The internet (and its most photo-obsessed offspring, Instagram) has made food and travel photography a common vernacular. Our increasingly visual culture encourages us to always be capturing our food, our vacations, and our adventures, be it with an iPhone or a professional camera. We have all become documentation-crazed. I say we lean in and embrace our roles as documentarians. In the past year, I’ve had my camera in tow through Israel, Honolulu, Lapland, Sardinia, and even Iowa, avidly documenting food and place. Along the way, I’ve kept track of some essentials—from the super practical to the purely inspirational.