My Travel Tech Kit

Hey everyone! I am packing for a short trip and I thought it's time to share my travel tech kit with you all in case you are wondering! :) You can shop the list below as well :)

PS. These are affiliate links, if you buy via my links you'll pay nothing more and I'll get a small bonus for sending you! :) 

Devices: iPhone + iPad

Cameras (for photos & videos): Canon G7x mark 1 + Nikon D7100 + GoPro Hero 

Chargers: 1 charger for iPhone & iPad + 1 charger for the external charger + camera charger

Pods: Tripod (light weight from Amazon Basic) + monopod (aka selfie stick) + a tiny phone tripod (I usually use that at home, but take it on art trips to record process videos.    

Extras: Headphones + external charger (I take two) + three memory cards 64GB + adapter 

PS. Make sure everything is charged before you pack it. 

I pack all the kit in one carry on bag. I am still a beginner in photography, so I only use one lens (the one I got with the camera). On longer trips, I pack my laptop and external hard drive too, which makes the bag really heavy! 

Over to you: what's in your travel tech kit?

My First Travel Vlog

Hi everyone, 

For some reason, I am not crazy over videos, but I have been talking myself into making some videos especially for some of the unique destinations that I was fortunate to visit such as Iran. 

Making a travel video was the hardest thing I have done in my blogging career. Some might laugh, but I am serious. It was weeks and weeks of agony. The process started from the trip. I had to be conscious during my trip and take more videos because I usually just take photos and write about the places. I had to discard a lot of videos I took because they were shaky, unclear and some were even taken with a dirty lens! :O

Then came editing!

Here are some of the challenges I faced while making the video and some of my solutions: 

• Choosing the right footage. I had to choose from four devices. 
• Writing a voice over to match. 
• Picking a mic to record my voice over because the built in mic was too weak and caused an echo. I ended up buying the snowball mic from Blue Microphones because it had over 600 positive reviews.  
• Choosing Music that I am allowed to use. That was really stressful and just settled for a track from the free Youtube Audio Library.    
• Editing! This dilemma took the longest. I started with making the movie on iMovies and the audio on GarageBand. I worked them both, but then bringing the movie and the audio together was painful, so I followed Super Kat's advice and I switched to Adobe Premier Pro and that just saved my life and made the process much quicker. (I spent an extra 5 hours, but they were good 5 hours).  

I was very excited when I finally finished the editing. I know the video still needs to be better, but that's my first one and I am hoping it will get easier the more I do it. Now, I leave you with it! 

Feel free to share any vlogging making tips in the comments below! 

Five Packing Tips for Lighter Bags

I have been going on short breaks lately on really cheap flights and part of the cheapness is due to the lack of luggage. When I first started traveling my bags were semi heavy and I regretted it. Now I have been flying much lighter & here are my top tips:

1- Throw in the towel

Literally. Just don't pack one. Most places will have spare clean towels. 

2- Plan your outfits

Just take one outfit for either each day or one for two days ( rotate them). As a hijabi I wear an extra layer so I pack two basic long-sleeve under shirts, light tops and two headscarves (hijabs) that could go with more than one outfit. To give you an idea here are the outfits I wore in Iran and Morocco. 

3- Only take two pairs of jeans

Including the one you are wearing. So you are only packing one. Skinny light jeans are even better. 

4- One or two pairs of shoes

I usually just take one very comfortable pair that is tried and tested. If you must, take another cute pair ( preferably flats coz they can be squashed into a tiny amount of space). 

5-Edit your makeup kit

Do you really use everything in your makeup bag? Take absolute essentials. Primer ( with moisturiser in it), foundation ( with spf/ sun block in it), concealer, powder, blusher, eyeliner and all-day lipstick & maybe one extra dark colour in case you do something fancy. Keep in mind liquid makeup goes into the liquids bag outside. 

Over to you: What are your top tips for a lighter bag whilst travelling?