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14 of the world’s best long trips – to really take your time with

By extending the length of your adventure you can live the places you visit, instead of just seeing them. Here are some of the best long trips to take in 2020 and 2021…

1. Sail the high seas in Antarctica

Taylor Valley, Antarctica (Shutterstock)

Soak up Antarctica’s scenic coastline on Discover the World’s Antarctic Semi-Circumnavigation month-long expedition.

As hungry albatross and floating icebergs stalk your ship, you’ll float through the famous Drake Passage and Lemaire Channel to land on Pléneau Island, conquered by fur seals and gentoo penguins.

Take a helicopter ride over Taylor Valley, where conditions are closer to Mars than Earth – and wrap up your voyage by inspecting the Campbell Island’s diverse wildlife.

Who? Discover the World (01737 887143)

When? 13 Jan 2020; 16 Feb 2020

How long? 32 to 34 nights

How much? From £22,273 (excluding int’l flights)

2. Go overland in Mongolia

Inside a Mongolian yurt (Shutterstock)

Take on Mongolia: The Grand Tour with Goyo Travel and experience all of the highlights of the country’s changing landscapes – from the Flaming Cliffs in the vast Gobi Desert to steppe, hot springs and alpine lakes.

Meet local nomads and stay in traditional ger camps, before heading to a Naadam Festival , where you can expect horse racing, wrestling matches and taste-bud-tickling cuisine. An authentic encounter with rural culture at its best.

Who? Goyo Travel (01869 866520)

When? 27 June 2020; 8 August 2020

How long? 23 days

How much? From £3,500* (excluding int’l flights). P.S. You can get 10% off using quote GTWander10, when ordering your trip until 31 December.

3. Trek the unexplored wilderness of South-East Asia

Luang Prabang night market (Shutterstock)

Venture away from the tourist trails on All Points East’s Unexplored: The Far North, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam trip.

Explore the border markets, ancient cities and opium museum of Thailand’s Golden Triangle, before crossing the Mekong to trek through the mountains and forests of Northern Laos.

Journey past limestone caves, rice terraces and traditional hilltop tribes, then see how ancient history and modern culture collide to create a beguiling new world in the timeless UNESCO-listed cities of Luang Prabang and Hanoi.

Who? All Points East

When? Monthly departures

How long? 22 days

How much? From £2,100 (excluding int’l flights)

4. Go locomotive in Scandinavia

An aerial view of Stockholm, Sweden (Shutterstock)

Looking for an adventure without taking to the skies? Take your time on Planet Rail’s tailor-made Grand Arctic Circle and Scandinavia Overland Adventure and ride the rails from London into the magical world of northern Europe.

Board Europe’s only boat train and discover the Scandi-chic delights of Copenhagen and Stockholm. Pass by museums, markets and mountains as you travel down the Norwegian coastline into Oslo, where you can explore its 1,000-year-old history, sculpture parks and 40 islands in the fjord.

Who? Planet Rail (01347 825292)

When? June to August 2020 recommended

How long? 21 nights

How much? From £3,495 (including rail journeys)

5. Road trip along Chile’s Southern Highway

Chile’s Carretera Austral, or Southern Highway (Shutterstock)

Wonder at Chile’s vast wilderness on Pura Aventura’s lengthy Route of Parks Uncovered self-drive trip.

Coasting down the Southern Highway, you’ll come across a dozen national parks, where you can walk by some of the oldest trees on Earth, before white-water rafting and sailing along the Fú and Cochrane Rivers.

If that’s not enough, you can also hike through Valdivian rainforests, watch the sun set over the Patagonian steppe, spot Magellanic penguins and set foot on Cape Horn – and that’s just scratching the surface.

Who? Pura Aventura (01273 676 712)

When? October to April 2020

How long? 45 days

How much? From £14,430 (excluding int’l flights)

6. Island hop through the south Atlantic

Tristan da Cunha (Shutterstock)

Journey to Remote Atlantic Islands (Hebridean Sky) with the Small Cruise Ship Collection.

Begin your thousand-mile voyage in the Falkland Islands, then cross over to South Georgia to admire its snow-covered peaks and hang out with fur seals and king penguins.

Pass through the world’s most remote archipelago, Tristan da Cunha, see where Napoleon was exiled in St Helena and get a grounding in different communities across the Atlantic from expedition experts, too. End with a splash in the warm waters off Senegal.

Who? Small Cruise Ship Collection (01432 507 280)

When? 11 March 2021

How long? 35 days

How much? From £11,995 (including int’l flights)

7. Have an aquatic adventure in Australia

Whitehaven Beach, Whitsunday Island (Shutterstock)

May the winds be your friend as you get on board the Starling for Rubicon 3’s ambitious 27-day adventure, Sailing in the Whitsunday and Great Barrier Reef .

Join sailors on the fifth leg of a round-the-world rally, hopping on and off the yacht as you please to snorkel through the clear waters off the Whitsunday Islands, admire Lizard Island’s giant clams and manta rays, before navigating the Arafura Sea towards Darwin, with stop-offs to explore Aboriginal outback settlements and the ruins of a former 19th century British settlement on your way.

Who? Rubicon 3 (020 3086 7245)

When? 5 August 2020

How long? 27 days

How much? £4,750 (excluding int’l flights)

8. Hit the Silk Road in Central Asia

Bukhara, Uzbekistan (Shutterstock)

Pack your bags and saddle up for a long trip on Wild Frontiers’s Silk Road: The Five ‘Stans of Central Asia .

Lose yourself in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan’s white-marble capital, then cross the great Oxus River into Uzbekistan, where you’ll spend time wandering its famous cities: haggle in Bukhara’s bazaars, explore mosques in Khiva and hit Samarkand’s Registan Square.

After wondering at Tajikstan and Kyrgyzstan’s alpine scenery and ancient walnut forests, heading to your final ‘stan and witness Kazakhstan’s ancient falconry traditions first-hand.

Who? Wild Frontiers (020 3504 9073)

When? 17 May, 20 September, 27 September 2020

How long? 29 days

How much? From £5,895 (excluding int’l flights)

9. See it all in eastern Europe

Moscow, Russia (Shutterstock)

Write your own odyssey on Tucan Travel’s epic Eastern Europe Discovery trip, which takes you on a two-month journey from Moscow to Istanbul through the continent’s most iconic vistas and rarely visited gems.

You’ll see a little bit of everything, here – learn more about Europe’s bloody history, artistic culture and friendly people on guided tours through storybook castles, cathedrals and citadels, with sunny Mediterranean islands, mosques, museums and mountain ranges also filling up your agenda, and see how this continent has risen from the ashes.

Who? Tucan Travel (0800 804 8435)

When? April to September 2020

How long? 66 days

How much? From £8,179 (excluding int’l flights)

10. Wildlife calls in classic Canada

An orca near the coast of British Columbia, Canada (Shutterstock)

Marvel at Vancouver and Victoria’s highlights on a bespoke Great Western Canada self-drive expedition from Audley Travel.

Track bears in the wilderness of Vancouver Island, spy whales on a trip from Victoria and hop on a 15-hour cruise through the Inside Passage to Prince Rupert Island, where you can spy dolphins, whales and eagles.

Ride the rails and admire British Columbia’s wild scenery, before taking on a four-hour hike through Banff’s wildflower meadows and alpine lakes.

Who? Audley Travel (01993 838700)

When? May to October 2020

How long? 25 days

How much? From £5,295 (including int’l flights)

11. Lift your spirits in Tibet

Potala Palace, Tibet (Shutterstock)

Test your mind, body and soul on KE Adventure Travel’s Tibet, Mount Kailash and the Saga Dawa Festival trip. Travelling alongside Tibetan pilgrims, you can trace the origins of Lhasa’s UNESCO-listed Potala Palace, as well as ancient monasteries in Gyantse and Shigatse.

Face off with the mighty Mount Everest, then head over to Darchen for the annual flagpole-erecting ceremony at the Saga Dawa Festival and trekking the ancient pilgrimage path – the ‘kora’ – around Mount Kailash. A trip to take your breath away – literally.

Who? KE Adventure Travel (01768 615002)

When? 19 May 2020

How much? From £3,895 (excluding int’l flights)

12. Walk the walk in France

A view of the French Pyrenees (Shutterstock)

Take a very modern pilgrimage the ghosts of medieval wayfarers at your side on CaminoWay.com’s Camino Frances five-week walking trip.

Trek more than 800km from St Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees to the vineyards of La Rioja and the tiny (literally) mountain village of O Cebreiro, before ending up at the Galician cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the alleged burial place of St James.

On the way, enjoy tapas and strike up lifelong friendships with fellow travellers. Don’t forget your pilgrim passport!

Who? CaminoWays.com (020 3467 1516)

When? Flexible

How long? Up to 35 nights

How much? From £3,279 (excluding int’l flights)

13. Ride the rails in Japan and Russia

The vermilion torii gate, Kyoto (Shutterstock)

See the wonders of Japan and Russia on Jules Verne’s From the Tail of the Dragon trip. After enjoying Nagasaki’s hot springs and lunching in Japan’s oldest Chinatown, hurtle through technicolour cityscapes to Tokyo and Kyoto, where geisha-occupied gardens and vermilion torii gates offer a quiet space for reflection.

Then immerse yourself in Siberian culture on the Original Trans-Siberian Express. Visit villages off Lake Baikal and explore Irkutsk, the elected retreat for exiled Russian royalty in tsarist times. Finish in style in Moscow, with the Kremlin grounds, Red Square and opulent underground on the agenda.

Who? Jules Verne (020 3553 3326)

When? 7 May 2020

How much? From £10,595 (including int’l flights)

14. Drive your way through the USA

Monument Valley, Arizona (Shutterstock)

Free wheel through America on the ultimate USA Road Trip with Flight Centre.

Get right to the heart of rural and urban America as you cruise down the iconic Route 66, dance to Memphis’s lively beat and admire the towering red sandstone buttes of Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, home to the Navajo people.

Make sure to check off all the classic sights on your way, too – get lost in Times Square, explore Hollywood and test your luck at Las Vegas’s ritzy casinos. Time to rack up those miles!

Who? Flight Centre (0808 250 9622)

When? Year-round

How long? 26 days

How much? From £2,099 (including int’l flights)

Discover more epic adventures to book ASAP:

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How to organize your travel photos in four steps

Apr 7, 2020 • 6 min read

Travel photographer Laura Watilo Blake knows a thing or to about good digital hygiene, and keeping track of all the shots she takes on each trip. She shared her top tips for wrangling your own collection of travel photos before your next adventure.

As a professional travel photographer, it’s been a necessity to keep my image archives in order so when a client calls looking for a photo of Argentine grilling or a panoramic shot of Colombia’s famed wax palms in the Cocora Valley, I can quickly and easily access the photos no matter where I am in the world.

There have been a few hiccups over the course of my career, including a few corrupt SD cards and failed hard drives, but over time, I’ve developed strategies for naming my files, adding pertinent information about the destination and backing up the images on multiple hard drives and a cloud-based storage service. 

Don’t just take my word for it. I have sought out the helpful advice of Lisa Griffis, a personal photo organizer and certified member of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers . After spending 35 years in photojournalism and design for the newspaper industry, Griffis launched Rescue Your Photos to help people preserve their own visual legacies. She curates and organizes both print and digital photos for clients. These are our tips for wrangling your travel memories.

1. Back up the chaos.

Before tinkering with files on a computer, save everything to an external hard drive “in case anything gets deleted by accident,” Griffis says.

What size hard drive you need depends on how much data you need to back up. Consider the amount of data already on your computer's internal drive, as well as any data backed up to the cloud. If you have photos on your smartphone worth backing up, add that data to your calculations as well.

External hard drives range from $70 for two-terabyte portable hard drive to hundreds of dollars for expandable RAID systems. The acronym “RAID” stands for "redundant array of independent disks," in which a bunch of hard drives act like one big superdrive. Not only can a RAID system expand as your photo collection grows, but it also can be configured for automatic dual back-ups to keep data safer should one drive fail.

If you need suggestions for various types of RAID systems, B&H Photo & Electronics in New York City has a roundup of options here . I have a five-bay Drobo at home with more than 24 terabytes, plus several portable LaCie Rugged drives that go with me on my travels.

Once you’ve decided on the hard drive that fits your needs, you can automate backups using your computer’s operating system, with software that comes with the drive or a third-party app or service.

 2. Start sorting and organizing your digital images into folders.

With everything backed up, you can start collecting images from the smartphone and online locations and place them in a “holding tank,” says Griffis. “Your ‘to-be-organized’ folder is the dumping ground for all the images you bring from devices, camera cards, the scanner, etc.”

As you bring each set of digital images into this folder, try to keep events or months together instead of dumping a gazillion images from your camera roll. Use your smartphone’s built-in app to identify groupings like months, events or collections.

Once you have a group of photos in the folder, review the images quickly and get rid of anything that isn’t a keeper. Next, create or rename a folder and give it a name that represents the group of photos that will go into it. 

I have my folders organized and named by year, followed by folders listed sequentially by year, month, day and the place, event or theme. For example, inside my 2018 folder, you’ll see “20181012_cinqueterre.” The numeric sequence represents October 12, 2018, while the text after the underscore indicates the photos were taken in Cinque Terre, Italy . Subsequent folders show the raw files straight from the camera and the final images that are ready for archiving, uploading and printing.

“Starting with the date makes sense because the computer does the filing for you,” Griffis says, “but you can sort things in a way that suits them, whether it’s chronological or by name, person or event. I tell them to start by closing their eyes and imagining how they would have files organized in an actual file drawer.”

3. Rename digital photos to add context.

Just as you organize everything into folders, it’s important to add detailed information about the individual photos in the actual file names. After all, the story behind the image is just as important as the picture itself. You’ll want to include who, what and where,” says Griffis.

In the example above, I’ve organized my images starting with the place where it was taken and what’s happening in the photo (ex. ohio-hocking-hills-hike-conkles-hollow-0324.jpg).  At the end, I always include the original number assigned to the image straight out of the camera in case I need to go back and find the original raw file for further editing.

If it seems daunting to rename all of your files one by one, then download Adobe Bridge , a free media management program that helps manage and organize images and other files. The batch rename features allows you to quickly rename multiple files in one fell swoop.

The robust program does a lot more as well, including editing, sorting, adding metatags and publishing photos. You can also apply a star rating to the images you love the most, which will help when it comes time to find your favorite images that you want to share and display.

If you’re doing your file naming manually, be sure to save a copy of your best images in a separate folder labeled “Favorites.”

4. Develop a photo archiving strategy using the 3-2-1 backup rule

Now that you have your files in order, it’s important to not only maintain the file-naming practices going forward, but also establish a frequent back-up schedule using the 3-2-1 method.

The “3” stands for three copies of your files saved in three distinct places. The “2” means that two copies of your data should be in two separate places, such as your computer and a hard drive, or on two hard drives if your archive is too large to fit on your computer. The “1” indicates one set of data should exist at a separate location in case of some unforeseen natural disaster, fire, flood or theft. 

“Most people don’t have anything backed up,” says Griffis. “But it’s important to get systems in place, especially in uncertain times. I don’t care if it’s in the cloud, on an extra hard drive in a lockbox at the bank, or at your mom’s house 100 miles away.” 

Griffis uses a cloud-based back-up service called Backblaze to securely back up the contents on her computer and all attached hard drives once a day. When it comes to archiving photos, Dropbox , Google Photos , Amazon Prime Photos , Apple iCloud and Flickr are the most popular. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so do your research first.

“If you use the cloud to back up materials,” Griffis says, “make sure that the website doesn't compress images. Many do and it will affect the file size of the image.”

Of the services listed above, Google Photos will back up unlimited photos and videos for free up to 16 megapixels and 1080p video resolution, but it downsizes files that are higher quality. It does have a setting that preserves the original quality of the photos and videos, but there is an additional fee for storing the files.

You may also like:  Five creative ways to display your travel photos at home

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Our Expert Guide to the BEST Travel Cameras in 2024

• Last Updated: December 13, 2023

We’ve spent years working as professional travel photographers, and are proud to have put together this definitive guide to the best travel cameras in 2024 for every budget, based on actual hands-on experience.

One of the best souvenirs you can bring home from your adventures abroad is photographs.

As the old saying goes, pictures are worth a thousand words, and nothing brings back the excitement and thrill of holiday memories quite like looking back at your photos.

These days almost everybody has a decent camera in their pocket, thanks to the wonders of modern smartphones. And while these are fine for the average person, if you really want great image quality, you’re going to have to invest in something better.

People say, “It’s not the camera that takes good photos, it’s the photographer”, and this is completely true. Yet there’s a reason professionals use expensive gear – they are better for the job.

Never fear though, that doesn’t mean you need to go out and spend $10k on a set-up! Definitely not.

In fact this article is going to save you time and money by diving straight into the best travel camera for every budget.

So why listen to us?

We’ve been working as professional travel photographers for almost a decade, and have been fortunate enough to put hundreds of cameras to the test during our career.

Based on our personal experience, we’ve been able to narrow down the absolute top choice in every category.

Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or professional, or even if you know nothing at all, we’ll help you make the right choice so you don’t waste your money getting something that just isn’t up to the job.

READ MORE: Check out our comprehensive guide on how to take better travel photos .

Let’s dive into our comprehensive guide for the best camera for travel photography.

Table of Contents

Our Recommendation

Bonus: recommended lenses for sony a6600, bonus: recommended lenses for sony a7iv, size and weight, resolution/megapixels, interchangeable lenses, manual settings, weatherproofing, stabilization, mirrorless vs dslr, what camera do most professional photographers use, what camera is best for travel videos, what is the best small camera for travel, what is the best travel camera in 2024.

Without further ado, let’s get into the article!

Disclaimer – NOMADasaurus is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

GoPro HERO12 Black – The Best Action Camera

Action cameras have come a long way since we bought our first one back in 2010.

They used to be reserved just for people who were into extreme sports – skiing, skydiving, motocross, scuba diving, etc.

Now they have become one of the top travel cameras on the market thanks to their durability, compact size and high quality.

The good ones shoot in at least 4K video (this one though actually goes up to 5.3k), are completely waterproof and even connect to your phone so can take great photos from any angle.

They also shoot time-lapse photography, which is great if you’re catching an epic sunrise or particularly busy urban scene.

Even if you are not interested in jumping off of cliffs or mountain biking through a jungle, having an action compact camera is still a brilliant tool to have in your suitcase.

They are especially awesome if you’re looking for the best cameras for adventure travel.

The undisputed king of action sports cameras is GoPro, and we’ve been proudly using them for over 13 years.

These epic cameras have insane image quality and shoot some remarkable video. They’re also extremely durable, waterproof and fit in your pocket.

Adding to the GoPro series is a huge range of accessories that makes getting footage limited by only your imagination.

Check out our brand new GoPro HERO12 Black review to see if it’s right for you!

Different mounts allow you to put them just about anywhere, extension poles get unique angles (perfect for selfies), you can stick a GoPro on a tripod and there are even filters available.

We’ve had just about every GoPro camera since the original HERO was released, and we’re super excited to share that the newest one on the market is by far the best ever.

Their latest camera is the GoPro HERO12 Black , following hot off the heels of the successful HERO11 (click the link to read our review of it), and it’s risen the bar once again.

When the HERO7 came out they introduced a number of revolutionary features, such as HyperSmooth (in-built image stabilisation), TimeWarp (awesome hyper-lapse videos) and SuperPhoto (HDR photos on steroids).

The HERO9 added a front-facing LCD screen, which really stepped things up a notch, especially for vloggers.

The HERO10 brought in the new GP2 processor, which made everything work, well, just better.

The HERO11 went bonkers with a brand new larger sensor, 10-bit colour and all new aspect ratio.

And now with the HERO12 the company has gone and made everything more refined with a host of new features and upgraded battery life.

Boasting the fantastic GP2 processor, 1/1.9″ sensor and 8:7 aspect ratio, the latest GoPro HERO12 Black now has HDR video to go along with the expert camera settings.

The massive aspect ratio gives more room to crop, so you can shoot in one perspective and scale later for portrait social media content or landscape YouTube videos.

The camera shoots in 5.3k 60 frames per second, 4k at 120fps and 2.7k at a whopping 240fps (8x slow motion), which also allowing for 27 megapixel screen grabs when using 5.3k on the full 8:7 ratio.

The stabilization is even better with HyperSmooth 6.0 (in-built horizon levelling up to 360 degrees), TimeWarp 4.0 allows to switch between hyper-lapse, real-time and slow-mo recording in the same video with a tap of the screen, and the SuperPhoto has improved HDR abilities.

The screens are still very responsive and look excellent.

SuperPhoto for photographers, in particular, means you can point and shoot, and barely have to edit before uploading to social media. Although we still recommend shooting in RAW for the pros out there.

This article talks more about how to take better GoPro photos, written by a pro.

For the purists out there, the GoPro HERO12 shoots in RAW format for all photo modes.

There is still voice activation and the entire unit is waterproof to 10m, meaning there is no need for a dive housing if you’re not going below that depth.

Also the all-new Night Effects modes are really awesome. Who would have thought you could capture light trails and the Milky Way on such a tiny camera?

For the video gurus out there the HERO12 is a gimbal killer. What does that mean? It means HyperSmooth 6.0 is on another level.

The HERO7 stabilisation was amazing for vlogging and action sports, as was the HERO8 and 9, but after testing the new HERO12, the stabilisation is even better again. Don’t know how they do it, but they do! And it works at 4K at 120fps, TimeWarp and live streaming!

Want slow motion? How does 2.7k at 240FPS sound? Buttery smooth, that’s for sure.

Whereas in previous models they had White, Silver and Black models, the HERO12 only has a Black model.

Canon Powershot SX740HS – The Best Affordable Camera

If you want a dedicated camera that is cheap and still takes decent photos then you really are spoiled for choice.

We’ve personally owned a whole range of different brands in this range, from Canon to Fuji to Olympus to Sony, and with the way the best travel camera market is now if you’re not fussy about the brand you get, then you can’t really go wrong. But let us explain what you’ll need.

You’ll basically be looking for a small point and shoot, something that is foolproof and most importantly quite durable. Having a big zoom range is a big bonus so you can crop right in on different scenes.

The ability to use manual settings will come in handy if you ever want to play around and learn a bit more about how photography works.

And you want something affordable so that you won’t be overly worried if you lose it (just make sure you backup your photos).

The Canon Powershot SX720HS was a hugely successful compact camera, and Canon backed it up with the amazing SX730HS to become the best budget travel camera.

But like all good camera companies, Canon has stepped it up a notch again by bringing out the newest model in the range, the SX740HS .

This great little travel camera does it all, and for the price, it is the best travel zoom camera out there.

40x optical zoom, manual settings, shoots in 4K video, good color grading, and it is one of the better compact cameras out there.

It also has wifi so you can transfer photos straight to your phone or laptop without plugging it in, or control the camera from your phone. Perfect for the general traveler who just wants something to take decent photos with on their trip.

It also has a large articulated screen, so you can angle your shots perfectly, whether you’re shooting from the ground or above the head.

A few more updates over the SX730HS is an improved small sensor, meaning better low light capabilities, and faster burst shooting, cementing its position as the best budget camera for travelling.

READ MORE: Check out our latest guide on the best camera accessories !

Sony RX100 vii – The Best Compact Camera for Travel

This is the next level up. You still want the portability and benefits of having a point and shoot, but you want to take incredible photos too.

You’re interested in learning about the fundamentals of photography, and perhaps want to one day print your photos or maybe put them up online. Ultimately you’re after the best pocket camera for travel.

Here are the things you’ll need: Full manual control, a decent size sensor, zoom, high-quality video, flip screen (so you can shoot from different angles while still framing your shot), ability to shoot in RAW format, good ISO performance and a wide aperture.

This is the category that most people will be in. So if you’re asking yourself what is the best compact digital camera for traveling, read on…

READ MORE: Check out our comprehensive guide to the best landscape photography tips !

This is, in our opinion, the best point and shoot camera for travel on the market. It does everything you’ll ever need it to do and has incredible image quality in a premium compact size.

Sony have completely revolutionized the market with the RX100 range, and with each update it just gets better and better.

Without a doubt there’s no better option for the best compact camera for travel out there than the Sony RX100 vii right now.

The Mark 7 has a very long zoom range (8.6x optical, up from 3.6x optical, which is like having a 24-200mm lens), an amazing 20mp one-inch sensor to capture huge dynamic range, high quality 4K video and an articulating flip screen.

It’s an expensive camera, yes, but if you want the absolute best quality on the market in a small, compact unit that fits in your pocket, this is the best travel camera out right now.

BONUS TIP – If you want to create travel vlogs and have a decent camera for photography too, this is the model for you!

Canon G7X Mark iii – Best Camera for Vlogging

Vlogging is the newest craze, and it’s quite literally taking over as the new digital media of choice for many travelers and influencers.

If making videos is more your style instead of taking photos, then you’re going to want to look at a camera that has a range of specific features.

Most importantly is the ability to shoot in 4K (even if not many people have 4K monitors today, in a few years it will be common and you’re going to want to have footage to match the current standard).

Once you’ve got this another handy feature is an articulated LCD screen that can face you while you’re talking in the lens.

This allows you to frame your shot instead of cutting off half your head. Lastly you’ll want a microphone jack to catch better audio.

Get the camera, start filming and put some great videos up on YouTube ! Sounds easy, right? But what is the best travel camera for vlogging…

We’ve used more vlogging cameras than we can remember, from full-frame setups to GoPros and even putting to the test the brand new Sony ZV-1F .

But what have we settled on?

The Canon G7X Mark ii has always been considered the ultimate travel camera for vlogging, but it fell short in a few different categories.

That’s all changed now with the newest upgrade, the G7X Mark iii .

Shooting fantastic 4k video, this travel camera now has an in-built microphone jack for improved audio, a flip-up touchscreen for keeping your face in frame, and has a faster start-up time than previously.

The image quality is also much better now, and with manual control functions it really is a premium compact travel camera.

Sony A6600 – Best Mirrorless Camera for Travel

You’ve broken out of the realm of standard point and shoots, and you’re looking for a camera that has interchangeable lenses.

You’re getting into the idea of shooting wide, or perhaps portrait shots. Maybe you really would like to get a longer zoom.

Most of all, you really want to get serious about photography.

In your kit will be a range of lenses for a range of situations. You can look at getting filters to give beautiful effects on your shots. You might even want to start growing your photography portfolio .

A few years ago everyone would have recommended you to get an entry-level DSLR. This is no longer the case.

With the way mirrorless technology has gone DSLRs are losing traction and popularity. Now you can get something with the same image quality for half the size.

The Sony A6600 is an absolute powerhouse and puts up a good fight for being the ultimate travel camera.

For entry-level mirrorless cameras, Sony broke the mould by introducing the A6000 a few years ago. Since then every model has been lightyears ahead of the competition.

The latest A6600 is their newest offering, and for a compact camera, it is seriously next level.

It boasts one of the fastest autofocus capabilities of any camera on the market, an improved APS-C sensor capable of high-level video and great image quality, a touch-enabled articulating LCD screen and excellent electronic viewfinder.

The range of lenses available for this Sony mirrorless camera is huge, and manages to cover all bases for whether you want to shoot 4K video or take images that you can sell to magazines.

You can really get away with the standard lenses that come in most kits, but there are a couple of exceptions that you could splurge out for.

All Sony E mount lenses will fit onto the Sony A6XXX series (including the spectacular full-frame range, with a crop factor).

So if you are ever considering an upgrade to full frame and want to buy some new lenses for your APS-C sensor, you can fork out the money early and still use your lenses later on.

Best Wide Angle Lens

There’s really only one option in this range, and it’s the brilliant 10-18mm F4 . To this day one of the best photos we’ve seen taken of the Petronas Towers was taken with a Sony A6000 (older model) and this lens.

Best Portrait Lens

The Sony 50mm F1.8 is a great choice for a native portrait lens. It’s light, fast and cheap. 

The quality is decent without being amazing, but it definitely does a wonderful job for what you pay for.

Otherwise step up to the FE 55mm F1.8 (read about it below), although this will give you a 85mm perspective on the APS-C sensor.

Best Zoom Lens

Keeping with the affordable and light range that makes for great travel camera lenses, we recommend the Sony 55-210mm f/4.5-6.3 .

For the amateur and hobbyist photographer, this will do just about everything you need and is a solid lens to have in your kit.

Sony A7iv – Best Professional Camera for Travel Photography

If you’re like us and want to make capturing the absolute best images of your travels a priority, then you’ll be looking at a professional range of travel cameras.

Following on from the discussion on mirrorless vs DSLR above, you’ll get many professional photographers who choose to stick to cameras like the Canon 6D or 5D series, or the Nikon D750 or D810.

These are legendary cameras in the industry, and with the enormous range of lenses available for each one, there’s a reason the best in the business use them.

But, we’re talking about travel cameras. And for this, we recommended sticking to mirrorless. 

Full frame DSLRs are big and heavy, whereas their equivalent in mirrorless are a fraction of the size.

If you have decided you want to take the leap to a full frame sensor and want to be rocking the best mirrorless camera for travel, then you have only two choices.

READ MORE: But you need to carry everything, right? Here’s our new expert guide to the best camera backpacks on the market today!

Sony was the first major camera producer to create a full frame mirrorless camera, and while Canon has finally caught up, Sony has years of research and development on their side.

The Sony A7 series is almost flawless. Fantastic image quality, 4K video capabilities (on the A7R, A7S and the A7iv), articulating LCD screens, wifi, light, compact and a whole range of native lenses available for it makes them the absolute best cameras for traveling.

And with the Metabones adaptors you can even use your old Canon, Nikon, Sigma, Samyang or other type of lenses on it.

As of 2024, Sony’s top cameras are the A1, A7iv, A7Siii, A7Rv and the A9ii. Now while the A9ii, A7Rv and A1 are absolute beasts of cameras, the truth is you most likely don’t need all the features they have.

We currently own the A7iv and A7Rv, and for professional travel photography, they are the best on the market.

The image quality is superb and the dynamic range is insane. The low light capabilities are also amazing. Even at ISO 12800, there’s barely any noise that shows up on the shot compared to a compact camera.

We personally recommend the A7iv as the best travel camera out there , as it’s just damn near perfect, especially as a hybrid photo and video camera.

4K video with 60fps, a lightning-fast autofocus system, joystick control, touch screen, fast processor, upgraded full frame sensor and amazing battery life.

If you’re the kind of person that loves to blow up their images for print, or does a lot of cropping when you edit your shots, then that’s the only reason you’ll want to step up to the A7Rv, as it has a 62mp sensor.

But wait – isn’t the brand new Sony A7Rv the best in class right now? Yes, it is. However, while it is absolutely incredible and takes things up another notch, it’s quite expensive and the megapixel count is likely not something you need..

Instead we recommend that you save your money on the body, put what’s left over towards some lenses, and get the A7iv be your go to camera for travel photography.

If you’re going for the Sony A7 series, we’ve got some bad news for you. Full frame lenses are expensive.

But if you’re considering turning your photography hobby into a profession, then this is a small sacrifice to make for the quality of photos you’ll be taking.

Trust us, if you’re buying the best camera for travel photography on the market, you’ll want to also have the best lenses to go with it.

The great thing with the Sony Alpha series is that their lenses are all interchangeable, meaning if you start out with a Sony A6600 and eventually upgrade to a Sony A7iv, you can take your old lenses and put them on the new camera (but it will have a crop factor).

Best All-Round Lens

The new FE 24-105mm f4 lens from Sony is pretty much the best all round travel zoom lens for photography.

It’s damn sharp, and with a constant aperture of f4, it means you can get excellent bokeh and decent low-light performance at any focal length.

This lens practically lives on our A7iv, as it’s so versatile, great for video and the image quality is fantastic.

The Sony 16-35mm f2.8 GM lens is one of the best wide angle lenses on the market, and when you throw it on your travel camera, you’re almost guaranteed to get fantastic shots.

Pretty much every review on photography sites raves about it, and having owned it for over three years now, we completely agree.

It’s not cheap, but to have such a fast and wide native lens for the Sony setup is pretty epic! If you want a cheaper alternative, check out the 16-35mm f4 , which is also very good.

Best Prime Lens

If you are into portrait or street photography make sure you get the FE 55mm F1.8 prime lens.

It’s very fast, very light and very sharp. And with such a good value, it may be the best prime lens that Sony makes (excluding the high-end GM series).

Owning a telephoto lens isn’t just about taking photos of wildlife or zooming in on things that are far away from you. It adds a whole new creative element known as lens compression to your arsenal.

This is the optical illusion that happens when the further you zoom into something, the bigger the background appears.

You start to get this effect from around 100mm and on, so if you’re looking for the best zoom lens to put on your Sony A7iv, consider the 70-200 f2.8 GMii lens, or the 100-400mm GM lens .

We have both of these zoom lenses, and we love love love them!

DJI Mavic Air 2 – The Best Drone for Travel

Aerial photography has gained in popularity over the last two years, and it’s easy to see why. 

Not that long ago the only way to get photos from the sky was by taking a chartered flight or helicopter.

But today just about anyone can go out, buy a drone and start taking shots from very unique angles.

The appeal is obvious. Capturing epic photos and video of landscapes from a perspective that few have ever seen before.

From the moment we bought our first drone (a DJI Phantom 4) we fell in love with it.

Good drones up until now have always been quite prohibitive when it comes to travel due to their bulky size.

The DJI Phantom series helped make it more accessible for most people, but even then it was still a commitment to travel with one.

Today the best drone for travel has finally been determined.

The DJI Mavic series is what you should be looking for when considering a travel drone.

With foldable legs and compact size, they tick all the boxes for portability.

There are a few different models to consider, and it really depends on your needs.

If you’re a professional, we recommend the DJI Mavic 2 Pro , thanks to its 1-inch Hasselblad Sensor and 360-degree collision avoidance.

But just announced is the Mavic Air 2 , and with features like 48-megapixel photo mode, panorama capabilities and 4k video, it’s the best option for anybody trying to take travel photos from the air on their next trip.

Its small size and great value makes it perfect for travel, but one thing to consider is the fixed focal length, meaning you can’t zoom in to take photos.

Note – With whatever drone you buy we highly recommend buying extra batteries. You’ll be surprised how quickly you chew through these. Check out the bundle packages from DJI (called ‘Fly More’ on the Mavics).

GoPro Max – Best 360 Travel Camera

With virtual reality becoming more and more popular, it might be no surprise that one of the best travel cameras for 2024 is actually a 360-degree camera!

These incredible little devices come with multiple cameras on one piece, managing to capture an entire scene in one shot in both photos and high definition video.

When they first came out they were very poor quality, but now they’ve improved enough that we actually travel with one full-time now.

360 cameras became popular when the Chinese company Insta360 started to bring out their affordable options, but the image quality was always pretty poor.

Then GoPro stepped onto the scene with the Fusion, and it changed the industry forever.

With all the standard great features GoPro is known for, such as being waterproof, having awesome connectivity and packing it all into compact cameras, the Fusion took things to the next level.

It did require a bit of work to use though, and the stitching wasn’t great. Plus with two SD card slots required to save media, it was just that bit too cumbersome for most photographers.

Cue the Max!

The GoPro Max took the best parts of all their cameras and threw it together into one unit with this one.

The Max, with its dual lenses on either side of the body, now uses just one SD card, making storage and management so much easier, and it has a touch LCD screen that can be used on the go.

For people looking for travel cameras that can do it all, it doesn’t just shoot in 360-degree mode.

There is their ultra-wide single perspective, and for having a small sensor, the low light shots are surprisingly good.

If you’re a travel vlogger you’ll be amazed at the quality of this! The inbuilt microphones do a great job at picking up audio while cutting out background noise, and the battery life is great.

It shoots at 5.6k video quality and 30 frames per second. You can change the pitch, yaw, field of view and angles to get the view you desire.

Even more unique, it can create 360 time-lapses and hyper lapses with a simple click. No need to pull it up in a program like Adobe Premiere Pro to make your videos any more!

Best of all it connects seamlessly to your smartphone using the GoPro app, so you can do all your editing, sticking and keyframing on the go.

When it comes to a travel camera that tries to do it all, this one is hard to beat.

That concludes our list of the best cameras for traveling. Let us know if you have any other recommendations, or if you use any of these cameras while traveling the world!

How to Choose the Best Camera for Travel 

No matter what level you are, the first piece of kit you are going to need to buy is the camera.

This can range from a cheap point-and-shoot right up to a top-of-the-line DSLR that can cost as much as a small car.

A quick visit to a camera store can leave you feeling completely overwhelmed with all the choices.

Keep on scrolling to find detailed information about each of these, and why they really are the best cameras for travel.

READ MORE: See what made the cut as the best travel tripod on the market in our expert guide!

What Features to Look for in a Travel Camera

There’s a number of different features that you need to look for when searching for the best travel camera to buy, based on your needs.

The first thing to look out for is how big and heavy a camera is.

When you’re on the road traveling, weight and space is a huge issue to overcome. You don’t want to be lugging around a heavy backpack full of gear if you don’t have to.

If you’re not a pro or a big enthusiast, we recommend checking out a compact camera or mirrorless camera, as they are smaller and more portable, while also providing decent image quality.

One thing that camera companies and salespeople like to preach about is megapixels. But what exactly does that mean?

A pixel is a tiny dot of color that you see on your computer or phone display. A megapixel is 1 million (actually 1,048,576 to be technically correct)  of those dots. So ‘24 megapixels’ so about 24 million dots of color

You may hear that more megapixels equal better quality photos, but this isn’t entirely true.

The sensor has more to do with image quality than the resolution does, but it does play a small part.

In short don’t get caught up about more buying a camera with more megapixels, unless you’re planning on printing your images on billboards.

Instead just use this guide to the best travel cameras to find out exactly what is the best choice you can afford.

One thing to consider when looking at the best travel camera is whether or not you can change the lens.

The reason this is important is that it gives you more choices down the road if you decide you want to get into different styles of photography.

A compact travel camera is most likely a fixed lens, meaning that whatever zoom range it comes with you can’t change.

A camera that you can change the lens on will let you upgrade to wide-angle lenses, a zoom lens, better maximum aperture options for low light performance, etc.

In general, if you can afford a mirrorless camera or DSLR, it’s worth buying.

A camera that allows you to change the manual settings gives you complete control over things like aperture, ISO and shutter speed.

This opens up a whole new world of creativity, and in our opinion, you shouldn’t consider a camera that doesn’t have this feature.

Luckily every recommendation on this list allows you to control those settings, even the GoPro HERO camera below!

It’s 2024 – make sure you get a camera that can shoot 4K video!

This provides much higher resolution when shooting video, and even if you don’t have a 4K monitor at home, you can always take that clip and watch it in high definition 1080p, or even crop into your footage.

Just beware that 4K video chews up your battery life, so make sure you have some spare ones!

Unless you plan on always being in perfect weather when you travel, it’s a good idea to get a camera that is either waterproof, or has good weather sealing.

Unfortunately you often have to compromise on a waterproof camera or a quality travel camera (unless you buy a GoPro), so we don’t recommend buying a camera that is fully waterproof.

Instead just make sure it has decent sealing, or look at buying an underwater housing if you want to get into underwater photography.

How far you can zoom in on a subject is very important when trying to decide the best travel camera.

If you buy a fixed lens camera, make sure it has a long zoom range, like a Canon Powershot or the Sony RX100vii.

Or if you buy a mirrorless camera or DSLR, you don’t have to worry about this as you can always upgrade later.

No matter how steady you think you are, you will almost always have a small amount of camera shake when taking handheld photos.

If you’re shooting at fast shutter speeds, this isn’t a problem. But if you’re photographing in low light, you can end up with motion blur.

Look out for cameras that have inbuilt image stabilization to counter this.

A DSLR ( digital single lens reflex ) works by having a mirror inside the camera. When you are looking through the viewfinder the mirror is down, covering the sensor, and you are looking at a reflected scene.

When you push the shutter the mirror flips up mechanically, allowing the image to be exposed onto the sensor, and then onto your SD card. All these moving parts take up room, hence why DSLRs are larger in size.

With mirrorless cameras, there are no moving parts inside. The image comes through the lens and directly onto the sensor.

There is an electronic viewfinder,  meaning you are seeing a digital copy of what you’re pointing the camera at, rather than a live view.

So without a mirror constantly flipping, the camera can be made a lot smaller. That’s why mirrorless cameras can be half the size of a DSLR.

When mirrorless cameras first came out the quality wasn’t that great. Now they are just about on par with DSLRs, and the portability means that they are the best cameras for travel photography!

In case you’re not sure what we mean, this article goes into a bit more information, but in short, we recommend getting a mirrorless camera.

The 3 most popular cameras that pros use are the Canon 5Div, the Nikon D850 and the Sony A7Riv.

For general travel videos, the kind of stuff you would publish on YouTube, we recommend the Sony RX100vii. If you’re looking to create more cinematic videos, the A6600 is the best compact travel camera for videos.

If you need the best small camera for travel, you should buy the Canon SX740HS. Compact, high quality and affordable, this little beast is a fantastic travel camera.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means if you book accommodation, tours or buy a product, we will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These commissions help us keep creating more free travel content to help people plan their holidays and adventures. We only recommend the best accommodations, tours and products that ourselves or our fantastic editorial team have personally experienced, and regularly review these. Thanks for your support, kind friend!

Alesha and Jarryd

Hi, We’re Alesha and Jarryd!

We’ve been traveling the world together since 2008, searching for the planet’s best destinations and adventures.

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Everything You Need to Finally Organize All Your Old Trip Photos

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

To me, there's no better souvenir than a photograph . A picture preserves a moment; and since there are many moments I want to remember, I've ended up with lots of shots. But it's tricky to figure out just how to organize photos. Over the years, I’ve found myself with thousands of them, more than I''ll ever need, and that’s a shame. I didn’t spend all that time taking pictures in Florence , Strasbourg, Nantucket , and Naxos to have them waste away in the cloud, collecting digital dust. Compound my photographic habits with other factors—the existence of Instagram, more accessible digital photography, and increased bytes of storage on smartphones—and you'll see my dilemma. And I doubt I'm alone.

Marie Kondo addresses this conundrum in her book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up . She recommends consolidating pictures by examining them one by one, so that you can process each photo individually while identifying the few keepers. She writes: “With this method, you will keep only about five per day of a special trip, but this will be so representative of that time that they bring back the rest vividly. Really important things are not that great in number.” (For this reason, I'm now shooting fewer, more intentional shots on film and am laying off of digital for a while.)

Right now, many of us remain house-bound, with our formerly busy lives on pause. But the situation also presents an opportunity to reflect on the experiences we’re fresh off of, through the photos we've taken. So what better time to put them in order? Once you've pared down your camera roll, you can showcase your memories in an engraved leather scrapbook, sleek hanging frames, glossy printed photo books, or a digital picture frame. You’ll appreciate them so much more once you’ve swapped your JPGs for keepsakes. Below, an easy guide to how to organize your photos.

All products featured in this story are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Consider storing your files on an external hard drive

The first rule of photo organization is to back everything up. External hard drives aren't new, but whether you’ve yet to start using one, had one and lost it, or simply don’t maintain yours, now is the time to add one into your digital routine. Storing photos on a hard drive means they're protected if your devices get lost, are stolen, or crash; hard drives also provide maximum storage capacity and free up space on your computer and phone, increasing those devices’ speed and ability to function. The LaCie 2TB Rugged Mini is ideal for travelers due to its shock- and pressure-proof design, rubber sleeve, and portability. Its 2TB storage capacity is plenty for the average user—if you use it only for pictures, it would hold about 500,000. I use my own drive to organize my photos, housing them in folders labeled by trip and date, and then sorting those into two buckets—“all” and “selects”—so that my best shots are readily available.

Buy now: LaCie 2TB Rugged Mini External Hard Drive, $98, bhphotovideo.com

Tame the chaos with a photo organization app

Even with a powerful external hard drive at your disposal, floods of files can become increasingly out of control. For this reason, having an app that reins in the mayhem is essential. Photo Sync is a great one for a few reasons. It addresses the issue of multiple platforms, transferring and syncing photos (automatically, if you like) through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or a hotspot between phones, computers, drives, and services like Dropbox, Flickr, and Google Photos. It keeps them tidy with the option to delete photos after transferring (see you never, duplicates). And it even has customizable category, subcategory, and file-naming systems that it maintains for the user automatically. To get the most out of the app, invest in the $1 per month premium version (iOS only).

Download now: iOS , Android

Treasure your trip with a one-of-a-kind scrapbook

Etsy's collection of gorgeous goods is no secret, but some of the craftsmanship you’ll find on the platform is truly stunning—one example of which is this highly customizable photo album. Wooden covers come in a choice of maple, oak, rosewood, walnut, black, or light black; you also have your pick of black or dark brown leather binding, black or dark brown sheets of paper, a choice of dimensions, and number of pages. The most special part of all though, might be the cover engraving, for which customers can select any image or text they like. We love the map carving and beautiful cursive shown in the example above.

Buy now: Travel Photo Album, from $56, etsy.com

Hang prints of your trips around your home

Getting quality prints of your photos produced and framed can be a tedious, multi-step (not to mention, expensive) process. Online photo and design marketplace Minted streamlines it, letting you choose a style, size, and one of 16 frame options in one fell swoop. Two especially nice styles for trip photos are the With a Heart - Landscape print, which adds a small heart to the bottom of the frame and provides an elegant text option beneath your image, and the Love Location print, which collages images into the shape of a map (templates of Mexico, Australia, California, and more are available.).

Buy now: With a Heart - Landscape framed custom photo (20" X 16"), $192, minted.com Buy now: Mexico Love Location framed custom photo art (20" X 16"), $158, minted.com

Bring your camera roll to life with a mini Bluetooth printer

To give your camera roll pictures more value in an instant, consider an iOS- and Android-compatible printer. Polaroid makes one of the best-rated models on the market: It connects to phones via Bluetooth and prints two-by-three-inch prints, which have sticky backs and are smudge-proof, tear-proof, and water-resistant. The special zink (zero ink) paper translates to speedy development, too. This gift set option comes with tons of fun goodies and accessories, including a memory book that holds 64 photos, a set of fine-tip colored markers, sheets of stickers, and photo borders.

Buy now: Polaroid Zip Wireless Mini Printer gift bundle, $183, amazon.com

Digitize your ‘90s snaps with a photo scanner

We’ve covered a lot of ground on how to make hard copies of your digital photos. But what if you need to do the reverse? Whether you're the family’s designated archivist, have a penchant for snapping Polaroids at parties, or are a sucker for throwbacks, a reliable, quality scanner is a necessary tool. This Epson Model is lightning-fast, scanning one photo per second.

Buy now: Wireless High-speed Photo and Document Scanning System, $530, officedepot.com

Keep things compact and modern with a digital picture frame

One of the best ways to display digital photos might just be with a device specifically designed for them. One advantage of digital photos is that they lend themselves so easily to slideshows, which digital picture frames display superbly. This 15.6-inch, 16GB Wi-Fi-connected Feelcare model stands out for its unusually large size, really spotlighting images rather than letting them blend into living room decor. Reviewers rave about the vivid photo quality, amplified by the frame's high-resolution screen.

Buy now: Feelcare Digital Picture Frame, $210, amazon.com

Tell the story of your journey in an elegant, classic photo album

To chronicle a special trip, like a honeymoon , big birthday celebration, or life-changing voyage , a high-quality traditional photo album might be worth the investment. Custom photo gift company Artifact Uprising's Layflat photo album beautifully captures any life milestone, with a linen hardcover that comes in colors like emerald, rose, and oatmeal; a hand-bound spine; and foil title stamp of your choosing.

Buy now: Layflat Photo Album, from $149, artifactuprising.com

Transform your Instagram grid into wall decor

Remember about three years ago when having a color-coordinated Instagram grid was all the rage? We may not miss that high-maintenance approach to social media, but we have nothing but respect for the utter devotion to a look , especially when it can be turned into home decor. Framebridge offers a set of nine square-shaped, golden frames, which add up to a perfectly symmetrical, tic-tac-toe-esque hanging arrangement—use it to bring that satisfyingly neat, white-bordered look from the ‘gram to your walls.

Buy now: The Mini Grid, $349, framebridge.com

Create a no-frills album quickly and inexpensively

From shooting and editing to organizing and printing, maintaining a photo collection is no small amount of work. Chatbooks, a platform that produces photo albums, offers a great way to keep it simple. All you have to do is upload and select your photos, and Chatbooks arranges them chronologically with one per page. The only other steps are adding captions and rearranging photo order as you please, then choosing a cover.

Buy now: Rifle Paper Co. Road Trip cover, from $13, chatbooks.com Buy now: Rifle Paper Co. Wanderlust cover, from $13, chatbooks.com Buy now: Rifle Paper Co. Best Trip Ever cover, from $13, chatbooks.com

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Latest stories, 8 best hacks for organizing your travel photos, according to experts, relive your favorite trips by using these pro tips that will keep your vacation pics front and center..

That old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" really is true. Frequent travelers might know this best. A picture can do more than transport us back to a moment in time—it brings us back to the place as well. Especially now that we have easier access to quality photos thanks to advanced smartphone cameras, our lives are more photographed than ever .

But what happens when you get home? Whether the photos are digital or printed, you need a way to organize them. The best handful of photos might make it onto the wall, yet there are dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands more that need somewhere to live. Here are some ways to ensure your travel photos aren’t lost or forgotten from travel experts who've amassed quite the collection. And next, don't miss 10 U.S. Islands You Need to Add to Your Bucket List—No Passport Required .

1 | Create a photobook.

Curating a photobook with your travel memories by location, event, or vacation year is a great way to keep your photos in tip-top shape. Almost like a less intricate scrapbook, though digital elements can replicate some of those scrapbook qualities, photobooks are a fun way to commemorate your travels. Jenny Ly, the founder of Go Wanderly , loves this method of organizing her travel photos.

"Photo books are a modern take on classic albums, but they don't come with the burden of putting one together in the first place," Ly said. "You may even order these prints from your phone or computer, eliminating the need to visit a printing business or store! This means you're only a few clicks away from creating professional-quality photo books to display in your home, share with guests, or give as a unique and meaningful present to friends and family. However, you should learn how to shoot better holiday prints on your smartphone ahead of time so that the pictures match the quality of the book."

2 | Make a proper scrapbook.

Scrapbooks have long been a favorite activity for crafters everywhere. Everyone is unique, captures something about that individual’s aesthetic, and touching all of your photos gives you a special moment to relive your favorite memories. Jane Spurin, travel blogger at Jane’s Midlife Journey , has been scrapbooking her travel photos for nearly 50 years. Those books don’t stop at travel either, they commemorate many big events in her life.

"All my tickets, brochures, postcards, wristbands, beer mats, etc go into my scrapbooks," she explained." My first one dates back to when I was ten years old…I have case upon case of scrapbooks now. They're not really displayed as such, but they are all uniformly bound and labeled - thanks to the pandemic!"

3 | Pick your favorites to keep out on display or rotate them.

Organizing your travel photos can be as simple as choosing your favorites to put on display and keeping the others together in boxes or other storage. This way you can swap photos out as needed too. Rick Wong, editor-in-chief of Cameras Trends , suggests putting your favorites out for everyone to see. There is "nothing better than printing your photos on high-quality paper or canvas and arranging them on a special photo mini-shelf [or picture rail at Ikea]," he said. "It's very simple to achieve."

READ THIS NEXT: The 7 Best Glamping Destinations in the U.S.

4 | Make use of a digital frame.

Digital frames are an incredible way to display a lot of your travel photos at once. The frames rotate through whatever photos you have set to them so you can organize a bunch of images together into a slideshow. You can even have multiple digital frames with each one dedicated to a different location, trip, or event. For those of us (like myself) who live in smaller spaces, this is the perfect way to show off all of your favorite travel photos without taking up valuable space.

5 | Back them up.

This isn’t so much a hack as it is an important reminder: always back up your photos . Especially if you are a diehard phone camera photographer, it is crucial to back your photos up to a hard drive or another digital storage system. Phones can easily be lost, stolen, or broken. If that were to happen to you, your photos would disappear too. Even if space in your phone’s storage isn’t an issue, you want to keep those digital images safe.

My partner is a professional photographer and he diligently backs up his photos. Whether he is taking photos with his camera or his phone, he recognizes the importance of protecting his work.

6 | Grab those photo albums.

Different than the modern photobook that literally prints your photos to the page, photo albums have always been the main method of organizing photos. You again can divide photo albums by location, vacation year, or another filing method. Photo albums are often made in a way that protects your images for the long term. Whether that is through acid-free paper or the sleeves that protect them from dust, photo albums are always a great option. If my grandmother’s nearly 100-year-old photos are still holding on after all these decades in an album, I’m sure my images will fare just fine.

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7 | Embrace the box aesthetic.

The more aesthetic cousin of the photo album, photo boxes are another excellent way to organize your photos. These boxes can have a variety of patterns, colors, and other visual elements that help them blend into whatever space you place them in. Plus there are sometimes built-in dividers or dividers you can put in to further organize your images. You can label the outside of the boxes to divvy up your photos however you want, similarly to the photo book or albums. The difference is that photo boxes can stack and are easier to store on shelves than albums which can be cumbersome on bookshelves.

8 | Delete as you go.

Taking a dozen photos of the same thing to get just the right shot–many of us are guilty of this. Organizing an entire trip with do-over photos or multiples inevitably includes deleting the ones you don’t need. The easiest way to do this is to delete photos as you go . My trick is to dedicate some time at the end of each day on a trip to going through my photos from that day and deleting ones I don’t need.

Doing this as you go is a much simpler process than trying to do them all at once. Waiting to delete photos can make the task overwhelming. I highly recommend, as a chronic over-photographer, doing this day-by-day method. You’ll thank me later when you aren’t wading through 600 photos from your week at Disney. Because I’ve been there.

For more travel photo tips, check out The 8 Best Ways to Display Your Travel Memories, According to Experts .

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