6 Reasons Why You Want to Bring Minimum Gear on Family Trips
I love traveling. Being able to document the trips and share with others what I see and how I see the world is amazing.
We took a trip to China back in 2024 and we are planning our next trip back there, I thought it would be fun to share 6 reasons why I was so glad that I only brought the camera gear I did.
Camera gear I packed:
Nikon Z7ii (Mirrorless)
Nikon Z 28mm f2.8
Z to F adaptor
my iPhone 13 pro
1. Traveling light is key for long travels
When it comes to traveling, especially internationally, the weight and space anything takes can add up quickly. We took all 4 of our little ones this time, which meant that we had to pack spare clothes and other necessities for the travel already. While my older 3 kids did pack their own backpacks to help out, I fully anticipated at one point or another that those bags would become mine(or my husband's) to carry. With our red-eye flights and unexpected super delays paired with exhaustion from the long trek etc, let's just say, the last thing I want would be to power walk/run with a super heavy camera/lens on my back while carrying a kid in the front with some other tote bags on my shoulder.
Aside from the weight and space camera gears take -- themselves and the necessary padding, the more gear you bring, the more you will have to keep track of. Honestly, keeping track of all 6 of us and the 12 passports/travel documents was already a headache.
With my really small camera and one little lens combo, I was able to pack it and pad it with diapers. Tada.
2. Security checks are a pain
If you travel by air a lot in the US, you might have invested in the TSA-precheck so you don't have to get everything out of the bag when going through security. However, when you go to other countries, security checks might look very different. For example, in China, I had to take the battery out of the camera at an airport while they wanted me to keep all the travel-sized liquids in the bag. And also, we had to go through security checks when we took the train and the subway. I was not too worried about people stealing my camera at security checks, but that was still on my mind when it was rush hour and we had lots of people rushing through at the same time. Since I just had one small camera, it did not draw much attention and it was pretty easy to repack if I had to take it out of my bag.
3. Oooops. Didn't check for weather
Well, technically, I did check the weather. It was raining for two weeks with one week of super hot sun and then another week of rain. When it rains in the summer in Wuhan, where we stayed for most of the time, it is thunderstorms for an hour or two and then a pause. If it rains, the umbrellas would be of no use. I brought my camera with me when we took the kids to this local landmark and right when we were about to leave, it started pouring. Luckily I brought some rain ponchos so we could walk back to the subway station and my camera was small enough that I could pull it up to my chest and rest on my cross-body bag to keep it fully covered by the poncho. I could have put it in my mom's small backpack too if needed to keep it covered and dry. If I had brought my longer lens, I definitely would have needed to bring my camera bag or I would be risking getting my entire camera in the pouring rain if the wind blew my poncho up.
4. Public transportation and other chaotic situations
We took public transportation a lot when we were in China. Between trying to make sure my toddler is not kicking or slapping others accidentally due to all the excitement and trying to make sure I don't lose my lens cap or hit my camera on the seat/railing, I quickly gave up on the idea of keeping my camera out when we are on public transportation.
Even though I am rather careful with my gear usually, accidents still can happen. As a matter of fact, I did borrow my uncle's 24-70 lens just in case I needed it. Early in the trip, I brought that lens with me to a science museum thinking that I would be able to get some fun photos of my kids of interactive experience. We went to this short 3D movie/presentation at one point. The first thing I did when we were seated was to make sure that I pulled my camera to my lap so it would not be dangling when the theater went dark. Unfortunately, my toddler was having a hard time with the presentation and she totally tried to throw a tantrum right there in the dark theater. Trying to minimize the disruption and to keep her safe, I took her over from my dad, and during the handover, she accidentally kicked my camera, and the lens, being quite big, hit the hard floor. I only shattered the filter and the lens survived. However, if I had only brought my little lens, it wouldn't even be long enough to reach the floor nor would it have big enough of a piece of glass to shatter like that.
Needless to say, that borrowed 24-70 lens was quickly shelved. And yes of course, I bought a new filter, which turned that free science museum trip into a rather expensive one.
5. When and where will I get to use my big camera
As much as I would LOVE to be able to just be the photographer of this trip, I realized, especially upon arrival, that I am expected to be a parent more than I have ever been here in the US when it comes to keeping an eye on the kids. Of course, this is a whole different story of its own, but the reality is that I did not get to take a step back and just let the kids be as much as I would like. As a result, I just didn't really have many opportunities to bring my actual camera out to take photos. Even when I did, I had to get creative about when and how I used it. Since I did not take that much gear, I had really low expectations on when I would be able to just chill and take photos, to begin with. I successfully avoided the mentality of "it would be a shame if I didn't get any good photos if I brought all these gears". I actually was able to just fully be present and enjoy spending time with family.
When I did bring my camera with me, the small camera didn't immediately turn the whole situation into a photo session. With lots of people around us at all times, it also made it easier to photograph in public.
Of course, if you have older kids and you know you WILL get to just photograph, by all means, bring the gear you need to capture the shot you have envisioned!
6. Less is more
I am a firm believer in creative constraints. When we have too many choices in life in general, we lose our creativity. I love working with "this is all you got" situations.
Also, when I didn't constantly have my camera with me when I did finally bring it out with me, it made me more mindful about when to even bring it and what to photograph. While I missed a whole lot of potential photo ops, I am really happy with the photos I did get and also the uninterrupted time I got to spend with family, which is what we went to China for anyways.
A quick note about using my phone to take photos:
It was sufficient. It was convenient. It was helpful.
I can still edit the photos with lightroom mobile if I want to but I don't have to worry about the big raw files. I was able to air drop all the photos to my dad easily instead of figuring out how to transfer all my photos between mac and windows. Another perk of using my phone to take photos is that it is automatically sorted and tagged. It is so easy for me to find a specific photo to show it to other family members or even to my kids.
Photos are meant to be shared and talked about. While I usually have a better chance of making better art that people can relate to more universally with my big girl camera, I do not look at those photos with my kids and family as often as the ones on my phone. Sometimes I even joke that it is a total waste of pixels when my mom prints my "good photos" on a small calendar along with a Facetime screenshot. At the end of the day, photos are meant to be a key to open the door to all the memories. Do we need award-winning photos ourselves to remember how we felt at that time in that space? I don't think so.
Planning a trip for Spring Break? Do you know that you can book a Day In The Life session with me for your vacation so you don’t have to worry about being behind the lens at all? Let me document your trip!
