I have two main cameras I carry with me on the aircraft in a pelican hard case – everything else goes checked baggage in hard cases. I also carry a backpack with laptop, a shirt change, phone charger and a few other essentials. I learned the hard way when I went to Australia and Untied Airlines lost the bags for almost a week – I had to buy a new camera the first day, rent a backup camera for the remainder of the week, buy clothes etc in order to get through the first week. Fortunately, I was able to pick up a backup camera to use or I would have been out of luck – no work no pay.
Several people I know FEDEX their gear from place to place which seems to work for them. I have never tried it but I did use FEDEX once to send all my gear home on my way back from a job in Brazil.
Good Luck.
