abmj-jr

I did a couple of my free-lance travel shoots a few years ago with the NEX5 before I switched to the Olympus OMD system. I did replace the kit lens with a couple of faster, sharper lenses but the kit is plenty good for personal use stuff. The only reason I switched from NEX was I hated not having a good view finder plus it wasn't weather-resistant. Image quality was fine.

Don't forget extra memory cards in addition to the extra batteries. They go fast when you are having fun.

Jboucsei

As I see it, you have to choose two out of the following three: Size, Quality and Versatility.

I used to travel with bigger equipment, 60D + 18-35 1,8 Art which was a bad compromise, since it´s neither versatile nor very travel-firendly, some might even doubt the IQ. For my budget that was however, the best I could get. Either it was adding more lenses to gain more flexibility or cutting down on weight and live with restricted usage. Versatile and pocketable with bad IQ was a no-go for me.

I decided for the latter option and am now really happy with my Ricoh GRII. It´s a 18mm 2,8 fixed on a 1,6 Crop CMOS in a housing the size of my Iphone, alas a bit bigger. I can fit it into my pants and the IQ in .dng is astonishing. I am happy I was consequent instead of compromising around. Ricoh added some interesting features, for example a calibrable fix-focus thats very handy for street-fotography: Usually I leave it on ~2m with a shutter opening of 4-5.6 and fixed shutter time. The camera adapts the ISO automatically. Pretty sweet when trying not to raise attention! Try that baby out if you ever get one in your hands, it´s a lot of fun.

RSSrsvp

I went with Olympus m43 and never regretted it. You have an unbelievable choice of lenses to select from between Olympus, Panasonic and a few 3rd party lens makers and my back thanks me every time I carry my equipment!

If you are more into video then Panasonic m43 might work better for you but I am a still shooter and am extremely pleased with my E-M5 Mark ll. ^

Boostedtaco

I used to travel with a D700 but the weigh of batteries and lenses was becoming a huge drag. I have a Sony rx100, no big complaints. I may step up to a mirrorless.

thesun

I tried downsizing to Micro 4/3, had the Panasonic GF1 and GX1 along with a few decent lenses but ultimately returned to using my bigger camera, especially when the Canon 6D came out. The smaller sensor bodies just couldn't touch the full frame body, especially in handheld low light conditions (high ISO).

The 6D also has built-in GPS which I love, I'm not sure if any of the mirrorless cameras have it due to the battery drain. I did try the Panasonic GX85 for a bit but ultimately returned it (I love America and our generous return policies). It lets you geotag via the app and phone but the process is slow and clumsy and drains your phone's battery.

If I did street photography maybe I'd want a smaller camera but for my uses it really doesn't matter. The extra weight does suck when hiking at but I'm not doing anything so intense that a few extra pounds is going to make a difference.

wco81

I'm about to go on a 2-3 week trip to HK and Vietnam.

Going to lug my full frame and lenses, including some hikes.

And my back has been bothering me for a couple of weeks too.

Will see how it goes ...