A small tool kit
A spare body
An extra lens

I do use Lens Band. It works great. However they are tight so put them on, on a bit of an angle so I can just pull it back a bit with my nail. You have to play around with it a bit to see what works best for you.
They have been a life saver. Wandering around a city then discovering I was hanging was not cool.
I use a Spider Pro waist belt I don’t like camera around my neck. I looked down & there was my poor lens fully extended. So glad I have them on all my lens. They came in different colours so I got them all.
Enjoy..💜

I came from a Nikon 7100 years ago to Fuji.
I won’t go back now, nope no way.
You will get bored with the 5600. There’s just not enough to hold my attention.
I used to shoot only RAW but the jpegs are just so darn good on my XT2.
I can shoot in 3 different modes at the same time, ie vivid, mono & sepia.
No Nikon can do that.
There’s so much more that Fuji can do that Nikon can’t, love the firmware updates.
Beat buying a new camera everytime Nikon updates.

Your friend is a professional photographer so let him go right ahead & shoot RAW all he wants.
I shot that way for years too, I switched to Fuji camera system & their jpegs are just so darn good.
I rarely shoot RAW anymore.
Look at them this way you have a cookie base batter it’s plain. So you add a little highlights, better but not there yet. You add sharpening, then taken away the shadows, add a little whites, add some red. And you have a great looking batter. (Example).
Or do you just want to open your favourite cookie box & enjoy.
I’ve spend hours & days on tweeting RAW photos to my liking.
Is this person going to help you after with your 2500 photos.

Is this the monochrome setting or did you do any post processing.
And if you did what did you do?

Check Peak Design for converter plate for Swiss plate to Manfrotto.
Saw it yesterday at a trade show.

I've been a longtime Nikon user & Fuji.
Why not go for a better camera than the 3300, that's on the low end.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The 5300 or better yet the 7200 would be better.
You will out grow the 3300 in no time.

Sigma lenses are crap. Everyone I've had has been terrible. I use Tamron & Nikon only.
I have the 16-300 & love it.

Hate to tell you, but had all the same problems as you are.
Yup had to get the SSD drive.
Just bite the bullet & do it.

Make sure you are getting the VR version of the lens.
There are lots of review comparisons on YouTube.

Can't remember which one but at the top in the drop down menus there's one that has import from iPhoto.

I won't use anything but Spider Pro. It's a belt system.
No more aching arms or neck. No straps getting in the way.

Got a pack of 10 battery storage cases for a few bucks on Amazon.
They are big enough to hold a variety of different sizes.
I just keep them in my camera bag. You're right your NOT to check them in your baggage.
No lithium batteries are to be in checked luggage.

Made the mistake of buying a 70-200 without VR. I've wasted my money. I have more out of focus shots than in.
Even with fast shutter speeds etc.
Get VR version you won't regret it.

Hey Murray,
Greeting from Vancouver, hope you like your stay here before the cruise. We are safe enough walking pretty well anywhere except perhaps the east end, where all drug addicts are. That would be just beyond Chinatown on Main St. You will know when your there!!!!
If you have time wander through Stanley Park to beautiful.
As far as where you are going in SA. Been through parts of there. I've traveled all over the world, wandered a lot off the beaten track, but no way down there. I was never so thankful to take a shore excursion through the cruise company than I was there. There were so many people that wandered on there own. Most lost their wallets & purses, cameras anything that wasn't nailed down. Taxi drivers taking you way, way out of the way then tried to drop you off if you wouldn't pay them more.
Costa Rica was good not many problems there. But Columbia yeah no way.
When even the ships people say don't wander around unless your with a group of you, you don't wander off.