From seasoned jetsetter and videographer, Ben Gattegno
Scrambling through security with your life laid bare in plastic trays, and jeans falling down — this is a familiar scenario for Ben Gattegno. Ben is an adventure videographer and has covered 350,000 km in the last 24 months. That’s a lazy eight times round the world.
Here he shares his top tips for easy traveling, giving the inside track for anyone to become an experienced jetsetter.
Here’s some of Ben’s essential insights for a life in transit:
Halve it
Lay out what you need, then halve it. You never need as much as you think.
Warm up your hand luggage
Make sure you always have a jumper, regardless of it being 100 degrees outside. Every plane is guaranteed to form icicles.
Don’t be that guy
Keep your passport and boarding pass in your pocket. You always get asked for them in weird spots, like: ‘Hey, can I get a soy latte?’ Don’t be that guy in the line taking his bag off trying to remember where he last had it.
Pocket a pen
Pens are gold in an airport. You’re always given departure or landing cards, and they NEVER give you a pen. And the look from the hostess’ face when you ask to borrow one is like: “This is my only pen. You loose it and I’ll kill you”.
Go light on the bling
Wear shoes that are easy to take off, limit jewellery and keep all your loose items in your bag. Shoes off, bag in tray, laptop out… and you’re through.
Burn the candle
Limit your sleep in the lead up to your flight, so you’re really tired when you board. Then sleep the entire flight.
Conquer the lag
Try to arrive at your destination in the morning, and then make plans that day. Avoid your hotel room at all costs!
Stay grounded
Exercise! It’s your free pass to happiness.
Know your hotel address
As soon as you arrive to your hotel and check-in, grab the hotels business card. You’ll likely stay at several hotels on any particular trip and it can be confusing keeping tabs on all of them. Throw in a few beers and a late night out and it gets even harder to remember where your hotel is. Having the hotels card in your wallet comes in handy more than you think. It’s also helpful in country’s where locals don’t speak English. Don’t get lost in translation, just show them the card.
Always be prepared for customs
Have your documentation printed and know what you’re doing. Customs are mainly concerned that you won’t leave their country, so have your return ticket booked and printed. Also, always remember to have an address at your final destination as customs will want to know where you are. Research the places you’re going to and your rights as a tourist. Customs can be a little intimidating, which sometimes causes people to lie, when they don’t have to. Once they sniff a lie, see you later. Have a story, and stick to it. Country’s that can be tough are USA, Canada & the UK. Peru is strict with electronics.
Ben’s one of the lucky ones. He’s found a job where he travels for work, and finds plenty of time to play. We caught up with him to find out about where he finds his inspiration, and what influences his filming style.
Hi Ben. So, what was the first trip you ever took?
Well, if we were to rewind it all the way back to the 90s, it would be when my parents pulled me from school and we spent six months travelling Europe and America. That really set me up for a life of travel.
What places have inspired you the most, and influenced your style?
Europe. Seriously, every single country is absolutely stunning in its own way. I think the architecture is what has influenced my style the most. I really started practising my symmetry and vanishing points. It almost becomes impossible to not get ‘the shot’ in Europe.
Can you recommend any photographers or videographers for us to check out?
I follow a lot of travel photographers on Instagram who are constantly inspiring me to be better. One, in particular, is Alex Strohl who I was lucky enough to work with in Costa Rica. He really helped me focus on attention to detail as well as composition. It’s such a bittersweet feeling seeing work that’s better than yours. You can get disheartened but then get a wave of motivation to improve and get better.
What do you think makes a great travel story?
Anything with adventure and a lot of laughs. My best memories have involved a bit of physical exertion to get to some mind-boggling vantage point. Most recently that was climbing Huayna Picchu to look back down onto Machu Picchu ruins. I climbed a vertical steeped staircase for 90 minutes with 20kg of camera gear on my back. That’ll be something I’ll remember for ever.
How do you research the stories behind the places you’re filming?
Being a global tour company gives us the advantage of having offices and logistical help in nearly every corner of the globe. I’ll work on concepts and ideas and think what the best destinations will be to execute these. Then get in touch with a regional office to put me in touch with local suppliers.
What’s your biggest challenge in the research and filming process?
Definitely storytelling. That has to be someone’s biggest skill. I think where I’m trying to improve is creating an idea and then thinking how I can execute that in the field. I’m constantly learning and wanting to improve on this. I’ve learnt that a lot of people can film well, but where you really separate yourself from the pack is through storytelling. Someone I follow who does this really well is Casey Neistat.
Who travels with you on your trips?
Normally the squad is a trip manager and 1–4 ‘talent’. We call them talent, but I’m all about casting real people. I focus my trips around creating a really fun dynamic within the group, then take a step back and capture most of my content naturally. The trips managers are invaluable because they take care of all the logistics.
Do you still find the energy for personal travel?
If I have three days up my sleeve, I’m gone. I’m so accustomed to the actual journey part of going away, that it no longer is a consideration. Brazil? Sure lets go — who cares it will take me 14 hours to get there, because it’s gonna be awesome.
What skills, besides videography, have you picked up from being on the road so much?
I think my biggest skill is just being a good traveler. People might disagree, but I think traveling is a skill in itself. Picking restaurants, navigating around, jumping in a car to drive on the other side of the road, not getting ripped off, dealing with really long days and huge curveballs, and being able to stay positive.
And, finally, we’ve got to know. What’s in your travel carry quiver?
Macbook Pro
Lacie Hardrive
2 x GoPros — these are a necessity
Bellroy Note Sleeve
Passport
Bellroy Travel Wallet
Dior sunglasses
iPhone 6+
And your ideal video kit?
- Sony FS7 — Lightweight, frame rate up to 240 in HD
- Metabones Speedbooster (makes the 35m sensor full frame, so no more crop in your lens, it also adds 1 stop to your aperture, so a f4 becomes an f3)
- Canon 16–35mm ii 2.8
- Canon 24–70mm ii 2.8
- Canon 70–200mm ii 2.8 (these lenses cover all focal lengths)
- Macbook pro retina (all tricked out). This is a beast to edit on the road, and has a handy HDMI port so you can use any regular TV as your monitor)
- Pelican 1510 — Small, cheap and you can check it in as hand luggage if you really need
- Backpack (Lowepro Runner BP 450 AW) — Has removable dividers so you are able to pack the sony cam and lenses
- 5D MK ii — Great camera to have when you are trying to be stealth and film discreetly. Using the neck strap and an ND filter makes it look like I’m taking ‘photos’ and not ‘video’
- Variable ND filter for your 5D or SLR
Ben’s appetite for travel inspired the Jetsetter in Bellroy’s Carry Collections.
