Airfare and checked bag fees = no long lens?

So here I am, trying to book travel arrangements for my October wedding in Farmington, New Mexico. It didn’t used to be this complicated – just travel on any non-weekend day and book three or four months in advance for lowest airfares.

Now there are checked bag fees, fewer flight choices, and lots of price variation by the specific weekday you’re traveling.

Those checked bag fees mean minimizing everything you bring. I’m thinking hard about making space for a 400mm or 500mm lens for wildlife. It’s probably more sensible to blow off wildlife shooting and concentrate on ruins/architecture, landscapes and people. But I remember one December day when I photographed a red-tailed hawk eating lunch atop a power pole by the Animas River, and think about that 500mm f/4L IS lens…

Of course, it is my wedding and honeymoon, so the long lenses would be best off at home anyway. My future spouse photographs too, but I might not even get to the wildlife captures.