Meet My Bloggie

Well since I have started a blog – it is only fair that I introduce you to my new gadget that I received at Christmas from the Elkin Family – my BLOGGIE.

It is basically a high definition video camera the size of a small mobile phone.  Okay so I won’t make Steven Spielberg quality movies from the Bloggie, but it is small enough and good enough for the budding videographer that I hope to become on my trip. 

I have had a video camera before – it was bought with all good intentions of regularly  using it 8 years ago, especially on holidays.  But as you maybe aware, I love to take a lot of photos and found that I always had to choose between the photo shot or the video piece, with the camera winning every time and found that the video camera just wouldn’t even make it out of  it’s bag.  With the obvious bulkiness as another downside it was used once on a trip to the USA and it has never see the light of day again.

So why will it be different with the BLOGGIE? 

• Well the size of the Bloggie is the first plus.  At the size of 5.1cm wide, 1.5cm depth and 10.7cm long it truly is the size of a mobile phone.  That thing will fit in your pocket, bag, bra, where-ever you normally keep a phone this thing will sit right in there as-well
• The Bloggie doesn’t come with any cords or chargers.  This can be a plus or a downside.  It has a built in USB that flicks out and connects directly to your computer and this is also how it charges.  For me this is a plus.  Less cords to take on my trip – I just have to be organized.
• No memory cards required.  It has an 8GB memory.  Another plus or downside I hear you say – but do you realize how much video can fit on 8GB?  Trust me – that is a lot of footage.
• The 3inch touch screen also makes it cool to play with – so for only that reason it will come out and get some ‘play’ time.  It is AWESOME! 

Quite fitting that it is called a Bloggie and I will be using it for my Blog.  I hope to not only share all my gazillion photos but maybe a little footage aswell to give a true feel of what is being experienced.  I am just thankful that as it is a ‘precious’ item meaning it will not be getting any video footage of drunken escapades or drinking nights ( the thought of losing my Bloggie while drunk scares me ) and to be honest I think what the normal camera captures is more than enough information when sharing ‘those’ particular experiences – that is scary enough in the still format.

So I hope that you will get as much pleasure at seeing some video footage from our beautiful world that I will be lucky enough to experience first hand. 

Stay tuned and look out Ron Howard there’s a new kid on the block!

**How Much Money Will I Need**

As a travel agent this is one of the most asked questions I get. 

"How much spending money will I need for my trip"

It is a bit of a crystal ball question:

Do you drink heaps?

Do you buy a lot of knick knack stuff?

Do you send packages / post cards home?

Do you eat out at fancy restaurants all the time?

The list can go on………………………………………………

I have had a rule right from the very start of my first overseas trip – like **cough cough** – well a few years ago now.  My rule is to budget $100 a day for each day that I am away.  My trips usually consist of a tour and I would have already prepaid that before I leave Australia.  So the $100 is purely spending money, food money, crap money and more importantly drinking money.  I find this rule works well – as some days are travel days and you are lucky to spend more than $20 depending on where you are in the world and some days you may have a BIG night out and spend more than you were supposed to. 

People ask me what about the currency exchange?  My $100 bucks goes a long way in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Asia in general and then when you get to places like the Cayman Islands, Iceland, Norway, Tahiti and countries that are generally well-to-do and have their own, very strong currencies – it kicks our Aussie dollar right in to next week. But this is all part of the travelling experience and I will generally stick to the rule – no matter where I am in the world.

In saying that I do have a secret stash of money, so if I see a piece of jewellery, want to do that balloon ride over the Serengeti or the helicopter ride over New York, I can dip into that and not feel too bad that I have upset the ‘budget apple cart’ to much.  Some experiences you just have to do – it would be crazy to pass up, as you just may not get back to certain countries again.  Some things are just worth blowing the budget for.

I’m hoping I will be able to re-coup some of the budget money in Africa, Madagascar and on my French River Cruise to name a few tours.  This will in turn give me some extra money in the kitty for ‘other things’ or maybe even be able to extend my time away if I am super good.  I mean how much money can you spend on an African Safari or in Madagascar – a country known for Lemurs and the export of Vanilla – how could I possibly blow my budget there?

So this rule will hopefully hold me in good stead on my round world trip for 14 months.  That’s 461 days people – you do the math’s and let’s just see how close I come to keeping my own rule.

$100.00 a day for each day I am away!!!  

What Would You Miss In Twelve Months?

Generally when I travel – most of my trips are 2-3 weeks maximum.  I have done a few 4 weekers and 2 eight week trips over my travelling history.

So it is not a great deal of time away from home right?

So why, when you are on holidays do you get these unexplainable urges for something back home?  Whether it be a juicy steak from the Brekky Creek ( when you are in India of all places ) a packet of twisties ( there are eqivilants but it’s just not the same ), craving for your favourite chinese food that just no-one else can emulate, carrot cake from the bakery across from your work, your best friends advice or your god-daughters laughter….

I am sure I am not on my own.  There must be other people out there – whether you travel for 4 days, 4 weeks or 4 months – there must be something that you miss from home while on the road?

I was thinking about this the other day and as corny as the saying sounds

“you never know what you had till it’s no longer there"

or something to that effect - you get my drift. 

So what will I miss most about being away for 12 months?

*A place to call home – I think that is going to be my biggest ‘miss’

*My psudeo family – you guys know who you are

*My friends–I know I will make new ones–but nothing beats people who know the real you

*My God-daughters unconditional love and their 5 and 3 year old aspects on life

*Work – that sounds sucky – but my workplace is awesome.  Maybe it is the people rather than the ‘work’ side of things I will miss?

*Johnny’s ceasar salads – yes I know you can get ceasar’s all over the world but not like Johnny’s.

*Driving my own car

*Knowing where I am and where I am going

*The Caxton – sad but true

*Clothing options – you try and live in a backpack with the same clothes for 12 months

*Speaking to people on the phone - my world will totally become electronic

*Cadbury chocolate and Smith’s and Samboy Chips

*Chris’ hot chips with seasoning salt – no really it is the best salt ever… oh and his fish stips… d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s

*Red Rooster chicken – no one cooks chicken like Red Rooster

*Race Days with the girls and our crazy hats that we wear

*Christmas day and waking up to the sounds of excited children

They may seem like small things – but these are what makes your life a home and as much as I am looking forward to all the new places and experiences I think I am entitled to miss some things from home…………

What Would You Miss In Twelve Months?

Photography Preparation for a Photoholic

Okay so those of you who know me know that I take a lot of photos. 

A LOT! 

I like to call myself a Photoholic or a Pathological Photographer. 

Either way I ♥ love taking pictures.  People, places, scenery, food, signs – you name it I photograph it.

I am guilty of being a point and shoot kind of gal – and all my camera’s have always been of the point and shoot variety.  I decided maybe it was time to upgrade my camera ( without going crazy – as I have to carry the stuff ) and I have gone and purchased a Pentax X90 superzoom with 26x optical zoom lens and all the abilities of a SLR camera but just not as big.  Don’t get me wrong my point and shoots will still be coming along for the ride ( both of them – I’ll explain further later ) but I really wanted to make sure I was going to capture the type of photos I hope to get out of my trip.  Like the Gorilla’s in Uganda and Rwanda, the stunning untouched beaches of the Seychelles, a close up of lions and giraffes in Africa, the iceburgs and penguins in Antarctica etc……...  Okay you get my drift.  We know what comes along with a camera with more capabilities – a BIG arse manual on how to work the thing.  And then they start talking ISO, aperture, shutter speed, exposure, bracketing etc ….  What the hell?  It opens up a whole new world of photography.  Maybe I should just stick with my point and shoots!!!

Well I’m always up for a challenge.  I have bought 2 travel photography books and the one that I am getting amazing information from is Lonely Planets Guide to Travel Photography.  It is like a photography guide for dummies and I am gleaning so much information from it.  I have started the ‘Bernie Course 101’ on how to use my camera to the best of it’s abilities and how to get more professional shots.

 

“Travel is an exciting experience and your photography should reflect it”

So how may camera’s is too many?  Don’t ask me as a have a load of them.  But I will be taking on my trip 3 camera’s and they will all be serving a purpose.

Beside being back-ups if one breaks or is stolen the use for each one is:

◙ My Canon IXUS 105 aka also known as the ‘drinking camera’.  It is an awesome little camera and is the one if I was on a night out and had too many sherberts then it is not the end of the world if I lost it.

◙ My Samsung TL225 is my pocket camera.  This camera is super awesome for such a little guy and will be the main camera I will be using from day to day – especially when it will not be practical / advisable to have the larger camera with me.  I love this camera though and a lot of editing can be done on this one.  Best functions is black and white and the ‘beautify’ function – not that I need that for myself right?

◙ The last camera is my Pentax X90 – which I am still learning to use.  I am really excited on the photos I will be able to capture on this one, with the additional zoom and the ability to change light, shutter speed etc is a whole new world to me and I think this will out weigh the downside of the bulky size.

So being such a HUGE photographer ( I loosely use the term photographer ) - I am now working out the best way to take, store and publish all my pictures on my trip.  It will be a massive job – to be honest I think at the end of 461 days I will have, at a guess 45,000 pictures!  Imagine the slide show I will have when I get home!  Who’s got a spare 10 hours to look at my photos upon my return?  Yawn yawn yawn I hear you say – I wouldn’t do that to you all anyways – would I????

My biggest fear is losing photos.  Whether from some-one stealing my camera, stealing my bag with my memory cards, my computer stuffing it, Facebook going down ( heaven forbid ), heat, x-ray etc…. the list goes on…..  So I have an over cautious plan but I want you to remember it is better to be safe than sorry when you read what my back-up plans are.

I will have a memory card for each ‘trip’ I have booked – okay maybe 2….

At the end of each day the photos will be saved to the hard drive of my notebook.

I will then also save them to an external hard drive ( still yet to buy )

I will then also save them onto 64GB USB sticks

…and finally when I get internet access I will also load them onto Facebook

Over cautious I hear you say – tough.  I lost my camera in Sydney once at a travel function and I felt like I had left a piece of me somewhere – it was a terrible feeling .  I had a picture of me and Larry Emder on that camera.  Imagine how I would feel if I lost more important photos than Larry!!!!  So I am certainly not taking the risk of losing those pictures of Lemurs in Madagascar, party nights in Ibiza, or riding a camel in Morrocco – you get my drift – irreplaceable…… Over cautious – tough……..

Hope you can join me on looking through my lens to a window of the world we live in.

Travel Resolutions for the New Year

Well it is that time of year when people ( not all of us ) make those new years resolutions for all sorts of things.  Maybe it’s for a healthier lifestyle, spending more time with loved ones, change of career etc……..  Without actually making it a resolution I was always ‘all over’ what country I was going to visit in the coming year and my leave was already submitted and approved. 

We make resolutions for everything else. Why not travel?

People always ask me how I get to travel all the time, and my response is I just save.  I have a holiday account that a minimum $50 - $100 a week goes into.  52 weeks a year gives you a nice tidy sum of $5200 for a trip.  Even at $50 a week that’s being saved that’s still $2600 – these days you can get a pretty awesome holiday for that.  Not all my trips are not attached to ‘U beaut’ travel agent deals.

Maybe NOW is the time people, for you to start SAVING money and see some of the world you live in first hand.  It doesn’t always have to be an overseas trip to constitute as a holiday.  Staycation’s is the newest thing on the block ( not MY thing ) but visits in your own city / state / country can be just as rewarding and relaxing as travelling 5 million kilometers to a far away destination.  Something for you to think about.

So your Travel Resolution for 2011.  What will yours be?

• Go on your first cruise.
• Spend a weekend somewhere without internet access
• Drive cross country.
• Finally learn how not to over pack.
• Visit more places where I know people.
• Be in more travel pictures and get out from behind the camera.
• Take at least one guidebook-free and paperless trip.
• Take better notes. I might think I'll always remember the name of that fun-looking restaurant or weird sign I want to translate, but it's easy to forget when you're taking in so many new things.
• A place that you have always wanted to visit since you were a kid
• Catch up with friends made on previous trips from other countries
• Send a post card or write a letter. Texts, emails, and tweets are fine, but nothing beats getting something in the snail mail from an exotic destination and that you were thought of.
• Start a Bucketlist – life is too short.  Get out there and LIVE it
• Find a quest. Climb Ayers Rock.  Swim the Great Barrier Reef . Visit every country that starts with B because that’s what your name starts with. Travel great distances to find petroglyphs or animals.
• Go somewhere new
• Determine 3 Places You’ve Never Been To And Plan A Trip To One
• Keep Better Track Of Where You’ve Been
• Learn a language for your pending trip

Got you thinking…….  Well it should …………….

Google a map of the world and start to think of where you have always wanted to travel to and make it a reality in 2011.  My mum had always wanted to travel to Canada and it was the same response each time ‘next year’… well ‘next year’ never came for her and it is now in her memory that I can achieve my trip that I will be doing it in twenty eleven.

Open a holiday account, set up the automatic transfer from your pay, make an appointment to see your local travel agent and turn that ’dream’ trip of yours into a reality.  Whether it is to see a show in Sydney, sit on a beach in Fiji, play the pokies in Vegas - it is your 'dream' and only YOU can turn it into a reality.

Happy New Year to you all and cheers to new places and faces in 2011…..

My Travel Log Book

So how do you keep track of your travel escapades?

Keeping count of which countries you visited?

Where do you put those cute little entrance tickets you get from attractions?

Where can you get your new friends to sign and write comments?

If you like to keep track of miles flown – seat numbers etc……… ( yes I am that anal )

Some people collect patches, magnets, plates, spoons, stamps, stick pins, foreign money etc…….. ( yes I also do all that but NOT spoons or patches )

Well some years ago I came across a web site called the Globetrotters Logbook.

The Globetrotter’s LogBook - Countries of the World is a pocket-sized souvenir book for people who like travelling. Every one of the world’s current 193 countries (and their 58 overseas dependencies) are listed in alphabetical order, complete with flags, capital cities, information, details about their time zones, currencies, land area, population, interesting travel-websites, etc…………………

Each country has room for a small personal souvenir: the rubberstamp from the hotel where you stayed, some fun words of farewell from your ski instructor, your own personal copy of that beautiful postage stamp you loved so much, a dried petal from your favourite flower.  Whatever you want to keep to remind you of your trip. I have my travel guides from different countries sign my book – new words I learn in other languages – those special mementos of weird bag tags, concierge tickets from great hotels ( like the Burj in Dubai ) etc….

The Globetrotter's LogBook also features a Vaccination Log in which you can keep a structured and up-to-date record of the jabs you have had as you embark on your adventurous life.   There is also the detailed Flight Register with details of your seat, airline, plane type and city pairs flown.

It is a dandy little book and I won’t travel to a new country without it – it is as precious as my passport – well maybe not quite - but nearly.  I try and get a rubber stamp with the date on it, generally from a post office or depending on the laxity of the immigration staff, at airports.  Otherwise in tough countries like Latvia and Cuba where they wouldn’t stamp my book I purchase a lick lick stamp to pop into it.

If you travel heaps – this book is certainly for you.  My last entry was my from new Ukrainain friend who served me 12 days of vodka’s on my Black Sea River Cruise.  He wrote it all in Ukranian and I had to get a hostess on my Emirates flight to translate his message which was super cute.

These will be the small things that will be forgotten with the passage of time – but not me, I have my Globetrotter’s Logbook at the ready for my next new stamp and for my next new guide / friends to write something….

I ♥ showing my book to people and it is something nice to reflect on every now and then and sometimes also serves as a bragging book to people.

Check out the book at : http://www.globetrotterslogbook.com/default.htm  

One Bag One Year - Are You Kidding?

I sat last night and really thought about what I am going to take with me on my trip.

I’m going for 14 months.  One backpack, one day backpack and a travel satchel.  Doesn’t sound like much right?

The condensing of one’s life belongings has been made a little easier, as I have had to pack my whole house into a shipping container, which is now sitting somewhere in Brisbane waiting for my eventual return.  So already I had to decide what I would and wouldn’t need for my last 5 months in Oz.  Amazing how much ‘stuff’ one doesn’t really need.

I will have a day backpack that will carry the stuff that is too important to put in the BIG backpack.  You know the stuff you can’t live without – the charges for all the appliances, personal diary, memory cards, notebook the large camera that sort of thing.

My day to day bag will carry the smaller but just as important stuff.  The Ipod, the point and shoot camera’s, the phone, passport, my bloggie, more memory cards, money matters etc…….

Then the Pièce de résistance – THE BACKPACK.  This will house the clothes, the toiletries my 3 pairs of shoes and all my purchased the knick knacks until I can get to a post office to send them.  Okay when I say it all like that – how much room do I need?  Surely I could fit all that in a 55L backpack?

I have never been a backpacker as such.  I can count on one hand the amount of times that I have travelled with a backpack in my travelling life.  All but ONE I would call successful stories.

The very first time was a 28 day Contiki European tour 10 years ago.  I was a lot younger, so backpack was the obvious choice.  It was a 4 week tour with an additional 6 weeks added for good measure in Turkey, Egypt and Africa.  I borrowed the bag from my Aunty Beth, who sang it’s praises and had used it extensively on her travels stating it was the best bag in the world.  Well for the younger folk, it was one of the old fashioned backpacks which you could only load from the top.  So if you needed something you had to pull everything out to get to the bottom and repack the whole bloody thing.  NOT SUCCESSFUL.

I travelled on a Contiki tour of Scandinavia and surrounds in 2007.  It was a ‘Concept Tour’ meaning we were going to be staying in hostels and cabins.  No tents – but not really the type of tour one would take a suitcase.  So after some homework and not wanting to go without all the nessessities, I bought a 80L backpack.  Well have you ever filled an 80L backpack before?  It was MASSIVE and it was cumbersome.  Once it was on my back, I did okay – the main factor was not to fall over and look like an upside down turtle OR trying hard to not knock some-one over on my turning circle.  I  always needed some-one to help me heft the bloody thing on my back. NOT SUCCESSFUL.

Europe was also done the same year with the same said backpack.  This was an Intrepid Tour from Berlin to Venice – solely only using the public train and bus system for 3 weeks.  I thought Scandinavia was bad and we had a coach – public transport was a nightmare carrying this sucker, just ask anyone on this tour stories of me and my backpack.  I do recall ‘bag lady’ was one of my nicknames. LESSON NOT LEARNT.

2009 I travelled for 4 weeks on a Tucan trip of Central America, Cuba and Panama.  Now I had learnt my lessons from previous trips and purchased a much smaller backpack at 55L.  Now this was the way to travel.  I also trialled the packing cubes and they were brilliant!  It was a great bag – I didn’t end up taking as much and it was much more easier to handle ( shock horror ) and no help required getting that onto my back.  This trip was also solely using chicken buses and the sort and I wondered WHAT was I thinking with the 80L MONSTER all those years ago?

So now I embark on my 14 month trip with my backpack in tow.  Stay tuned for the pre-pack dramas on what I WANT to take and what I CAN actually fit.  That will be a whole entry on it's own.

Let the packing the backpack games begin???

PS: Any hot packing / travelling tips are welcome.