I just counted 127 articles on what to pack for a photographic holiday. Jeez - some included so much you'd need a team of Sherpas or a Kenworth to carry the gear. So let's get down and dirty here, what things should you NEVER EVER take on your next photo tour.
5. Coming in at no 5 is your gold watch. Or for that matter any gold jewellery. You already look like a millionaire in a third world country because you flew in an aeroplane and are staying in a hotel. There's no need to rub it in. Besides, if you want to mark yourself for a bout of pick-pocketing wearing a gold watch is the same as mounting a red flashing light on your head.
4. At No 4 is extra clothing. Who in their right mind would bring 6 pairs of trousers and 24 shirts!! I kid you not. I've had someone on a tour recently who bought a clean shirt for each day we were away. He's obviously never heard of laundries en route. You need to learn the 4-way underpants technique. Undies can be worn the normal way, back the front, inside-out and inside-out back-the-front.
3. Your mother-in-law. (Unless of course she can carry all your photo gear, clean DSLR sensors and wrestle Bolivian border guards)
2. It hurts me to say this but leave your chocolate at home - especially if you are in a hot country. Choccies and jelly beans left in pockets make an amazing pattern when mixed with your memory cards. Sort of psychedelic photography.
1. An ethnocentric attitude. That's when you compare everything you see in far off places to home. The toilets are dirtier than home, the coffee's not as good as home, the traffic is worse and the people don't speak English!
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener
Join me in one of my UWA Extension courses and learn what gear to take!
Then put it into practice and join John Harman and me for a tour to Turkey and Spain in September 2013
Photo: Helen Newnham
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