This weekend I’m staying overnight with a friend up in New York City and am so excited and thought I’d share with you how I pack for over-night trips! I am by no means a “travel expert” (that’s my husband!) but I’ve been traveling with a DSLR since I bought my first one when I was fifteen, and traveling with a bigger camera is a little bit different then regular travel packing, in my personal oppinion.

You might recodnize the bag I’m using from my thrifting post the other day – Yup! I’m already getting some use out of it! It’s perfect for an overnight trip since it has tons of compartments and sections, plus it’s got padding for a camera. Finding a good travel bag is essential. I have a few different ones I use, all for slightly different purposes, and am always thankfull that I have options.

When I bought my first DSLR they weren’t anywhere near as popular as they are now and there weren’t nearly as many options or features back then. So when I was researching buying a new camera this past year part of the reason I fell in love with the D5100 is because it’s lightweight and the screen flips. I love this feature the most because I always take my camera with me when traveling and sometimes it ends up shoved in my purse (oops!) and flipping the screen over keeps it from getting scratched and ruined.

Anyway. If you already have a DSLR you really should think carefully about what lense(s) to take with you. If you’re going on a weekend trip and your not a professional photographer I urge you to resist the temptation and only take one lense. When I got my first DSLR I used to take all my lenses with me on all trips and found that this was a big mistake. Not only did they take up room and weigh a ton, I rarely changed my lense when I was traveling.

Since it’s just a fun weekend I’m not hugely hung up on having the most amazing photos, so I’m taking my Tamron 28-80. It’s my only non-Nikon lense and it’s certainly not my best lense, but the one thing I love about it is that it’s super light, and since I’ll be carrying it around with me all day I know my shoulders will thank me for that later!

PS. When I want really gorgeous photos and still something lightweight I love to borrow my grandmother’s Nikon 50mm lense – it takes such gorgeous photos I don’t even mind that it’s a fixed focal length! Definetely something worth investing in!

When you’re just gone for a weekend and only taking one bag it’s best to stick to the essentials. What’s great about traveling in the summer is that you don’t have to worry about packing heavy coats or layers of clothing. I’m sticking to shorts and light shirts since this weekend is supposed to be a hot one!

I don’t know about you, but the wallet I usually use is oddly heavy. I tend to carry every penny I’ve ever gotten with me and every customer loyalty card that any store has ever offered me. So when I travel I like to swap just my essentials into a small wallet to save space and weight!

I’ve found it’s best to keep everything in it’s own special place. Clothing all together (in order of which I’ll wear them, so I don’t have to dig stuff out!), camera all by itself, and my wallet and ‘quick grab’ things (things like my phone and chapstick I want to be able to quickly reach!).

This may seem way simple and obvious to some of you out there, but I used to be horrible at packing and have certainly learned my lesson that taking a little extra time and thinking things out is always worth it in the end!

Do you have any travel packing tips? I’d love to hear them!