[Pioneer]

I work for an international mining company and travel a lot. I know it sounds exciting to be a "frequent flyer" but the shine can wear a bit thin after you've been at it for a while.

Because I travel so much, and have had more then one bag disappear, everything that goes with me goes carry-on, so I travel pretty light. About 1/4th of the time I carry only a C***n point n shoot camera. The rest of the time, when I have my K200d, I rarely travel with more then two lenses.

I like "normal" lenses so my first preference is either my F 28 f/2.8, or my FA 35 f/2 since either of them are very nice lenses, very light (under 7 ounces), and both give excellent image quality in the "normal" range. Typically this lens will get 80% of the use. I have thought of carrying my Sigma 18-50 several times, to give myself a wide angle option, but I have never done it and I can't say I've ever missed it. I guess the thought of carrying that extra 12 ounces of weight has stopped me.

My 2nd lens is almost always a long, telephoto zoom. Although I have several choices, over the last few months my usual choice has been my Promaster 80-210 (a Vivitar copy) because it gives good pictures and weighs under 10 ounces. Finally, if it ever breaks I can leave it behind in a hotel waste bucket and not feel too bad about it.

As for a tripod, I have only carried one with me once, and I never used it. I do stabilize my telephoto, but usually by resting it on something handy nearby.

Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to travel, but to me it is more important to have the camera when I need it, not to pack a lot of extras I probably won't need. The K200d and both lenses weigh a bit over 2 pounds. So far this works for me.

This all sounds great but you should be aware that when I'm traveling locally in my car, I have been known to pack and carry way more then I need

[hcc]

Photography is not my business, but I take a lot of photograph to support and document my work, I travel both short and long distances, from quick trips (10 min.) to around the world trips.

In any case, I like to travel light with the bare minimum:
- a body preferably WR (K-7),
- one all-rounder lens (DA18-250mm)
- two batteries,
- a large-capacity, fast SD card (Sandisk 16 Gb Extreme III Class 10)
- the battery charger
all in one bag (Lowepro Toploader TLZ1). I have a lens dedicated for low light actions, but I do not like to swap lens. (I do not want to miss the action.)

One exception: when I travel really quick with only check-in luggage, I take only a P&S (waterpoof, shockproof) that I carry on me withouy any other parts.

Hope that the experience may help...

[gnome]

There seems to be a tradeoff - if you have the time, you may not have the money, but when you have the money, you probably do not have the time.

As an engineer, I do travel for business to some interesting (and not so interesting) places. What I carry depends on the agenda for the trip. I'll drag the DLSR and 1 or 2 lenses if I am going to be in someplace interesting for a couple of days. If its a multi-city roadshow, I may forgo a camera altogether.

I'd keep it simple if your travelling for work - a good walking around lens (e.g., 17-70) is really useful. The pentax 50-200 or 55-300 is a good addition for when you need something longer and won't weigh you down or take too much room. I used zing covers and pouches and pack the camera in my carryon and skip a case altogether.

When I travel with my family, I look at where I am going. The 17-70 goes with me everytwhere, but the 100-300 only goes if I feel that I have something that justifies lugging it and a tripod with me (e.g. Alaska). Above all avoid the temptation to bring everything "just in case." Keep in mind that your going to have to carry everything you bring at one or point or another.

[Pentaxie]

There seems to be a tradeoff - if you have the time, you may not have the money, but when you have the money, you probably do not have the time.

I could not agree less with you. There is definately a trade-off somewhere. One has to have a balance between the two.
It also may happens in other situation too, like if bring in more lenses, you can have plenty of choices but heavy in the bag. OTOH, if bring less lenses, you have not much choices but lighter on the baggabe.

I'd keep it simple if your travelling for work - a good walking around lens (e.g., 17-70) is really useful. The pentax 50-200 or 55-300 is a good addition for when you need something longer and won't weigh you down or take too much room. I used zing covers and pouches and pack the camera in my carryon and skip a case altogether.

I concurred. I will used the kit lens for simple day-to-day photography.
Will add in my Siggy 28-210mm if I need to zoom in more towards any particular subject.