Gear

My Camera:  Sony Cybershot RX100 II  

Sometimes it takes awhile to determine what the best equipment is for your personal style of travel.

Case in point:  Cameras.  We've owned several pocket-sized point-n-shoots, my favorite of which was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS20.   It took really nice photos ~ clear, sharp, and had some great filters for making things like scenery and food photos "pop".   

But I recently wanted to step up a bit from that, and, after looking at all the bigger DSLR's,  I ended up with a traveler's / blogger's / hobbyists' dream camera.  My Sony.  

First of all, it does most everything the big boys do, but is small enough to fit into my purse if need be.  It has a Carl Zeiss lens, which gives me crystal clear pictures.  It has an auto setting that is quick & easy, but it also has manual options for setting apertures and shutter speeds for those times when auto is just not capturing the mood.   The LCD screen tilts for clarity in bright sunlight.  The video feature is a quick and accessible one-step button.  And it has a fabulous low-light setting that works in situations where flash is not allowed, such as churches and concerts and museums. 

I immediately bought a nice leather case, just as though it were a SLR, which travels around my neck without giving me a kink.  

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Here's some additional camera travel tips, most of which I learned the old-fashioned way:   By experience.

• Backup your pictures as you go.  Cameras can get lost or stolen, and you will buy another, but you will grieve the loss of those pictures forever.   I do this in several ways.  Firstly, I dump that day's pictures into my laptop every single night.  If something happens to the camera, I've only lost one day's photo's as opposed to the entire trip.   

• Likewise, I take several SD cards along, and I change them out periodically, even if they are not full.   Sometimes one for each major city or destination for that trip.  Again, if one gets lost, I have only lost an increment of the trip, not the whole thing.    

• Thirdly, I now blog along the way, so our very best photo's are preserved there.  Sharing pictures on FB or Instagram or other social sites would accomplish the same thing.

• Of course there is the cloud, too;  but we find that Internet service around the globe is not always as reliable or as fast as we are used to;  plus I take an exorbitant number of photos ~ so spending that kind of upload time is not the best option for me while on the road.  There's too many things to see and do and take pictures of!

• Lastly, we always take along a back-up camera.  Some previously retired pocket camera, in our case.  Nothing fancy, but it has seen us through the pinch a couple of times.   

•  And always travel with a spare battery or two.  Nothing worse than having that battery light start blinking when you are still half a day from the hotel.  After all, you my never pass this way again! 

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My Laptop:  Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro

The primary thing I'm looking for in a laptop is portability, and this little sweetie is just over two pounds.  It's thin. it's light, with a crystal clear touch screen, and the feature of it converting into a tablet for use on an airplane or such is also nice.  It's really perfect for use on the road.

Because it's solid state, though, there is limited storage capacity for my thousands of pictures, so that has required a portable external hard drive.  This is OK for home use, but it does get a bit cumbersome on the road ~ it's just one more thing to keep track of. 

Performance wise, though, the Yoga 2 is a dream, and I'm 100% pleased with having it be my travel companion.