I spent the past week driving through New Zealand with three of my friends. It was an incredible journey both with the chance to fellowship with my travel mates and certainly an amazing treat to experience such a beautiful country!

Here are a few of my favorite images I captured. The first set are from our first two days on the North Island; the second collection is from the remainder of our trip through as much as we had time for in the South Island. I have the rest of my images up on my Facebook page. If you're interested in prints of any of these (or any other of my photography) please do contact me.

• day pack - 40L - I can fit everything I take in here!
• rain shell (good to have as an outer layer in frigid situations)
• compressable puff jacket (great on its own and acts like a winter coat with the shell over it)
• quarter zip long sleeve (thin, athletic, durable, etc. - it's a favorite of mine)
• button up shirt (SPF 50)
• 2-3 t-shirts (for backpacking trips, I only take 2, but I might want an extra for not being nasty when we go into towns or whatever. I'll also likely buy a shirt or two somewhere along the way)
• travel pants - convertible to shorts
• (maybe) athletic pants and/or shorts
• swimsuit (mine wear like a good pair of shorts with decent stretch, pockets, current style, and they dry really fast)
• 6-8 pairs of socks / underwear
• sneakers - even if we hike, this is all I use. I stopped using boots for backpacking several years ago!
• stuff sack (especially great for dirty laundry)
• toiletry kit (with basic first aid, sunscreen, and ibuprofen)
• (maybe) hat with brim
• (maybe) winter hat and gloves
• camera
• tripod
• camera extras - batteries, charger, memory cards, filters, remote shutter release, alan key for tripod, headlamp, notebook, etc.
• iPad
• chargers, and cables
• kindle
• journal, pen
• IEM headphones
• phone (even though it’ll be off the whole time I’m out of country, I’ll still need it for coordinating travel to and from the airport; and it’ll function as my backup camera)
• sunglasses
• water bottle
• thermal camping mug with lid
• day pack - 18L - super light weight and good for keeping under the seat on the plane. A great thing about this is that it can flip inside out and act as a stuff sack.
• wallet
• passport

• sleeping bag
• sleeping mat
• snacks and Via instant coffee packets

• tent (I have a 3-4 man backpacking tent that fits me and my boys well)
• water filter (although it sounds like everywhere we’re going has a pump with safe drinking water)
• tie-line
• backpacking pack