It’s been a few years since I did any serious ‘solo travelling’ with photography being my main motivation, that’s going to change this year and I get the feeling I’m not the only UK based traveller still shaking off the lockdown mentality and realising that once again, the world is our oyster.  As far as I’m concerned, Europe is MY oyster and always has been. We are immensely lucky to have so many exciting destinations on our doorstep, we may be out of the European union and have to wait a bit longer in the customs queues but we can still access Europe for ridiculously low prices. 

There was a time when I worked as a travel photographer, when I used to relish the opportunity to hang a rucksack and 2 or 3 full frame cameras around my barely capable carcass. This immodest display of equipment not only meant I would one day ensure my chiropractor could maintain his gambling habit, but with the addition of a silly hat, it said to all onlookers “STAND ASIDE! - PROFESSIONAL TWAT COMING THROUGH. This year however, is the one where I turned 60 and with decrepitude comes a degree of wisdom, I am finished carting around heavy sacks of expensive glass and metal.

So in preparation for this return to regular travelling, I took a long hard look at my equipment and decided to reprioritise it towards ‘travelling light’. I already owned one of the best cameras for size/weight/quality, the micro four thirds Olympus OM1, but I wanted to go ‘hardcore light’ so lens changes needed to be made.  Like many photographers, I also have a big surplus of camera bags that range from backpacks to canvas satchels, messengers and leather shoulder bags. But they all seemed so bulky so I decided whatever I take overseas should fit in my tiny Thinktank zip-pouch which I had mainly been using on film sets as a full frame prime lens carrier. The Thinktank “Hubba Hubba Hiney 3.0” is so diminutive it can be worn on a beltback or a narrow shoulder strap.

The diminutive Think Tank Hubba Hubba Hiney 3.0

Out went the bigger f2.8 zooms and in came the tiny f4 zooms, specifically the Olympus 12-45 f4 Pro and the 40-150 f4 Pro lenses. These would cover equivalent full frame focal lengths from 24mm to 300mm and handle the majority of travel or landscape images but for low light and portrait work I needed primes. I picked up a lovely used Olympus 75mm f1.8 in black and my existing 17mm f1.8 completed the kit.  I added polarisers for each of the zooms and I was ready to go. A similar set up could be created for any mirrorless camera system but I feel I now have the ultimate photographic travel kit. I wish I’d had this camera set up back in the day.

My first trip of the year was the result of an 8 hour internet into-the-night research binge, the type of which requires constant snack provision (cheese is good) and regular libation (wine works well here). At the end of this feverish trawl I was happy, in fact I was quite merry, and I had booked an Easyjet holiday to Porto in January. Not as chilly as the Balkans, not as warm as the Canary Islands but a bit prettier than both and I’d never been there before. Not having a lot of spare cash at the time, I sought the cheapest deal possible. The trip, 3 nights in a central 3 star hotel with airport parking, flights and transfers accounted for, came to a paltry £239 all in. “Bargain City Arizona” as Reginald Perrin would have said. 

Porto benefits from a superb railway which brought me directly from the airport to 50 yards from my hotel for about €3. I also booked a photographic model for a 3 hour photoshoot around central Porto on the sunniest day of the trip. The colours, people and architecture of Porto proved to be ideal subjects for travel photography and I didn’t complain once about carrying my tiny but versatile travel kit. Even better, the only thing my low key equipment said about me was, “nothing to see here, just another tourist”

In February I turned 60 so I booked myself a 2 night break to Fuerteventura. I realise this was probably testing the boundaries of how short a holiday one could have and still actually enjoy it, but it turned out to be pretty good. This trip required flying with Ryanair who’s baggage policies can be problematic for photographers to say the least. To make things worse, I was  flying with ‘under-seat hand luggage only” which restricted me to a bag of 40cm x 20cm x 25cm. I bought a ‘Ryanair sized’ backpack and despite the pitiful space available, I somehow squeezed in a few items of clothing, my laptop and required toiletries. 

Ever-wary of Ryanair’s keenness to extract excess baggage fees from its customers (allegedly) I managed to secret my camera gear about my person by wearing the Thinktank pouch on a belt and, on approaching the gate (where staff check your bags), sliding the pouch around the belt behind me.  Fortunately there were several people walking behind me in the queue so as I entered the gate, the Ryanair crew didn’t notice that from the back, I looked like I could be smuggling a small family of guinea pigs around my bottom area.