Here are a few tips and tricks that I picked up over the years and can share.

How I nearly ended up in an unwanted situation

How could I be such a dolt and zone boarding time. This really is not my first airport rodeo, and I am usually pretty good at making sure I am at the gate just before boarding starts. I would love to come up with a bunch of excuses along the lines such as four of the last five flights on this trip had been delayed, robbing me of precious minutes of slumming it in the lounges, but alas, I would just be falsely laying blame elsewhere. Why, of all the flights, did I have to make this mistake while flying out of South Korea’s Incheon airport heading home to New York with Korean Air.

Fine, there was one mitigating circumstance, but that only compounded my own mistake, and did not actually cause it. I had packed my large vape into my check-in bag, thinking that since I would not need it until after my flight it would be one less thing to carry. Yes, I vape, there! Not that it is a secret or anything. Had actually done this on all my flights this trip. I had packed all my batteries, including those of the vape, in my carry-on, just as the airlines ask you to. When I was about to board the flight, I was informed that I could not, that luggage screening had found my vape and removed it from my bag. In no uncertain terms I was informed that I either needed to leave it behind or go and claim it. Needless to say, I was quite surprised, after all, I had taken the batteries out to avoid this kind of issue. For all purposes my vape was just a useless paperweight without the batteries in it. Not matter my protestations and explanations this was completely lost on the fine staff of Korea’s Incheon airport.

A list of uncheckable items

Luckily for me it was just a mere 100 paces away to the room where I could recuperate my vape. Begrudgingly, I made my way over there. Judging by the large and numerous airport signs, the size of the room and the number of counters available, there is a vast myriad of things that you are not allowed to keep in checked bags in Korea. And even more travelers that fall foul of the same packing mistake and must come here to recuperate their items. Will have to make a mental note to investigate this before I fly back into Korea again. Not even 5 minutes later I was back at the gate making my way on board.

The predicament that I was in now, was that I was on a full plane, my roller camera bag standing in the aisle next to my seat, and no overhead luggage bin space. I was fearful because this usually results in being told that I must now gate check my bag. Not something I was remotely interested in having to do. Don’t get me wrong, my ThinkTank Roller Derby™ camera bag is great, provides quite adequate padding, but I do not trust airport ground staff, neither their handling of my bag nor the safety of my camera equipment. This equipment is my livelihood, not to mention bucket loads of money it cost me.

All the gear for a photographer trip to Asia layed out — *Photo by Robert Schall Photography*

Travel tips from my own experiences

It was this situation that prompted this week’s blog. After years of traveling with expensive camera equipment, were there any tips that I could share to make packing and traveling as stress free as possible. Here is what I have learned. As a note, I should mention that I am a photographer, I don’t usually do video or fly a drone, so I will be sticking to a photographer’s perspective, but I am sure what I am about to share with you could be applicable to you videographers and dronists (is that a word? Sounds funny so I am going to use it.)

Divide Between Essentials and Non-Essentials

Every time I travel, I can divide everything I am bringing into 2 categories: essentials and non-essentials. I would venture to say this applies to non-expensive-equipment carrying travelers too. What do I mean by that? Well, it basically all boils down to what I could lose without my trip being overly ruined and what would ruin it. No lost or delayed bag is fun, but I will venture out on a limb and assume that missing a few pairs of socks and a toothbrush is not going to really be a complete derailment.

The flip side of the coin are those things that would really negatively impact my trip. As a photographer that would be my equipment, then there are things like my passport, wallet, maybe headphones, laptop, and of course all things related to charging and backing up of my photos. However there are a few items on the equipment list that I would consider non-essential. My tripod for instance, while it would suck to lose it, I would still be able to get most of the shots I need, and potentially also replace the tripod.

Sample List of Essentials versus Non-Essentials

Essentials Non-Essentials

Camera Body Clothes

Primary Lens Toiletries

Additional Lenses Shoes/Boots (except the pair that you are wearing)

Laptop Tripod

Chargers Filters

Cables Camera strap

Storage Headlamp

Power adapter

Headphones

Phone

Passport

Wallet

Does the Essentials list seem a little daunting? It shouldn’t, a lot of these items are in fact rather small. So, what next? Well, now we pack, and here as well, there are a few tips I can share.

Wandrd and ThinkTank bags that I travel with as a photographer — Photos curtesy Wandrd and ThinkTank

The Advantage of Packing Cubes

Packing cubes are a must I find, well that I have come to learn. For many years I traveled without them, and I have to say, once I started to use these nifty organizational pieces of equipment, I would not go back to my old ways. They are fantastically useful in keeping all my things organized. And do you know what the kicker is to packing cubes? You can get ones that are aptly named “compression packing cubes”. Stuff these full of t-shirts and such and zip that additional zipper and it compresses everything down into a tight package. Space saving! And space saving is the name of the game for travelers. This compression has more often than not allowed me to take a small bag on my travels. While on the plane this might not make much of a difference, once you are at your destination it does help vastly.

Somewhere these cubes also hit my, often hidden, organization nerve and I just love how I can keep things that belong together…well…together. I have cubes of various sizes. My larger items such as sweaters and jeans go in a larger one, my t-shirts in a smaller one, and I usually keep my collared shirts separate from my t-shirts, don’t judge me, it just makes sense to me and makes me happy. I do me, you do you. I use separate cubes for underwear, toiletries, first aid (fine, this is just a few bandages, Advil, something against allergies and a nose spray), and even have shoe bags and a dirty clothes bag.

impressive compression travel cubes from Tripped in navy blue — Photos curtesy Tripped Travel Gear

What About the Essentials You Ask

I do the same here, sort of that is to say. My camera bag has its own organizing system for the camera and lenses, so those are intrinsically taken care of. I own a few different camera bags, and I pick according to my travel needs. Of late I use my Wandrd Prvke 31L with their Pro Plus camera cube. I love this bag. It can fit all my gear, laptop and essentials. It is stylish and extremely comfortable to wear, even over extended periods of time. And in case you are wandering, the Wandrd Pro Plus is not called a cube for no reason, you can actually take it out of the backpack and close it up as a separate cube.

And yes, I use cubes here too. The main, and all important one, is my Tripped Travel Gear The Tech Traveler bag. It has all the necessary pockets and dividers for me to slot in my charging brick, laptop charger, various assorted charging cables, memory cards, passport and wallet. Quite the fifty little bag that slots nicely into the roll-top on my backpack, with my headphone case and a book.

I have two business class pouches from China Airlines, and no, I don’t fly business class. Not that I would not like to, but those prices are just too high. But I was able to net myself these nice little North Face toiletry bags. Smaller than the ones that North Face sells on their website, which makes them perfect to function as carriers for all my batteries and chargers.

I try my best to arrange things in a logical sense, the heaviest stuff at the bottom, the camera in such a way so that I can use the side opening to get to it, the rest on top. Non camera stuff in the roll top so that I can get at it without opening the camera gear area.

On this trip, I was using ThinkTank Roller Derby™, I was shooting photos of client’s factory and needed additional gear that I would not normally carry with me. This roller bag is carry-on size and is more spacious than my backpack. And I am sure you could guess already that the additional gear I was carrying fell into the essential category, thus had to be with me instead of in the airplane’s hold. I have larger backpacks too, but why carry when you can roll it along. And on location this was useful too, hence why I chose that option.

Excellent organizer bag for all your tech gear from Tripped — Photo curtesy Tripped Travel Gear

Why Should I Organize Things in Cubes

Now I have wordled away about all this dividing my stuff between essentials and non, about using cubes to organize it all, and you must be wondering how all this will help. Besides the more or less organizational benefits and ease of finding things again later, for the essentials portion there is an additional advantage that ties into the opening story of this blog. If I ever end up in the less than desirable situation where I must gate check my equipment bag, I can rapidly pull certain object out, and keep with me. I wouldn’t have to juggle multiple loose items in my arms while maneuvering to seat, I would just need to carry two or three cubes. Similarly, if at security they happen to want to inspect something I can quickly direct them to the correct cube and speed things up.

Advantages of Being Organized by Cubes

If you are living out of your suitcase when traveling, say you are on a road trip around a country, these cubes make it so easy to find exactly what piece of clothing you are looking for. And toiletries aren’t floating around, they are all neatly stashed together and go straight from the bag into the bathroom with you. Recently, I acquired a new luggage set from Level 8 Cases, their 26- and 20-inch Textured luggage set. Great, sleek, and well-built roller suitcases, and with those I had also bought the Level8 Organizer bag set. It was these that opened my mind to organizing things in my suitcases similarly as I already was doing with my camera gear. I have, of course, since added to my cube collection with compressions sets from Tripped Travel Gear.

Overall, to me at least, it makes sense to organize everything with cubes. Add the compression to the equation and not only are you neatly organized but you also condense down everything, saving space, and as mentioned, allows you to use smaller travel bags. Traveling lighter is always an advantage in my book.

Sleek, sturdy and spacious black suitcases by Level 8 Cases — Photo curtesy Level8 Cases

Other travel tips

Here are a few more things that you can do in order to reduce your travel and especially airport stress. I live in the USA and here they offer Pre-TSA check, basically allowing you to go through security in the fast-track lane with the benefit of not needing to take your laptop out or take off your shoes. I have Global Entry for when I return from abroad. A very helpful system that gets you through immigration so much faster. Sadly, Global Entry only exists in the USA. If you spend a lot of time traveling between Canada and the USA, I would recommend getting NEXUS. It is similar to Global entry but also works in Canada. If you can get APEC ABTC card if you travel a lot for business within the participating Asia Pacific Economic Corporation countries.

Frequent flyer programs also help a lot, specially to get you preferential boarding. Being one of the first to be able to get on the plane rewards you with ample overhead bin space. If you happen not to fly often enough, and as such your frequent flyer status won’t be high enough, then I would suggest looking at Airline credit cards. These very often have as a card holder perk a preferential boarding zone. For example, I fly Delta, and the Delta American Express card guaranties you Zone 1 boarding. All these things can help take some of the stress and anxiety of flying with your gear out.

So what ended up happening to my gear

Don’t mean to leave you hanging. In the end, with the help of an amazing flight attendant, we managed to find an overhead bin with space for my roller camera bag. All well in the end. Throughout the ordeal I stayed calm, I remained respectful to the staff, smiled, and show appreciation for their help in resolving my problem. One that I had caused myself and would have been quite amiss if I had blamed anyone else for.

My list of travel gear that I mention in my blog:

I babbled away about what I use to travel. Instead of making you google it, here are some handy links to everything in case you want to check these out for yourself.

Camera Bag:

ThinkTank - Roller Derby™

https://www.thinktankphoto.com/products/airport-roller-derby

Wandrd – Prvke Camera Backpack 31L

https://www.wandrd.com/products/prvke?variant=39289416187984

Wandrd – Essentials Plus Camera Cube

https://www.wandrd.com/products/essential-camera-cube?variant=31506259247184

Wandrd – Pro Plus Camera Cube

https://www.wandrd.com/products/essential-camera-cube?variant=31506259247184

Tech Bag:

TRIPPED – The Tech Traveler (Moss Green)

https://www.trippedtravelgear.com/the-tech-bag