It seems that every time I am about to travel somewhere, I debate whether to take a particular piece of photo gear, e.g. a tripod, a certain lens, a flash, etc. The reason I hesitate to take everything that I may potentially need is that lugging around a heavy backpack really detracts from the experience of travel, and can even be detrimental to the photography aspect of it (e.g. it can limit your access to certain cites, or it can make you tired, so you would be more likely to miss photo opportunities). It really makes a lot of sense to be nimble, to borrow a term from Derrick Story.
When considering whether to take a particular piece of equipment on a trip or not, if I really want to be systematic about making the decision, I find it useful to apply a principle that Cal Newport describes in his book “Deep Work”. The idea is that while any tool has some potential to be useful, it often has drawbacks. The logical thing to do is to use the tool only if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
In the case of travel photography, for example, if I foresee an opportunity to shoot a sporting event, I take the 1Dx body because of its great autofocus speed, despite the relative bulk. However, if I will have only a few hours to explore the new location, my iPhone would allow me much greater mobility, while still giving an opportunity to capture some images.
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