For this feature, I’ve teamed up with WD to assist me in my explorations…

I’ve been robbed three times in my travels, and the worst was in Puerto Rico where while hiking in the rainforest, I had my rental car windows busted and my entire pack stolen. Not only did I lose my hard drives, but my money, passport, toiletries, clothing, and other personal effects were taken. I was stranded without my things, and without my gear, and worst of all, or so it felt to me at the time, without the photos I worked so hard to capture days before. Not only have I learned to be more creative with my hiding spots, but I now carry small, lightweight hard drives on me at all times, and I stuff them full of my latest photos that haven’t been saved in the cloud. Thinking back now, I could have taken the time to seek out internet in one of the small villages prior to my venturing into the rainforest, but at the time, I took my chances and ended up paying for it.
Now, having learned from that experience, as well as a few other experiences of gear breaking or weather intervening, I choose my portable/external drives more carefully. I always carry a lightweight, small hard drive on my person, like WD’s My Passport Go, which is a fast, drop-resistant (up to 2 meters) solid state drive that’s made for the roaming tech traveler. I also carry multiple other hard drives, each mirroring the original. I really like the My Passport Ultra for Mac, which is a tough hard drive with a ton of space. It’s housed in a refined metal cover, giving it a sleek look and a strong shell to help weather the worst the wild world can throw at you. Well, mostly. I tend to also outfit my larger hard drives with padding in waterproof sacks.

I simplify, and take one rucksack, fill it with 1-2 camera bodies (depending on the goal of the shoot and the terrain), 2 lenses, 3-4 hard drives, 2-3 changes of clothes, some survival gear, and that’s about it. This allows me to be vigilant in my exploring, with the capability of moving quick and free to wander, without burdening myself with too much weight, or too many pieces of luggage. Some photographers take entire crews with them, but I like the marriage between my travel experience and the world around me, as to create more authentic and inspired content.
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(Main photo by rubenv via Flickr)
Disclaimer: Product for this post was provided by WD. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of WD.