I took a trip to Radio shack to pick up a few European Power adapters. If you are like me, going into Radio Shack is just plain annoying. Having worked there when I got out of high school, I do a a bit more tolerance than most AV guys, however, if I step my foot in the door, I just want to look around and not be bothered by any sales people.
Of all the garbage that Radio Shack sells.. I wouldn't go anywhere else for travel adapters. Scotty hooked me up with this little bit of info. The ones they sell are THE BOMB! Here is a shot of one, and they are about 10 bucks. The reason that they are so good, is that they fit snugly in the outlets over there. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me, the little ones are a pain, and don't stay connected.
I will end up taking about 4 of those with me. I will probably need about 2 of them, however, it is always a good thing to have an extra or two to save someone's day that forgot to bring one.
I also found my silk passport neck case. Although I kinda feel like a geek wearing it under my shirt, it is much better than having your passport jammed in your jeans pocket when wandering around the city.
Nyquil and Dayquil tablets are a must... being sick on the road is really hard. You go into an apothecary and instantly you realize that you are pretty much completely lost. Everything is in a different language, and nothing looks familiar.
When I was in Munich and had the flu, I went into an apothecary, and looked for cough drops. I couldn't find anything that looked like cough drops, and I went to the attendant, and asked for cough drops, and she looked at me like I was speaking.. well.. English! I wanted to cry, I was so beat up from being sick... I just needed cough drops. At this point, I started hacking up a lung, and almost instantly, this German woman realized what "Cough Drop" meant, and led me to a rack where I bought a few bags of mediocre drops.
Carmex, Airborne, and a small kit of pills ranging from Advil, and Aspirin, to Muscinex and Tums. Be prepared is the name of this game.
I will also bring my unblocked international cell phone, and probably buy a local sim card once I get to Prague. They usually cost about 20 dollars and however much you want to spend for minutes. Well worth the investment to save a boat load of money on your US Cell Phone Bill.
Mag Safe airline adapter cable for the laptop so that I can watch movies on the airplane. I also have recently purchased a spare battery for the Macbook Pro. Oh, and a backup iPhone.
About 3 tons of Camera gear also come with me... At least it feels like that much weight when you are carrying it all around the city. The compliment of photo gear is:
1. Canon 40D Digital SLR with Battery Grip.
2. Three Batteries
3. Four Compact Flash Cards in a Card Wallet
4. Expo Disc White Balance Filter
5. Polarizing Filter
6. Gradient Neutral Density Filter
7. Canon 50mm 1.8 Lens
8. Sigma 10mm Fisheye 2.8 Lens
9. Canon 24mm-105mm f/4L IS USM Wide Angle Lens
10. Sigma 70mm - 200mm f/2.8 Lens
11. Sigma 1.2x Teleconverter
12. Gitzo 6X Traveler Carbon Fiber Tripod
13. Canon Battery Charger
I have tried all sorts of Camera bags and backpacks to haul this gear around as I capture photos in these cities, and so far the best option is a Tamarac Velocity 9 Sling bag. Backpacks distribute the weight well, however you have to take the pack off every time you want to change lenses and it slows you down quite a bit. The sling bag fixes that, however all that weight is being carried on one strap and after 6 hours or so, you just wish you had a sherpa. In Thailand, I purchased a knock off North Face fanny pack. I can carry the 70-200 lens in there and a few other things and just have the camera to haul around, and that seems to be a much better solution for my back, however, it is limiting as to what you can bring with you as you walk around.
For this trip, I am going to try something different. No bags of gear this time! I purchased the Gitzo Fleece Jacket complete with about 14 pockets designed by photographers, for photographers.
So, we will see how this works.
Thats about all I can think of for this trip.
The rest of what I bring with me is listed on this blog entry:
http://slarose.blogspot.com/2007/12/gig-bag-holy-grail-of-personal-bags.html
1 comment:
I am jealous...wish I was going! I look forward to the posts :)
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