After a few years of not traveling internationally I recently visited Japan for the first time and bought some new gear ahead of the trip. Here’s what I got and what I think of it.

Bellroy Venture Sling 6L #

Since I knew a large portion of the trip would be spent walking around, I wanted to pick up a larger day bag.

I settled on the Bellroy Venture Sling 6L for a few reasons. First of all, I had heard of the brand and liked their aesthetic, so I was eager to give one of their products a try. I wanted something bigger than the Tom Bihn that I carry around when I go out at home, but not the size of a backpack or messenger bag. This 6 litre bag seemed like a safe bet. After doing some research (side note: did you know there’s a whole blog dedicated to bag reviews?) I decided to give it a try.

Reader, I love this bag. It looks nice, it feels nice, and I love how many pockets it has to organize things. It was the perfect size for lugging around everything I needed: a little hand towel (because Japan apparently hates paper towels), hand sanitizer, candies to snack on in case of low blood sugar, a power bank, and digital camera. Plus whatever random stuff I picked up along the way!

Belkin BoostCharge Plus #

Strictly speaking, this was a bit of an unnecessary purchase. I’ve had an Amazon Basics power bank since 2016, but it’s just that: basic. Two USB-A ports and a MicroUSB port for charging. We’ve come a long way since 2016, namely that almost all of the devices I’d like to charge on the go use USB-C for charging.

After very little research, I decided on this Belkin power bank. It features built in USB-C and Lightning cables that tuck into the bank itself, which was a big selling point for me. Since I intended on carrying it around in my new bag, I didn’t want to have to also carry USB cables for charging.

Overall I’m satisfied with this purchase, but with some qualifications. While looking at power banks, I noticed some that have built-in wireless charging, which seemed like a handy feature. I decided not to get one because I was traveling with my husband and I wanted the ability for both of us to use the charger at the same time. Ultimately we only ended up doing that once, so I don’t know if it was worth the trade off. I noticed someone in the airport using a power bank with wireless charging which looked handy because they were still able to use their phone while charging it. In fact, I’d like to do that right now, but I can’t!

Sony RX100 VII #

I’m not going to lie, this was a total impulse purchase, and largely unnecessary.

I’ve got a Sony A6000 that I bought when I traveled around Europe in 2016, which I’ve slowly collected lenses for over the years. When planning the trip to Japan I really debated if I should take it. It would be bulky to bring the camera and multiple lenses, and I wanted some versatility when it came to shooting photos. Plus, these days phone cameras are generally excellent. That said, my iPhone 15 Pro can produce some weird photos sometimes. Plus, on a trip like this, I wanted the ability to zoom in to subjects without relying on digital zoom.

I searched Wirecutter for "point-and-shoot" and skimmed their blog post, spotting the Sony RX100 VII at the top of the list. Between brand loyalty and laziness, I ended up getting my heart set on this camera. After sleeping on it and finding a deal, I ordered the camera a few days before the trip, hoping it would arrive in time. Fortunately it did, and it lived in my bag as I trekked around Kyoto and Tokyo.

I’ll be honest: I didn’t use it as much as I would have liked to. It was largely an aspirational purchase, and something that I’ll use over the coming years, but it did remind me of a couple things that I had forgotten:

• Nothing is better than an iPhone for a quick shot. When out and about, it’s so easily to just grab my phone and snap a picture. Even though the Sony was always with me, it was stowed away in my bag, so if I wanted to use it I had to be a lot more intentional about it.
• No seriously, nothing is better than an iPhone for a quick shot. Even when I did use the Sony, the results were often times a bit blurry or off. I think that the iPhone has spoiled me in terms of producing generally good photos with very little effort. That said, the Sony still excelled when I put the time in to tweak the settings. Plus I enjoyed importing the photos and tweaking them in Pixelmator Photo on my iPad.

The Sony’s main selling point was also the thing I struggled with most when trying to use it: it’s so small! That's great for carrying it in my bag, but less-so when I tried to use it and felt like it could slip out of my hand. Plus the wrist strap it came with was way too large, so it didn’t feel like it would have catched it if it slipped. I regret not putting my PeakDesign adjustable wrist strap on the camera instead, since I think it would have given me a lot more confidence to use the camera without worry.

All of that said, I've still enjoyed having the camera and look forward to using it more in the years to come!