Why can't I take it with me?

This week I have been packing my photography equipment. I'm preparing to go to Colorado. A friend of mine is retiring from the Army after 22 years. I'm excited to see him. I'm excited to meet his family and other friends. I'm very excited that he will no longer be in harms way. And I am also excited because we will be staying in the shadows of Pike's Peak. Lot's of clouds and mountains and water. In other words, a lot of landscapes just waiting to be photographed. So what do I take with me?

My first reaction was to empty my storage and pack everything. Why not? I'm driving. I have plenty of space in the car. Why can't I take it with me? What if I need it while I am there?

If you read any of the photography forums you will regularly run across people asking questions about what camera body and lenses they should take with them to specific locations. Good solid questions for those without the experience in certain environments and situations. The difference is that I feel that I have been there. I know what equipment I want in most landscape situations. I was asking myself the wrong question.

As I looked at each piece I was packing I began to ask myself a different question. Why should I take it? If I don't use it here I am probably not going to use it there either. Everything went back in the closet. I'm taking the lenses that I know I want to use. My old friends. I mix and match them on the two bodies that I love. They are all that I need.

So I am all packed and ready to go. But as I write this I begin to wonder why I even keep the things I don't use. Maybe I will think about that when I get back. It's not like they are going anywhere.