Takkun
Ian M.
It's interesting how often I see comments suggesting to shoot with one's phone or iPad on personal trips, and that's the sort of comment that makes myself rethink things.
There's a lot of merit to that. My mother often tells me about her own father, a very keen and accomplished LF photographer, regretting missing out on so much of their childhood trips because of worrying about gear, spending too much time chasing photos, and the like. I think were he around today, or even a few decades later, he would have certainly appreciated digital photography and smartphones.
But I'm sure many on here are similar to me in that when I travel, its photography that is the lens I explore a new place through, and its very difficult to balance worrying about equipment and having fun or relaxing. Both times my M8 gave out on me were on trips where I specifically intended to explore and photograph, in SF and Chicago. Being without a camera was both distressing and freeing, but caused me to lose out on half of the reason behind the trip—seeing somewhere new to refresh and inspire myself artistically. Mind you, these weren't family trips, but solo travel.
All that said I appreciate your minimalist approach to packing. Were you to have one of those do-everything wonder zooms for your DSLR, you'd have a small kit indeed, but I like the idea of constraint for creative purposes. I'd say option 1 myself, since there's nothing like a good wide-angle to see things in a refreshingly new way.
Slightly related, but two wides are the only pieces of gear I regret getting rid of. My first camera as a kid was a hand-me-down Konica 28W, and when I sold off most of my SLR gear that included a 17-35. Really didn't appreciate the former, and was only really getting to learn how to use a super-wide with the latter when I made the RF switch.
