For better or for worse, travel has been part of my life for many years. My best guess is that I’ve spent two months out of each of the last 30 years away from home. To help ease the pain and drudgery of travel, I’m always prepared to record my travels with a camera.

About 25% of my travel involves photo assignments. For this kind of travel my equipment list varies widely based on the specifics of the assignment. The other 75% of my travel has me tending to other aspects of our business. For this kind of travel I keep myself photographically ready for whatever interesting or unexpected I might encounter.

Here’s a few habits that I’ve acquired to make traveling and photography an easier combination.

As a publisher of photography books, I am fortunate to have access to a wide variety of cameras and lenses. For travel, I usually choose a lightweight DSLR. Instead of carrying several lenses, a wide range 18mm to 200mm zoom lens lets me travel light.

Airline restrictions have made it impractical to carry a camera bag so I’ve turned to a back pack. This model has large, comfortable and sturdy straps needed for long walks through the airport. The bottom compartment has room for the camera, a few lenses, battery chargers, etc. There’s also a separate compartment for my notebook computer, and ample reading material.

Additionally, I always have a decent quality compact camera close at hand. It’s a “rugged” model that survived being dropped and used in the rain and easily fits in my coat pocket. Choose a compact camera that lets you shoot under a wide variety of lighting conditions e.g. setting white balance; exposure compensation; boosting ISO; flash off.

Here’s a few of the subjects that I found interesting during my recent travels.

Mt Shasta, on the road from Reno, NV to Portland, OR

Vineyard in rural Germany near Cologne.

Time Warner Building, New York City.

Jubilee Gardens, London, England.

On assignment or off assignment, I try to be ready with my camera. I’ve been rewarded with many visual memories.