Starting from California, I had 3 flights ahead of me to get to paradise (aka The Bahamas). Before I knew it I had met up with my brother in Miami and was hopping on a small plane headed for Georgetown on Great Exuma island. From there we caught a cab and headed to Exuma Market where we planned to meet my parents.
Why were my parents already in the Bahamas you may ask? Well because they have a sailboat that they live on for half of the year of course, this was their second year staying on their boat in the Bahamas for the winter months (I visited them last year as well!). You can check out their blog at MangoesMarleyAndMermaids.
So we got out of the cab and were grabbing cash to give the driver when my mom comes running from the dock and wraps her arms around me. I guess she missed me just a teeny bit ;) I of course missed them a ton as well, and my brother who I hadn't seen since a year ago in the Bahamas!
Last year when I came here I had only brought my small point and shoot camera, a Canon G7X. It's an amazing little camera and takes really good photos, but compared to a full size DSLR it's not even in the same ballpark. This year I decided I'd bring my DSLR (a Canon 70D) because I had really wished I had had it the prior year. And man am I glad I did bring my 70D this year! It was a little cumbersome to be carrying it around all the time while we were hiking trails, walking along the beach, and even in a rogue rainstorm that hit one morning, but I would way rather carry around a little bit larger camera (and camera bag with lenses inside) and be able to capture the kinds of images I really wanted to, even if it meant it was a little bit of extra work.
I have a camera and I consider myself a photographer, so I better be willing to do whatever it takes to get the best shot possible. What's the point of being a photographer if you just do what's "easy"?
So get out there and do whatever it takes to do what you love, because you'll only regret it down the road if you don't.