Travelling as I do on the chicken bus, with nobody to carry my bags except me, I have to think out my baggage a little differently. Above, I am pictured as I was about to leave for a month traveling through Central America, including a stop at Panama's Hybrid Eclipse in April of 2005. That blue backpack ($10.97 at Fry's--it was meant as a high schooler's bookbag or something) held all I would need. I had chosen this because I could fit it on my lap or under my seat. An airline-legal carry on bag would be a bit too large! Being able to keep the bag close, and not in the luggage compartment under (or in the rack on top of!!!) the bus has a distinct advantage when traveling this way. One must think carefully about what one is willing to carry, realizing that this decision in itself dictates what one can do.
Let's illustrate the point with eclipse photography--if I could not carry a lot of equipment, my shots would be limited. I had a Canon 20D, with an 18-55 zoom, a 75-300 zoom, and a Tamron Doubler. I had two spare memory cards, batteries, the charger, and a remote control. I also had a home-made Baader solar filter, a right-angle viewer and a rear screen shade to make it easier to focus. In addition, I have a point-and-shoot that can slip into a shirt pocket. That is it. (By the way--this is what I am taking to China also--no more.) You will notice I have no tripod. Obviously the strength of this kit is that it can be carried relatively easily. On the down side, the magnification (and image scale) will be limited, it will be difficult to hold steady, and it will not be easy to automate (Compare to Bob's posting about his equipment choice and capabilities). I will not be able to take nearly as good an image as those with more equipment. But then again, it is not a competition! (I say that; but if I could take and process good pictures, I might change my mind.)
There are ways to make up for some deficiencies. A camera can be set on a car or fencepost (as long as nobody is leaning against the fence and fidgeting and the wind is not blowing) or on a bag of clothes (or other beanbag affair). A flimsy tripod (one light enough to carry) can be weighed down with plastic bags of rocks or sand. Bumping ISO can shorten exposure (and camera shake) time. (Or, you can do what I did in Panama--just act hapless and yell out--"Anybody have a spare tripod that I can borrow?"--Don't laugh--it worked.) But these are poor substitutes for good equipment. And therefore, my shots will be harder to take and probably a bit noisier (if I speed up ISO) or not as sharp (if I don't). And any shot I take will be more awkward without a tripod to hold the rig pointing where it should be pointing (and a driven mount!!!! how much better yet). But, many shots during an eclipse are pretty short anyway, and camera shake may not be as big an issue as it might seem for these short shots. Two second corona shots may be out of reach. But a thousandth of a second on a prominence may just come out!!!
Somebody planning a trip like this may be asking what else is in my backpack. On my six week China trip, I will wear one pair of cargo pants (whose legs zip off to make them shorts) with a matching pair in the bag. (They are matching in that all the pockets are in the same place. My wallet, money, camera, lens, passport, and all that will always be in the same pockets whichever pair of pants I am wearing. This is much less confusing than having different pocket locations when your pants do not match.) I will have five or six button-front collared cotton shirts and two t-shirts. I will have seven changes of underwear and socks. This allows me to go a week without laundry. I hate wearing clothes more than one day, and I hate hand washing (Actually, I hate having to wait for things to dry when I have hand washed them). This means I need to stop a day and get cleaned up. But I have found that I have to stop once a week anyway for a day or more just to enjoy what I am doing--so laundry day does not change my travel much. I also take a zip up hooded sweatshirt, a rainproof windbreaker, and a pair of swim trunks with pockets that can be worn anyplace else shorts can be worn. Shoes are a black pair of very good quality walking shoes and one pair of strap on sandals that can get wet. I take a floppy bucket hat. It crushes easily, and gives me enough shade. (A baseball cap never makes it long when travelling with me before the bill gets crunched. )
By the way--travel to colder or rainier climes can make this kind of packing impossible.
Take extra glasses, and sunglasses. Toiletries and medicines include the obvious.....but also have several pairs of earplugs and eyeshades for when you need them. I stay in hostels a lot.
I keep my passport and most of my money in a money belt, and a xerox copy of the main page in my wallet. This xerox copy is about all I ever need (except at the border, of course). The wallet also has my daily money, a few other pieces of identification, a few business cards I can hand out as I travel around, and a card/map of where I am staying in English and the local language. In my backpack, I have paper copies of all my travel documents (passport and visas, tickets, whatever). In a special pocket in my cargo pants, I have a thumb drive with pdf copies of all my travel documents. The thumb drive also has a U3 Firefox and Thunderbird setup so I can use my own systems on internet cafe computers. I also plan to regularly back up my camera's compact flash card on another thumb drive, instead of having CD-roms made every few days as I used to do. Finally, I keep a few tourbooks, maps, and notebooks. And a very long novel can be good to have.
More than you wanted to know?
Believe it or not, more than a few people have asked me just how I manage these trips.....And it is good to have a chance to lay out what I do.
Alex
Let's illustrate the point with eclipse photography--if I could not carry a lot of equipment, my shots would be limited. I had a Canon 20D, with an 18-55 zoom, a 75-300 zoom, and a Tamron Doubler. I had two spare memory cards, batteries, the charger, and a remote control. I also had a home-made Baader solar filter, a right-angle viewer and a rear screen shade to make it easier to focus. In addition, I have a point-and-shoot that can slip into a shirt pocket. That is it. (By the way--this is what I am taking to China also--no more.) You will notice I have no tripod. Obviously the strength of this kit is that it can be carried relatively easily. On the down side, the magnification (and image scale) will be limited, it will be difficult to hold steady, and it will not be easy to automate (Compare to Bob's posting about his equipment choice and capabilities). I will not be able to take nearly as good an image as those with more equipment. But then again, it is not a competition! (I say that; but if I could take and process good pictures, I might change my mind.)
There are ways to make up for some deficiencies. A camera can be set on a car or fencepost (as long as nobody is leaning against the fence and fidgeting and the wind is not blowing) or on a bag of clothes (or other beanbag affair). A flimsy tripod (one light enough to carry) can be weighed down with plastic bags of rocks or sand. Bumping ISO can shorten exposure (and camera shake) time. (Or, you can do what I did in Panama--just act hapless and yell out--"Anybody have a spare tripod that I can borrow?"--Don't laugh--it worked.) But these are poor substitutes for good equipment. And therefore, my shots will be harder to take and probably a bit noisier (if I speed up ISO) or not as sharp (if I don't). And any shot I take will be more awkward without a tripod to hold the rig pointing where it should be pointing (and a driven mount!!!! how much better yet). But, many shots during an eclipse are pretty short anyway, and camera shake may not be as big an issue as it might seem for these short shots. Two second corona shots may be out of reach. But a thousandth of a second on a prominence may just come out!!!
Somebody planning a trip like this may be asking what else is in my backpack. On my six week China trip, I will wear one pair of cargo pants (whose legs zip off to make them shorts) with a matching pair in the bag. (They are matching in that all the pockets are in the same place. My wallet, money, camera, lens, passport, and all that will always be in the same pockets whichever pair of pants I am wearing. This is much less confusing than having different pocket locations when your pants do not match.) I will have five or six button-front collared cotton shirts and two t-shirts. I will have seven changes of underwear and socks. This allows me to go a week without laundry. I hate wearing clothes more than one day, and I hate hand washing (Actually, I hate having to wait for things to dry when I have hand washed them). This means I need to stop a day and get cleaned up. But I have found that I have to stop once a week anyway for a day or more just to enjoy what I am doing--so laundry day does not change my travel much. I also take a zip up hooded sweatshirt, a rainproof windbreaker, and a pair of swim trunks with pockets that can be worn anyplace else shorts can be worn. Shoes are a black pair of very good quality walking shoes and one pair of strap on sandals that can get wet. I take a floppy bucket hat. It crushes easily, and gives me enough shade. (A baseball cap never makes it long when travelling with me before the bill gets crunched. )
By the way--travel to colder or rainier climes can make this kind of packing impossible.
Take extra glasses, and sunglasses. Toiletries and medicines include the obvious.....but also have several pairs of earplugs and eyeshades for when you need them. I stay in hostels a lot.
I keep my passport and most of my money in a money belt, and a xerox copy of the main page in my wallet. This xerox copy is about all I ever need (except at the border, of course). The wallet also has my daily money, a few other pieces of identification, a few business cards I can hand out as I travel around, and a card/map of where I am staying in English and the local language. In my backpack, I have paper copies of all my travel documents (passport and visas, tickets, whatever). In a special pocket in my cargo pants, I have a thumb drive with pdf copies of all my travel documents. The thumb drive also has a U3 Firefox and Thunderbird setup so I can use my own systems on internet cafe computers. I also plan to regularly back up my camera's compact flash card on another thumb drive, instead of having CD-roms made every few days as I used to do. Finally, I keep a few tourbooks, maps, and notebooks. And a very long novel can be good to have.
More than you wanted to know?
Believe it or not, more than a few people have asked me just how I manage these trips.....And it is good to have a chance to lay out what I do.
Alex
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