When we travel it's often fast and furious. We have to arrive after a five-hour drive, get set up for a shoot, shoot all the next day, tear down that evening, and return the following morning. Streamlining our equipment and process is important to do this well. In addition, streamlining how I pack my backpack has greatly simplified how quickly I can get in and out of my house and the hotel.
I wrote about this four years ago and if you haven't read that before you should definitely check it out. Without further adieu, here is what I pack in my back for traveling for video production around the country.
What's in the bag
- The bag
- Ok, technically this is not 'in' the bag, but it's relevant. I searched several fancy sites before deciding on an affordable bag I found on Amazon: Matein TSA Friendly backpack.
- I chose this bag for the following features:
- Price - it was inexpensive and since I am rough with my bags I wanted something that I didn't mind having to pay to replace
- TSA Friendly - theoretically I can use this without taking my computer/tablet out and it keeps everything together better.
- Pockets & Organizers - it has three main large areas each with their own organizers. It also has another two smaller areas for random things. This is important as I have a lot of junk to stick in there.
- Feel & Look - it feels solid, and it's all black so it goes with the production ambiance ;)
- Computer
- Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2019) - 32GB Ram, 2.3GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9
- This is a great computer that gives us all the computing power we need on the road. The crazy thing is though that you'd be fine with one of the new M1 computers. They're faster and just better. This Macbook Pro 13-inch M1 only has 8GB of ram, but if you check out the CPU/GPU benchmarks you'll see it beats what I'm currently rocking. You should check it out.
- Tablet
- iPad Pro 12.9 - These are fantastic for reading, note-taking, watching Netflix, and even as a teleprompter! Super-versatile. I love having my tablet around for when I don't want to do work but need some oomph on the device =)
- Bag for Receipts
- No link for this one ;) Any ol' bag will do. This is important so that we can keep receipts organized. I like the bag because envelopes always get crushed and torn in my bags.
- Protein bars
- You never know when you will be able to eat or have to keep traveling/working. I love having like 5 bars just in case. Protein is a great snack as it provides greater satiety than carbs or other nutrients.
- I get Kirkland protein bars. They have the highest protein value with the lowest carbs/sugar/calorie ratio.
- Water Bottle
- Blender Bottles for life!
- Nice to carry your own water around. This bottle also allows me to mix protein powder and amino acid drinks with ease.
- Writing Utensils
- Do I need a description for this? To write things, silly.
- All the Cables
- I have a cable in my bag for every type of phone or device. I like to have spares of each cable too because inevitably someone forgets their cables and needs to borrow one.
- Several Different USB Chargers
- Being out and about or constantly moving means using up your phone and device batteries early in the day. Having several USB chargers means that I can keep everyone's devices going long into the night.
- Here's the few that I carry:
- Anker Wireless Power Bank 10,000mAh - Great to just set a device down on and charge
- Anker PowerCore 26,800mAh Portable Charger - Has the juice for several devices
- Solar Charger 25000mAh - Great for being outside when your other batteries are depleted. This will charge the power bank with the sun!
- USB-C Dongles & Adapters
- I've got a few of these. I like to make sure they have USB 3, a charging port, an sd card reader and gigabit ethernet. This is a good one:
- Headphones
- I've gone through several of these over the years. The latest travel pair I'm rocking has Bluetooth, and noise-canceling built-in. They feel great on the ear and the sound is awesome without being too expensive.
- It's the Skullcandy Venue Wireless ANC Over-Ear Headphone - Black
- Hard drives
- I've got several of these: WD 4TB My Passport Portable External Hard Drive HDD, USB 2.0 Compatible, Red - WDBPKJ0040BRD-WESN
- They're not super fast so I'm thinking I'll get something
- Folder
- This is one of those analog hacks that I've recently started using. This simple tool can keep loose pages organized and from getting scrunched up at the bottom of the bag.
- Extra Space
- This is not a thing within my bag per se, but it's super useful. With this bag, I'm able to pack two days of clothes into the third compartment. Very useful to not have any more bags.
This entry was posted in Behind the Scenes, equipment, Fun, hacks, production, Technology, filmmaking, travel
