram the messenger bag into my checked suitcase.
Here’s the pile of gear.
The Pile of Stuff -- sans Cables and Power Adapters
Loading tweets...
4 comments
Moggraider says:
August 7, 2009 at 1:47 pm (UTC -7 )
I sympathize. I carry tons of gear on my trips too, though I then inevitably end up just reading a paperback. Heh. Good work with Fire Emblem. I couldn’t struggle through; I’ve grown too impatient.
The Shure SE210s are good enough, really. I own SE310 and SE530 buds too (don’t ask), and ironically end up using the 210s the most because I don’t want to mistreat the pricier models during my frequent trips to the gym. But the 530s are amazing for a plane ride. I’ve found that most flight attendants don’t ask me to take Shures off even when electronics aren’t allowed. Maybe they mistake them for earplugs. If they do ask me to take them off, I just disconnect them instead.
Bryan says:
August 10, 2009 at 1:53 pm (UTC -7 )
Hey Loyd, have you check out the books by Naomi Novik, I think I remember you saying you are a fan of the Napoleonic Wars. She writes about this but with a twist, they have an air force of dragons. Stephenson is a good read and enjoyed the two books I have read from him.
Enjoy reading your blog.
YS says:
August 10, 2009 at 8:05 pm (UTC -7 )
Hey Loyd, long time reader of your various articles over the many publications you’ve been at. Great to see you doing a blog!
Anyway, I want to comment on the Nikon battery charger: I’m certain that the MH-18a is a world charger. It should accept both 230 and 110 voltages, and 50/60hz frequencies.
Also, it’s also good to do research prior to the trip on the plug type. There’s a good reference on Wikipedia.
Loyd Case says:
August 12, 2009 at 12:16 pm (UTC -7 )
Looks like you’re right.
Most of the universal chargers I have show the switching capability in one specific text box. But the MA-18 puts the info in a different little box labeled “Foreign”, which I completely overlooked. Anyway, that’s good to know, thanks!