Heavy Duty

I brought too much stuff.

It really was ridiculous of me to think that I could fit all of my camera gear, clothes for 16 days, and a day bag into a single backpack, as I challenged myself a few months before leaving for Peru. As our departure date approached, I realized that challenge was only a pipe dream and I moved most of my camera accessories into the day bag, including my drone (with spare batteries and the remote controller). Finally, a Ziplock bag held all of my meds and inhalers, which I kept at the top of the day pack for easy access.

Oh, and I brought a paperback crime novel to read, which slipped into a narrow zip pouch in the backpack. And when I finished reading the book, I left it behind so that maybe someone else would enjoy reading it and I could shed a bit of weight.

As we travelled from Ottawa to Montreal, to Miami, to Lima, and finally, to Cusco, I discovered that my large backpack really was heavy. In it, I had all of my clothes, including some slip-on shower shoes, my 200–500mm lens, a tripod, monopod, and stainless-steel water bottle.

Yeah, I packed a lot.

My D-SLR didn't fit in either backpack or day pack, but I had a strap with a quick-release clip and another quick-release clip that was affixed to the day pack. I would clip the camera to the day pack when I was in the airports, so that it was part of my personal item, as both would fit easily under the seat in front of me on the plane. The larger backpack, which was pushing the allowable weight limit, was of regulation size for a carry-on.

I had put so much in both bags that I had little room for souvenirs, which was fine. I find that I take so many photos and video that I retain my memories just fine through them. I did, however, have enough room that I was able to bring back a baby alpaca wool toque, a llama key chain that was given to me by a tour guide in Cusco, and a 75ml bottle of Amargo Chuncho bitters, which is used to make pisco sours (our Peruvian cocktail of choice throughout the trip).

Side note: we thought of picking up a bottle of pisco—a Peruvian brandy—at the airport duty-free, but after comparing prices, online, with what we could get it for from our friendly neighbourhood LCBO, it wasn't worth it. We had toyed with the idea of buying some in a store in Lima, for much less, but I certainly didn't have room in my bags and neither of us wanted to check in our luggage for the voyage home.

When we arrived at our first destination, in Ollantaytambo, I realized that I hadn't packed my bags the best way. I had wanted to protect my 200-500mm lens at all cost, and so I had it wrapped in the bubble bag it had come in when I bought it, with its lens hood around the outside of the bubble bag, and then the whole thing in the soft bag that also came with it. In my backpack, the lens was surrounded by the compression bags that held my clothes.

I also packed 20x–60x spotting scope, which was not in a case but also protected by the compression bags. The tripod was on the opposite side of the lens and scope, which helped even the distribution of weight.

But it was incredibly heavy.

So, in Ollantaytambo, I moved things around. I discovered that the 200–500mm lens, outside of its protective wrapping, fit vertically in my day bag. I moved my shower shoes to the bottom of the day pack, to provide padding, lay the lens on its side, and then placed my pack of accessories on top. There was also room for the monopod, so it went in, too.

This repacking made the day pack much heavier, but it wasn't what I was constantly strapping to my back as we went from airport to airport (we took 10 flights in the 16 days of our trip) and wandered from accommodation to accommodation (we stayed in nine different places).

The redistribution of weight made a big difference, even if I was ultimately carrying exactly the same amount of weight.

I told myself to make carrying all of this weight worthwhile, I needed to use everything I brought. Obviously, I was going to use every item of clothing I brought, as I hadn't brought enough clothes for 16 days and I had to wash clothes regularly; especially, underwear, of which I only brough four pairs (they were fast-drying).

Of course, I used my D-SLR every day. I had my 24–70mm lens, which I used almost exclusively for the first half, and the aforementioned 200–500mm, which was my lens of choice for our time in the Amazon basin. There was no regret in taking this equipment, though the camera would be constantly bouncing against my right-side ribs when it was attached to the neck strap, and I returned home with bruising and tenderness on that side of my body.

Worth it for the shots I got.

I brought my Insta360 X3 camera, which I used only a few times, when I wanted to capture video of me and the girls or for when I wanted to get interesting angles when we explored the Amazon jungle. But I also brought a mini Manfrotto tripod and counterweights, which I had intended to use with the monopod and the 360-degree camera.

I only used it once, for maybe five minutes. It wasn't worth having.

I also packed my gimbal for my smartphone but only used it a couple of times. During our walking tour of Cusco, it constantly acted up and being synced to my phone, it was a huge drain on the battery. Early into the tour, I folded up the gimbal and never used it again.

I'm so disappointed with it that I'm considering selling it.

I brought every type of cable for all of my gear: from the dedicated cable for my Garmin watch, lightning cable for my Apple ear bud case, micro USB, USB-A to USB-C, USB-C to USB-C, to mini-jacks, I was set. I even had extras for DW and the kids, which came in handy.

Worth it.

Portable charger: worth it.

Charger for the three Nikon batteries: worth it. (The 200–500mm lens is a bit of a power hog.)

I knew that drones were prohibited at Machu Picchu but I had seen drone footage at the Ollantaytambo archeological site, the salt terraces in the Sacred Valley, and at Sacsayhuaman, in Cusco, in YouTube videos that we watched while making travel plans, but signs at these sites said otherwise. When we were at our lodge in Tambopata, I asked about using my drone and was told that I could only fly it in the airspace between the main lodge and the river, and over the river itself.

Donald, our guide, told me that while it was prohibited to fly a drone at the macaw clay licks, he suggested that I bring it for that outing. On our way back toward the lodge, he had our boat pilot take us to an open but secluded spot, and said I could fly my drone there.

I didn't want to have the other folks in our party wait too long so I only flew it over this beautiful spot for about five minutes before landing it and continuing down the river. For all the flying I did, I didn't even exhaust one battery, yet I brought three, plus the charger. I'm still debating whether it was worth bringing the drone at all but I'll wait until I see how much video footage I got from it to determine if it was worthwhile weight.

Image: Ulanzi

Most of the video that I captured was done with my smartphone, and while I regret bringing the gimbal, I also brought an accessory that I had bought last year but haven't used much since purchasing it. It's a camera grip that lets you hold your phone much easier and allows you to make smoother motion with reduced risk of dropping your device. It has a built-in light and a Bluetooth shutter release that is held on with a magnet so that you can even take shots remotely.

I've never used the remote trigger, and now I won't ever: somewhere between getting of a plane in Atlanta, Georgia, and getting to the gate for our flight to Toronto, the remote trigger fell off.

I was carrying too much stuff.

The grip still works and I'll be using it more often. Perhaps I can write to the manufacturer and see if they offer a replacement.

Speaking earlier about my ear buds, I never used them. It wasn't worth bringing them or the charge cable. I know, they don't weigh much but it all adds up.

Image: Ulanzi

I expected, at various times during the trip, that I'd capture video of me talking about where we were or of creating intros and outros for videos. And I wanted to stand back from the camera, so I packed my wireless lav mics, which come in a box-like charging case. It doesn't weigh much but it takes up space.

I only used it once, and when I saw the video, I didn't like the lighting in which I was standing, so I ended up deleting the clip. And in any other video footage that I took of myself, I was close enough to the camera that I didn't need an extra microphone.

In the end, it wasn't worth brining this bit of equipment.

I brought a spare pair of prescription glasses, just in case something happened to my main pair. They have red frames and blue, mirrored, clip-on sunglasses. While I never used them on the trip, they were worthwhile insurance. And Kid 2 had forgotten to pack her sunglasses, but we discovered that my clip-ons fit her prescription glasses.

Not perfectly but good enough to protect her eyes from the sun.

I packed a rain poncho but never needed it. Worth it? I don't know.

All told, I carried about 30 kilos worth of clothing and camera gear. Returning home, my lower back is sore, my right knee aches a bit, and I bruised the ribs on my right side.

But I learned what is essential and what can be left at home for when we travel again, in September.