What equipment to take with you on vacation?

We are going on vacation! Super! Finally, we will relax, we will not think about the issues of the day. Easy, right? :) Unfortunately, for many people, going on a holiday trip, let alone just packing, is a lot of stress….

In this post, we will approach the topic of packing a little differently. Not in terms of what and how much to take (you can read about it in this post: What to take on vacation? Download the full list!), but in terms of the equipment needed and whether we are sure we need it so much during a two-week tour or lying belly up on the beach :)

What equipment to take with you on vacation:

Camera or phone?

What would a trip be without memories, and how best to keep them? With the help of images (including moving ones), so photos are definitely a mainstay. However, not so obvious these days. Because, after all, according to the latest statistics, about 60% of Poles own smartphones, which by design also have cameras. Of course, the better the phone, the better the camera.

We, some time ago, switched from worn-out Samsung Galaxy S3s to iPhone 6S and Samsung Galaxy S6. The old S3 was hard to take pictures with. Apparently, it wasn’t such a bad camera (8 Mpix), but the phones already muddled quite a bit, and the quality of the photos left much to be desired.

In addition, phones are used for us not only to make calls and take pictures, but we need good, reliable equipment that can withstand recording videos, navigation, streaming music and, of course, all at the same time :)

After the switch, we were unable to distinguish between photos from the 6S and S6 and those taken with a DSLR or mirrorless camera. We’re talking, of course, about good conditions for photos, natural lighting, because when it came to taking pictures in the caves we definitely put our phones in our pockets.

These phones, are also great devices for recording videos (which maybe someday we will finally be able to post here ;-)). The iPhone shoots video in 4K, so here it wins decisively over cameras with video recording.

That’s right. Nevertheless, we never move without a standard camera.

So far we have been traveling with a Sony Alpha A350 DSLR (+ one battery in reserve) and a Sony compact (unspecified ;)). However, the latter was already failing a bit (after numerous falls, especially in the sand), and the former eventually refused to serve overnight. However, we always had our lousy phones in reserve.

Recently, forced by the failure of the Sony Alpha A350, we replaced our DSLR with the Olympus OM-D E-M10 mirrorless. And as of now, our ideal package is just him + our two phones.

For longer trips, of course, we still take the old Sony compact as a spare, but we still carry the intention of replacing it or ditching it altogether.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 mirrorless is lightweight and handy and fits into a jacket pocket. So it takes up little space, and the quality of photos is no different from DSLR cameras. This was our biggest concern, but completely unnecessary. The battery also holds up pretty well, definitely longer than the manufacturer’s technical information states.

So what about this camera? What to choose?

In summary, we usually take a mirrorless Olympus plus two phones with better cameras on trips. Sometimes we still take a handy compact in reserve. Photography we do not deal professionally, so such a set is 100% enough for us :)

Tablet or laptop?

This topic is already heavier… Should I take a laptop or take a tablet? What for! After all, we are going on vacation, to relax! :)

And that should be the reaction. We are definitely going to rest. And excuses like “well, but I’ll want to book hotels, check out attractions, watch a movie, etc.” won’t work. After all, just a few years ago, you traveled even without smartphones, mobile apps and managed :)

Tourist information can be found in almost every corner of the world, and even when you can’t find any, there is always someone there to give you good advice and information.

We, however, often travel with at least one laptop (for our two). For two reasons. Sometimes, going to the Canary Islands, for example, we know that we will have more free time and will want to allocate it to ongoing work on the blog.

Often, however, we end up only scraping something there at the beginning of the trip, and later we prefer to spend all our time exploring different places.

The second reason we often travel with a laptop is that at least one of us works remotely. Fortunately, we sometimes have this opportunity, which allows us to travel more than 26 days a year ;)

If you’re already taking a laptop, it definitely needs to be lightweight and handy. 13 inches is the maximum so that it does not take up too much space. If you have a larger screen it is worth thinking about a tablet.

There are a lot of Windows tablets available these days (I personally advise against it), but even those with Android (we use a Samsung Galaxy Tab S) enable a great deal of activity. From writing travel reports to booking attractions, accommodations, taking photos (even!) or even using Google Maps ;)

We also occasionally took a tablet (+ bluetooth keyboard), which quietly managed to write reports during the trip or at least to watch movies during the trip.

Currently, instead of a tablet, we always take smartphones, which have almost all the same functions, only with a smaller screen, so if you are not going to watch videos, a phone will do just fine.

Although sometimes I think we overdo it, as can be seen in the evenings when we want to catch up on our energy reserves here in Iceland;)

To take or not to take?

To summarize, however: it makes no sense to take a laptop/tablet to places where it will be completely superfluous to you, such as to us on our trip to Cuba. Back then we didn’t even take a tablet with us, which sometimes just replaced a laptop, sometimes a smartphone.

We also didn’t take our computer equipment to Rome, where we knew there would be so much to explore that it was simply a waste of time to stare at the monitor…. From which it’s also sometimes worth taking a break.

With the development of new technologies and apps (e.g., special city tour apps), more and more places are adapted and have free Wi-Fi. Let’s not kid ourselves, you have to use it, more than once it helped us in critical situations (even if it was translating, looking for the road or the next night’s lodging), but it is always worth considering what you want to do on the trip.

This is also what we wish you and what we recommend to you: Vacation = relaxing, exploring and spending time together…. and not staring at a monitor, even a small one, on a smartphone ;)