Your Travel Shopping Guide for 2018

The 28″ Osprey Sojourn is a piece of luggage that I have been using for ab0ut 2 1/2 years. I purchased this item before Rosita and I went to Italy in 2015. I used the bag on that trip, a 2 week trip to Germany, Switzerland and Italy in 2017 and around 4o domestic trips of from 1 to 5 days. The garment still looks like new. It is the only bag I have used during this time. My day job requires me to travel in my sales territory and this requires 50 to 60 nights out a year plus several personal trips a year. The garment has one large compartment to put all of my clothes. It has 1 long pocket along each side of the back to separate smaller items. It has a small compartment at the top to put shoes or dirty socks and underwear. The wheels the bag rolls very quietly and smoothly. There is a large zippered compartment where the backpack straps go. With the straps I keep a medium to large jacket. You can remove the backpack straps to store more in this compartment. This is a bag that I have come to rely on and I plan to use it for several more years

The Samsonite High Sierra Rolling Backpack is Rosita’s bag of choice. It is carry on size and has rolling wheels and backpack straps. She purchased this about the same time as I bought the Osprey. It has been on our 2 latest trips to Europe. Both of these trips were for 2 weeks and was enough space for Rosita. I did not think it would work for her but it has on 2 of our latest 2 trips to Europe

I recently purchased the Canon 80D with 18-135mm stabilized lens. If you click on the link above it will give you different configurations in case you want different or no lenses. I have an older Canon Rebel camera and was going to get the body but the older lenses aren’t stabilized. I have not been on a trip with it yet but I took it out for a spin and the camera is amazing. I purchased a 64 GB SD card and can’t wait to go on a trip with it. It has a wifi connection and I even figured out how to download pictures wirelessly to my phone. On my last trip with my old Canon I had to wait till I returned home to connect the camera to my home computer with a cord. Now I can upload to my phone and when I go to write a blog the photos are on my laptop.

The PacSafe CamSafe V18 is the camera bag I use when I travel overseas. It has plenty of room for my camera, 2 lenses, and other camera accessories. It has a pocket that fits my iPad mini and has room for my 13″ MacBook Pro. The 15″ will not fit in the bag. It gives me an extra sense of security because the material in the bag and the shoulder straps are slash proof. All of the zippers have latches when they are closed and have little pockets to tuck the closed zipper & latch away. This is going to make pickpockets move on to someone else who is less prepared. I rode the city bus 12 in Rome, that is nicknamed the pickpocket bus and didn’t lose anything. The back has an enclosure with a zipper on the top and the bottom. open both and it slides over the handle of your suitcase. It works great with my Osprey Sojourn when walking with the bags or while you are standing. You can close the bottom zipper and have an extra pocket. It has a front pocket where I keep extra camera batteries, extra memory cards and my phone and wallet if I want a little extra security for them. It also has a small pocket in the front pocket that is RFID protected for credit cards. In the main compartment there is a space beside the camera case where I keep external phone chargers, reg phone chargers and other small things that I want to keep handy while traveling. Overall this is a bag I have grown to love when I am traveling with my camera, iPad mini and my MacBook Pro.

This is the wallet I use when I travel out of the country. I use a smaller Identity Stronghold wallet when I am home but I do not need to carry a passport at home. This has a great clear pocket on the left to keep up with your passport. It has a deep bill compartment to help keep up with foreign currency. It has 4 credit card slots and a drivers license slot on the right. It has a pocket behind the credit card slots that I use for receipts or a small reference to something we did that I might need for writing the blog. Larger brochures or books go in the Pacsafe or Rosita's purse. This is a passport wallet that I have gotten very comfortable with while traveling. I keep it in my front pocket or a coat pocket. If we go somewhere crowded I pack it away in my Pacsafe anti-theft camera bag for peace of mind. Identity Stronghold has a good reputation for RFID and I use a smaller model when I am at home.