Went to post, reread the threads - dang! TheFlyingCamera said it all for me, took the words right out of my mouth. Very few can claim to have done that. Well done, lad!
Now I have to rethink this a bit...
In 1973 I went to Asia, my first trip,with an almost new Rollei 3.5E TLR, a lens hood, a few filters, and 40 rolls of 120 Tri-X. I had 40 rolls of Ektachrome 64, which everyone used then, but left it at home by accident. There I was, in Bali, Indonesia, in THAT glorious light. With ASA 400 film. Yoiks!
Twelve countries in five months. Mostly in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Saigon (the rest of Vietnam being "off limits" that year, altho' I made it upcountry to Dalat, but was sent back in a convoy which was shot at during a night race over the Dalat hills). Ten days in Japan cost a third of my travel budget, but oh, the beauty. Sri Lanka was a nightmare, a corrupt immigration officer wanted money and caused so much angst at the airport, I vowed to never go back (and I haven't). Shot the 40 rolls and 100+ more. Sold hundreds of images. In the '70s the media markets were hot for Asian photos, nowadays you can barely give the stuff away. Times pass, things change.
In 1993 I was in Indonesia for six months, researching a book. I had a Nikon Photomic F (horrible things, Photomics), a 50mm f/2, a lens hood, and a backup Weston Master III meter which did most of my metering. Again shot madly and sold a lot. The good old days.
This year I'm back on the road, to Brunei, Sarawak, Malaysia, Singapore, Kalimantan. I'm older, but I don't seem to have learned a lot about traveling light with photo gear. For color, I' using - one of those newfangled Nikons we don't like to talk about in this forum, with 24, 28, 50 and 85 lenses. For B&W, I had a Fuji GA645wi, which underwent a Sudden Death Experience during an architectural shoot and it seems can't be revived, a circuit board failure, no parts to be had, ah well! I'm considering its replacement. A Fuji GS645w seems likely.
This year, as if having undergone a rebirth pf sorts, I'm shooting more film and less 'D-word'. With film, I psych myself to shoot less, compose with greater care, and I try to apply a little nous to my approach to the subjects. Like my mate TFC, I'm using Tri-X and Ektar 100 or Portra 160, along with whatever films I find along the way. There is now film available in Asia, unlike the dismal situation in the past ten years. The film "wheel" has come a full circle. We are back into more enlightened times.
The pleasure of having muted film colors and not garish Disneyland-D acrylics satisfies me. Fortunately, my publisher client shares my passion for film, as long as I do the scans...
Money being no object, I would still use the camera equipment I have come to know and love in my long life - the Rolleiflex, my Nikkormats, the Nikon F I still own (less the Photomic), Fuji GA, a Contax G1 and lenses - and spend more on travel and creature comforts. Forty years ago I went everywhere by public bus and the basic backpacker's life suited me. Now middle range hotels, good beds, wifi, healthy food, tipples in moderation, and other civilised basic comforts appeal more. But the travel is everything. The cameras merely come along for the ride - and the fun. (A small complaint, carrying all that film is a pain!)
but would the answer still be the same if you could bring anything? Money no object?
