Travel Checklist for Amateur Photographers

Going on a photography safari or a hiking excursion can be one of your greatest adventures which will bring fond memories for you to share. But such a trip requires carrying lots of equipment and electronics. Sometimes an excursion means doing multiple flights, train rides, car or bus displacements, and constantly changing hotels. Forgetting an appliance during one of your displacements can totally ruin your trip!

When I put that in perspective, I find it necessary making a checklist for my photography travels:

• Passport
• Wallet
• Keys
• Camera
• Lenses for camera
• Camera's batteries and charger
• Camera's memory cards
• Mobile phone + charger
• Electronic tablet + charger
• Laptop computer
• Electric toothbrush + charger
• Electric adaptor

Being environmentally conscious myself I can recognise that the objects in this checklist are big energy spenders. But it's possible to change this list a little to make it more "ecological", for example replacing the electric toothbrush by a regular one.

Furthermore, the tablet can completely replace the laptop. Ideally the tablet should have a good memory capacity and a memory card reader in order to backup the photographs taken. Sometimes a tablet charger can also be used for recharging the mobile phone, as it is the case for the iPhone and iPad, requiring overall fewer items to carry.

Someone might have a high level of green thinking and bring a solar battery charger! These devices are fantastic, but you must consider that they are still expensive, and their large size use a lot of space in a suitcase. Maybe in a few years they will become more practical?

En Français
Liste d'articles de voyage pour les photographes amateurs

Top 10 Airports in the World (2011)

As traveling is one of my favourite things to do, I couldn’t help but search for what people voted to be the nicest airports in 2011. Here’s the list:

1. Hong Kong International Airport
2. Singapore Changi Airport
3. Incheon International Airport (Seoul)
4. Munich Airport
5. Beijing Capital International Airport
6. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport
7. Zurich Airport
8. Auckland International Airport
9. Kuala Lumpur International Airport
10. Copenhagen Airport

Why would someone refuse to leave home despite war?

I just realized something, the fact that the security offered by someone’s home can be more significant than the security offered by his country.

I have two aunts that live Syria. They are presently threatened by the violence of the regime against its protesters, this violence that caused many casualties and that may create even more fury. But despite the brutality, my aunts refuse to leave their home and seek refuge in neighboring countries, like Lebanon or Jordan, where we have family that can accommodate them.

Now they still have access to water, food and basic needs to live throughout their daily lives. They even have access to television, which is a gateway to the world, even if it is controlled by the government. But the violence has still inspired thousands of Syrians to flee to Turkey to stay away from local threats. My aunts do not feel as threatened and stay home anyway.

I'm worried about what is happening in Syria today. However there is a side of me that is happy because people are expressing themselves in order to establish a change to the policy of the country, although the source of these protests can also be questioned. I only hope that the conclusion of these protests will bring a better future to the country.

En Français
Pourquoi refuser de quitter chez soi malgré la guerre?