India Travel Gear

Travel gear. What to take? How to pack it all? What’s too much and what if it’s not enough?

These are all questions that have been preoccupying me for months as I prepared to embark on the biggest trip of my life.

For twenty+ years I have been heading off on photo journeys to various parts of the planet, so I have a fairly good idea what camera equipment I prefer to travel with. For about the last three years I have been an avid cyclist and have done a bit of bicycle touring in the US, but never internationally.

Rick, my good friend and traveling companion on this trip, has a bit of experience in bike travel, having completed a three-year, around-the-world trip in 2008. Rick is a world-class photographer but is definitely not a gearhead, so he’s relying on me for camera advice as much as I’m basing my decisions on cycling gear on his input.

So what then is coming with me to India?

Bicycle:

Camera:

Computer:

I got the bicycle from Tour of Nevada City bike shop, where the owner Duane was instrumental in bringing Rick to Nevada City for a Soulcycler show the night before the Amgen Tour earlier this year.

The camera equipment is a subset of my usual gear. I decided to leave my 1DsIII at home in order to save weight and to avoid carrying the ridiculously large charger. Even though the 85/1.2 is downright huge, it’s my favorite lens and I just couldn’t imagine going without it.

Rick is supplied with:

Bicycle:

Camera:

Computer:

Yes, Rick is carrying more lenses than me, but the combined weight of the 50, the 16, and the lensbaby is less than the weight of the 85, that’s how much of an indulgence that thing is. I just love the way I can use the shallow depth-of-field to isolate people or things and separate them from the background, so I’m sure I’ll be glad to take the extra weight.