In the past I’ve written detailed descriptions about the camera gear I bring, our devices and charging equipment and also about how we pack. For this trip, I’m writing this as a post-mortem, and I’m combining all three. Because the key takeaway is that we’re taking less of everything.

Luggage & Clothing

I shared an image at the beginning of this trip showing my luggage, checked and carryon. I didn’t show Sally’s, which is larger than mine. But both of us have significantly slimmed down since the first of these blogs back in 2012. That trip was 30 days touring the great National Parks in the western US. My checked bag was a 26″ case, and my carryon was the 22″ wheeler that I checked for this trip. I also carried a medium size photography backpack. A lot of stuff. Part of the bulk was that we were planning multiple activities which required different clothing: nice dinners in fancy restaurants, hiking, swimming. We were also planning for multiple climates: the trip started in late spring in the northern states and mountains, went into Death Valley and Las Vegas in June, and ended in Napa and San Francisco.

This trip – and indeed, our last several trips – have all been with a less diverse range of activities and a smaller climate range. But I think the biggest change has been our philosophy of packing: bring only what you are likely to need, not what you might want to have. And, at least for me (less so for Sally), be willing to rewear and also wash some clothing along the way.

I bring enough underwear and socks to get through the longest stretch without an opportunity to do some wash. For me, this is usually four sets. This year, I discovered wool t-shirts that one can wear multiple times without needing washing – think the sweaters you wear repeatedly before having them cleaned. If you do need to wash them, they’re light enough to dry overnight. And you can believe the hype: they really don’t retain odors from day to day.

Reducing your load of outer wear means believing that you don’t need a different outfit everyday, and you probably don’t need to “dress up” as much as you might have a few years ago. Today, jeans are acceptable most places. I brought three pair of pants and one pair of shorts on this trip: blue jeans, black jeans and a very lightweight pair of grey jeans. I could have easily done without the black ones. I brought two button down shirts, a heavier one in a cotton/linen blend, and a lighter and dressier cotton one. Since we were expecting warm weather (it’s still really summer in Portugal in September), I wear t-shirts most days. I brought one very light woolen long-sleeved t-shirt, and one heavy woolen hoodie.

For shoes, I was extravagant. My main pair of shoes were casual slip-ons that look like sneakers. I also brought my Birkenstocks and a pair of leather driving shoes. I could have easily not taken the latter. But I think one needs at least two pair of footwear in the event something happens to your primary pair. You need to be able to walk to the nearest store to replace them! Many people take flipflops, which are much lighter and smaller than my Birks.

Finally, a broad-brimmed hat and a rain shell/windbreaker. I (happily) never needed the latter, but wore the hat a lot.

I was travelled in jeans, sneakers, t-shirt, and the hoodie. All of the rest fit into two packing cubes, except for the second pair of jeans, extra shoes/sandals, hat and the rain shell.

Camera kit

A big part of the reason that my camera kit of long ago was so big was that I carried two complete camera kits, so I would have a backup in case something broke. Over time, I simplified that by getting a second camera that could use the same lenses and accessories as the primary. Then I simplified by eliminating the second camera altogether, deciding that my phone is actually better than some of the backup cameras I used to carry with me. And most recently, I’ve simplified by only bring two lenses rather than 3-5 as I used to do. So the entire kit – digital mirrorless camera, two lenses, a filter, extra battery – all fit in a small shoulder bag. Which in turn fits inside my carryon backpack when we’re flying. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything for standard touring-type trips.

The pictures I wound up “selecting” for potential use on the trip blog were almost evenly split between the 24-70mm f/4 zoom, and the 40mm f/2 prime. And almost all of the 40/2 pictures were at f/4 or smaller, so technically I could have left the 40mm lens home.

Six iPhone pictures made the cut: two were panoramas (which the Nikon doesn’t do), two were taken by our guides (much easier to have them use a phone rather than the Nikon), and the other two were gimmicks. They’re all over-

Of course if I was going on a trip where specialized photography was part of the plan, I would pack differently. For instance, I had to buy a new, larger camara backpack when we went on safari in Africa several years ago. But that was well worth it!

Electronics and charging

Like everything else, this has evolved and shrunk over the years. Many of the things I used to pack -alarm clock, books to read, manuals for my cameras, guide books, laptop, chargers for batteries for my cameras, a multitude of cables to hook everything together – have been eliminated, consolidated and shrunken. Sally and I each carry a phone and tablet, and that’s the sum of everything.

Despite the advent of USB-C devices and plugs, I still seem to need every style created in the last 15 years: USB-A, microUSB-B, Lightning, USB-C. So earlier this year I gathered a selection of USB-C to USB-C cables of appropriate lengths (some very short, some longer) and invested in a series of adaptors to allow their use into any device or power source. I bought each of us a multi-ported power brick, and one good sized portable battery. That’s our charging environment now. Even the cameras can be charged directly via USB-C, so I don’t even need to carry a separate charger for them anymore. And the battery my new Nikon camera uses seems to last for a couple of days of normal use, so one extra battery is sufficient (I used to carry as many as eight for two cameras, which always seemed to use different batteries).

Other

Begin of a certain age, I know need to carry a small pharmacy with me when I travel. Between daily meds that keeps me operating smoothly and emergency supplies, I need to plan for space in both my carryon and checked bag to accomodate these. The good news, however, is that my toiletry load is much lower than it used to be. I’m happy to splurge on travel-sized shaving cream, etc. I don’t use any hair or skin products. A comb and toothbrush are pretty small.

Summary

If I were traveling on my own, or with a like-minded packer, I would easily be able to fly with only carryon luggage. The fact that Sally makes different choices means I don’t, but I’m still happy to be dealing with a much smaller set of stuff in each hotel than I used to. In Portugal, we were lucky that most of the hotel rooms have adequate storage space for your stuff to be unpacked if you’re staying more than overnight. This has not always been true for us; we were in Oregon earlier this year, and one of our rooms had absolutely no place to put anything at all – we literally lived out of our suitcases for three nights.

Less stuff makes traveling easier.