The One Secret to Smart Travel With A Drone

My parents loved to travel, so growing up I learned from experience how to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.  If you’re planning on taking a camera drone with you, packing for the journey is going to help you get the most from your travels.

I remember my father telling me one day: “Son, there are tourists and there are travelers; always be a traveler.”

I’ve never forgotten those words, because it helped me to filter out the things about traveling that were ‘noise’ and focus on the things that were ‘signals’.

In a previous article, we shared important tips for travelers who are taking drones on airplanes.  Critical points that keep the rest of the passengers, and your drone, safe.

Travelling with a camera drone means you’re giving up some luggage space to accomodate the ‘must-have’ accessories for your drone: chargers, batteries, attachments, laptops, cables, etc.  Thankfully there are others who have figured out the best way to travel with your drone without having to pick and chose what gear goes with you.

This Backpack is the Drone Travel ‘Secret Weapon’

In a perfect world, I prefer to travel without checking a suitcase. A well-packed carry-on and a smart personal item are often all I need…even for trips of 5 days or more.  If you spend any time in an airport you’ll notice that most people are the exact opposite: they pack too much clothing and gear that won’t leave the suitcase.

And now that airlines are promising to charge even more for luggage in 2019, smart packing strategies might even save you a few bucks.

So what is the ‘secret weapon’ of the drone traveler’s luggage arsenal?

Based on our experience, it’s the oft-ignored ‘personal item’.

The size limits for a personal item vary by airline, but using American Airlines (the largest carrier by fleet) as our guide, you can easily get along with a personal item that’s maxed-out at 18″x14″x8″.  Your ‘personal item’ is intended to nestle under the seat in front of you, giving you convenient access to small items you may need in transit.

When we started traveling with drones a couple of years ago we stumbled upon the medium-sized Manfrotto Advanced Gear Backpack and it changed our life. Literally.  We’ve taken our drone to France, Spain, Canada, the US and Mexico and we’ve never had an issue in an airport.  Ever.

Manfrotto is legendary for designing gear for photographers that is the perfect blend of practical and stylish.  With customizable padded dividers in the main compartment we can pack our drone and everything that goes with it and still have room to spare.  The Manfrotto Advanced Gear Backpack perfectly fits in the ‘personal item’ sizing, but don’t let that fool you.  Whether you own a DJI Spark, Mavic Air, Mavic Pro, or Mavic 2 drone you will have plenty of room.

The best part of a well-planned ‘personal item’ is how much space it frees up in your carry-on bag.

Watching the average tourist opening and closing the overhead storage to get at poorly packed objects during flight hurts our brain.  With the Manfrotto backpack, we also carry an iPad and iPad mini loaded with movies, shows and books as well as headphones and a journal.  With all of the in-flight entertainment options, we don’t really need much else.

Our current travel drone of choice is the DJI Mavic Air.  One of the first, and smallest, folding 4K drones it packs a powerful punch in a small frame.  And it’s compact size makes it perfect for travel.

Here’s a sample packing list of what goes in ours ‘personal item’ for a 5+ night trip with the Mavic Air drone:

• Mavic Air drone
• Chargers & cords
• 5 batteries
• Tablet mount
• iPad Mini
• iPad
• Osmo Mobile 2 (we take it if there’s room…but will soon abandon this device altogether)
• Osmo Pocket Vlogging Camera (this is our new favorite!)
• Trip journal
• ND filters
• Extra SD cards & adapters
• Western Digital Hard Drive

Believe it or not, everything above gives us over 100 minutes of flight time with room to spare.

The only other major ‘tech-item’ that travels with us is our lightweight Asus Vivobook laptop to quickly process 4K video while on the go.  Packed in a padded laptop sleeve, it travels out of sight in the regular carry-on bag.

With a few very minor adjustments, we can swap out the Mavic Air and travel with the  slightly-larger Mavic 2 Pro and enjoy it’s 31 minute flight time and 20 megapixel Hasselblad camera.

The Manfrotto Advanced Gear Backpack has all of the features you’re accustomed to in high-end camera bags: a hidden, rain-proof cover to keep your gear dry, comfortable, adjustable straps and a tough cordura nylon skin surrounding a soft, padded shell.

For me, the biggest bonus of traveling ‘light, but well’ is that when we get to our destination, we’re free to keep moving.  Traveling without a checked bag keeps us ahead of the crowds and out of the queues, giving us more time to enjoy (and film) all the sights that we came for in the first place.

Finding smart and creative ways to bring all of the gear to capture your travels makes a lot of sense.  If your future travels include a drone, make sure you check with your specific airlines dangerous goods rules.  Most drones use LiPo batteries that are never allowed in checked baggage….they must be in your carry-on only.

Know Before You Go

One important tip for aerial photography when traveling to a new destination is to check out what and where others have already filmed.  A quick search on YouTube and Google images and you’ll know just where the best locations and views are that you want to capture.

And while you’re online, be sure you thoroughly research the drone regulations in your destination country.  We rely on the database at UAVSystemsInternational.com for the most current rules.  A lot of countries are updating their drone rules for 2019, so be sure to check back frequently prior to your trip.

You can find a full run-down on what you need to know when taking your drone on an airplane here.

Be sure to share your drone travel and packing tips in the comments section below!