I think I can comment on the camera gear. I am lucky in that I live next to the Alps and am 2 hours away from truly wonderful landscapes and roads. I'm also an absolute fan of photography (the fact that I owe a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VRII, and not for the bragging rights, should give you a hint where I'm at). However, When I travel by bike, I leave all the weaponry at home and take either just a body (D600 usually) and one good zoom (24-120 f/4) and eventually a fisheye. An alternative I've been trying lately with more success than expected is taking just a Coolpix, which offers a DX sensor, a great deal of control over exposure and does RAW format. In either case I take a table tripod, and done.
It's not just the weight or the size that makes me leave stuff at home, it's the vibrations from seating on a motorcycle. I just f+++s optical equipment. And to be honest, travel photography is more memories than photography, so you don't need superb quality, great quality will do more than fine. I can show you pictures that I took with my 2006 D80 that 99% of the people could not take with a D4. It's you and the light!
Travel photography is one thing. Id be more than happy with an EF-S 18-135 3.5-5.6 on my T4i for that. But its my living. So with me i carry:
T4i
EF-S 10-22
Kit 18-55 (dont have a longer zoom range yet... Not that I ise it much)
Flash
Tripod (me-foto, the one with the removable monopod leg. Only one I could get to fit on the bike that was stable enough)
DIY Panoramic bracket w/ rotator
Batteries
And occasionaly a second flash and a flash stand.
And then take photos of houses like this :D
