10 full, glorious months on the road...

And I only get to have two bags total with me. This makes me very, very grateful my photography kit is still very small compared to so many people. Something good has finally come from being too broke to afford anything more than necessities.

For those who are curious about how I am going to afford to spend ten months on the road and yet claim to be very broke, it's quite simple. I leave for AmeriCorps NCCC on the 15 and will be spending those ten months making more than I was at my crappy part-time job just based off of the living stipend we get plus our meal allowance. I'll be doing community service for a very minimal amount of money, plus transportation and housing are covered and our uniform is provided. I am extremely excited about the opportunity I have been blessed with, as I actually thoroughly enjoy doing service of the many various types I could end up doing, plus we won't be staying in any one place longer than 8 weeks at a time, which means I'll get to potentially see some new places in the upper midwest. If they somehow find a way to only send me places I have been already, I'll be very impressed, not gonna lie.

So yes, I will be doing lots of traveling and am very excited about the opportunity at hand, and yet will likely freak out about the two-bag (one checked, one carry-on) limit. Granted, I'm planning on bending this slightly by taking my purse separately for ease of access to ID/paperwork, but you get the picture. For the record, it is safe to assume that whatever my second bag be in the vans going to projects, it must be something I could hold on my lap (my camera bag will be manageable enough in this capacity).

And now I pose a question to you. If you were facing this same or a similar situation (in terms of very limited baggage, unknown destinations, and limited funds), what would you choose to bring? Assume also that you could not buy anything new except a different bag.

I'm not asking for advice, so don't see it that way. I don't have much to bring in terms of gear, so the question is easy for me and the only thing I'm not sure on yet is the tripod I just purchased. This is merely meant to see what it is you consider to be the most vital out of your current kit.

congrats on the adventure. you seem excited and im sure you will have stories to tell. i would suggest you do a 365 photo thing. don't know much about them but you take one picture everyday to see how you improve i think. if you dont have a computer to take with you, or the room, then get a memory card dedicated to this and make sure it can hold enough photos. if you shoot RAW a 4GB card should be big enough for 10 months.
with such limited space i would not even take a photo bag. just take a bigger purse. its not that heavy. your gear list shows a body and a lens. take a monopod instead of a tripod unless you plan to take alot of pics of yourself. im sure the other people in the group with take a pic of you if you ask.
if i had to chose i would take my 5D, batteries, cards, etc. and my 85 1.8 and once i get it the 50 1.2.

good luck

Thanks. I actually do already have a 365 thing going on that I started on New Year's Day, but I haven't updated my blog in probably a week and a half, maybe even almost 2 weeks at this point. I actually haven't updated my gear list, either, so it's best not to go by that in terms of seeing what I have (I'm trying, not very hard, to sell the Lowepro). I'm planning on taking my laptop plus two external hard drives and a USB mouse, which is the whole reason I have my new camera bag - it has a slot for a laptop. If I just took a large purse, no way on earth would I want to carry my laptop in it. WAY too heavy with a camera, lens, etc. Plus I'll be riding in a van with a good chance that one of my team members will be really careless and kick it, and I might end up camping for any amount of time from 2-8 weeks. I feel far more comfortable having a proper camera bag to protect what little I do have. Plus my camera bag is big enough to hold almost everything I want in my carry-on, including my Kindle.

Also, the average user runs in fear when I ask them to take a picture with whatever DSLR I happen to be using at the time. I have actually had this happen multiple times where people would outright refuse to mess with the camera I was using because it looked scary. I'd just be like "It's only a 40D with a 28-105" or whatever I had at the time and they'd look at me like I sprouted not just one additional head, but THREE, then walk away mumbling about my obsession with fancy cameras. And I want to play around with low-light stuff, hence why I might bring a tripod. There is a good chance I won't be able to fit it, though, in which case it'll be all on me, as always. I'm just praying it arrives before the 15 so I can at least test it to see if it's worth anything to me.

I also hope my second battery arrives on time. If it doesn't my mom will have to ship it to me, and that could potentially take her MONTHS because she has a terrible memory and is always coming up with excuses about why she can't (it's snowing, she doesn't have work for three days, etc.). There's really no excuse since I can walk to the post office in under 5 minutes if the sidewalks are clear of snow and ice.

It looks like your only question is what to take... Your equip list shows one body and one lens - looks like they both make the trip.

I would strongly recommend your tripod. I know they're a hassle, but if you have time for low-light, or sunrise/sunset time shots you will need it. About 75% of my shots are with tripod. See if you can make it fit... I couldn't leave home without it.

I also posed the question to see what YOU would take out of your kit. I clearly stated I'm not seeking advice (unless, of course, you're a female who has traveled for ten months with minimal clothing, then you might be able to help me out). This was more of a fun question aimed at people with larger kits who would have to choose what to take.

And yeah, if the tripod gets here in time, I'm going to see if I can fit it in my checked bag. I've got some space saver bags for my bulky clothes that tend to attract air like white clothing attracts black cats and dogs, so those should save some space. I'll just have to see. Can't do much until I have the tripod, though.

Tripod came in today!

Time to test this sucker out and see if it was worth the gamble.

Out of the box, I was impressed with the weight and size. I was anticipating at least 2 pounds heavier and several inches longer. Already impressed with it in that regard and have slightly raised hopes at being able to take it with me.

So far, I've extended the legs out all the way (gradually, testing at each level), then held the shutter button down while stomping really hard on the floor by my tripod. As far as I can tell, the shots shouldn't have been effected too much. Haven't uploaded them to my computer to view them at 100% yet, so I can't really say anything. I also pushed down on top of my camera carefully to add extra pressure to the tripod with legs fully extended and other than a tiny bit of give, it held up fine. I definitely feel safe mounting my current (and only) set-up on it while indoors.

Going to do a little bit of shooting outside to see how it holds up in the less desirable conditions that are present outside of my bedroom. Not sure when this will take place, but with any luck I'll get the chance tonight or tomorrow. More on my potential miracle tripod later.

Also, when I put my flight time in CST, I have to leave my house at 3 am to get to the airport for my 4:40 am flight. Not my first choice, but then again, I didn't get to choose.

If you want to do low light, maybe another lens or two?

I do 3/4/5AM wakeups for flights all the time (100,000+ mile/year flier). Lay your clothes out, have something cold with Vitamin B in it handy, and eat some protein (protein bar, cold chicken, chickpeas, nuts, etc). Thatll help get the day started if youre not used to 3AM wakeups.