Some people do an excellent job at the live tweeting/blogging while traveling gig. Andrew Evans is one example that comes to mind. I’ve tried it before and on my next trip to India, United Arab Emirates and Oman, in just 11 days, I am going to give the idea a break. Why?
It Takes Away From The Experience
This is a personal matter and I don’t expect you to agree. Maybe you live blog/tweet while traveling and it is ten flavors of awesome. Good on you.
I have found the opposite to be true; it is ten shades of frustration. Frustration from trying to get the technology to work (this is compounded when the connection is marginal….which is worse than no signal at all). Frustration from trying to keep up with replies. But most of all, frustration from having to edit and prep photos faster than I please. I have posted images from my travel laptop in the past and I know it’s not the best screen and graphics card with which to edit. And still I post. I‘m changing that now and I only want to put out my best work, which means it will have to wait. Like a fine wine (I hope).
I honestly love working on images on my desktop at home, especially with the new version of Lightroom. It’s a treat and my images come out looking better than before. You deserve to see my best work and this will help ensure that.
I Will Be Guiding Guests
My guests for the India photo tour are paying me to be there for them and to be an available resource. I find that when I’m curious about which shots I took that day (and the subsequent curiosity to start editing them, even on my travel laptop), I am not as focused on serving my guests. And that’s my job, and pleasure, for those 2+ weeks. I can do my job better if I’m not trying to keep the Internet up to date.
It Adds Unnecessary Anxiety
I got a picture of a tiger!! You HAVE to see this, NOW!
That’s what I have thought in the past, right or wrong. Urgency, all in my head, drove me to thinking I ‘had’ to bring my laptop and stay connected and let people know, right now, what were the cool things I saw. No one back home would be ok with waiting, I was sure.
I was also wrong. People appreciate pretty pictures any time of the year and are ok with waiting. I am now editing some images from Nepal and posting those photos to a solid response and appreciation. Does it matter to most people that the images were taken six months ago? Nope.
I Have An iPhone
Acquiring an iPhone has made a big difference in my decision to not keep things ‘live’. It is allowing me, with the aid of a Digital-Foci Picture Porter 35 photo storage device, to not be required to bring a laptop. Why would I be required to anyway? My trip to India is to lead a photo tour with paying guests and it is imperative that I be reachable should any problems arise. I want to be able to check flights and email as it is our main means of communication. I want to stay in touch with home as I have loved ones who actually want to know what’s going on (but don’t need pictures).
With the iPhone I can use wifi to check email. Half my hotels will have it. I can also use it to snap quick photos and send them home or post to my personal Facebook page. Or even Twitter as it is super convenient (and I have an app that sends to both, making life easy). Maybe this is a bit of cheating then, still having the capability to send images. But the iPhone has its limits and I won’t be stretching them. Just a few shots when it really matters and if it works. If it doesn’t work out? Meh, I still have my high resolution images from my DSLR.
I’m Unsure Of The Benefit
In the case of Andrew there is a clear benefit; he’s paid to do it. That’s a nice way to do it. I‘m not paid and I often wonder if there is much benefit to being vigilant about downloading images at the end of the day, waiting for them to process and then tweaking before posting a few. Just to be up to date. I’m sure some people enjoy it, but who really follows me that closely? Even my Mom is ok with waiting a few days or a week without a call when I’m on a working trip. I think the Internet can wait as well.
If you are now in tears because of this news, I am sorry. The flip side is the images I do post will be of higher quality and refinement. Quality over speed. I hope you’ll stick around and see what transpires.
I think you have made a wise decision. If I was on your trip I’d want to feel you were making sure I got the shots of a lifetime, not working on your own. I post a blog when I travel and it is a lot of work at times, reviewing, editing, processing, writing…and I’m retired, not running a business. Your photos inspire me, your blog informs me. I am working on improving my photography skills so maybe someday I can cross Nepal off my bucket list.