Expectations – It’s best not to have any!

Having known a number of people who have been travelling and many that currently are i have heard so many stories about places they have been to and things they have done, some of which i may be doing too. But i don’t take things for granted, whether its an opinion about a film or where someone has been or what they have done, i’ll wait until i have experienced it before i make any judgement. Everyone’s opinions are their own after all! I think expectations will only lead to potential disappointment, so i intend to keep an open mind and take every experience as it comes.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

There is only so much planning you can do, too much could ruin your trip, after all travelling is largely about going where the wind will take you and you cant do that if you have fixed plans on where your going and what you will be doing. I have plenty of ideas about what i’d like to see and do in the different countries and it will be great if i get to do some of those things, but i also look forward to finding out from other people about places to go and things to do along the way.

The furthest i have got (apart from booking all the flights) is booking my first couple of nights in Sri Lanka, with an airport pick up, then, as it is New Year very soon i have decided to do something a little different and make it a memorable one, so i’m going to be seeing the new year in from the top of a famous mountain in Sri Lanka ( Called Sri Pada ) – that’s about as random as your gonna get and i’m looking forward to that one! From there onwards the whole trip is pretty well unknown apart from the dates of my flights, it’s just a case of squeezing everything in!

Its slowly sinking in now, the reality that i will be leaving in a couple of days. I don’t really feel nervous or as excited as i probably should be at the moment, maybe its still all a little surreal. Perhaps it will hit home when i’m on the plane. I’m gonna give it a go at doing a quick pre departure video blog on the morning i leave, maybe then i will work out how i’m feeling about it all! Until then . . .

Leading up to departure...

Well there are a million things i could talk about, we'll start with the first few things i can think of... so first and foremost its only 9 days until I’m actually on the plane and jetting off to the first destination! To be honest its not until i get on the plane to Sri Lanka its all going to kick in and i actually feel I’m jetting off to warmer climates!

I wouldn’t say i’m a non experienced traveller, through University, Holidays and Work i have been fortunate enough to make it to a number of fascinating places, including Europe, China and the US. However these trips were only a few weeks at any one time, not a few months lie this one. I’m quite aware that ‘holidaying’ and 'travelling' are somewhat different, I’ll be frequently moving around, from guest house to hostel and my life will consist of what ever i can squeeze into my bag. Finding a bag that was practical and comfortable was somethig i wanted to get right, after all i’ll be moving around a fair amount of the time. By doing a little research all the information is only a click away and i came across a bag that ticked all the boxes.

I bought a Geonaute bag that's both a backpack (60Litres) and is a drag bag with wheels - in one. It seems great at the moment, only time will tell if it does its job. It also has a 10 Litre day pack which zips and straps onto the front. I've got the black version which looks pretty good; got it for about £70!

As I’m planning on taking a video camera (and keeping the renowned video blog) the first thing I think of is security, not if I’m going to drop it or break it but if it gets nicked. So I’ve invested in a security cable (about £10), its a lockable retractable cord. So this thing is an additional security feature which will allow me to secure my baggage, cameras or anything else to something solid (i.e. beds, luggage racks, sun beds on the beach etc) its just more peace of mind when your travelling on your own and you can’t keep a constant eye on your stuff! Seems great in theory, we will see how it goes!

First Video Blog Test

Now for a little Video Testing ... Well this is what its all going to be about, so there is nothing fancy or interesting involved with this, it’s just to check a few things. Firstly that the video camera works, secondly the video file uploads on here ok and most importantly to test camera works under water ... lastly i want to make sure the download option underneath the video works as by downloading the video the image quality and size will be loads better!


DOWNLOAD VIDEO

The video works, i have to say its a little weird talking to a camera (i'm used to working behind one!) but in the long run that'll be a big part of this blog; filling you in about the things i'm doing and places I’m going to. Its a shame you can't change the holding frame of the video.

The upload of the video took about 10 minutes for every 1 minute of video. That was on a fairly good internet connection so i would expect it to take a fair bit longer where the internet service is not as good. The file its self was recorded @ 640x480 & 60fps (the best quality for this cam). The file size was about 50 MB saved directly to SDHC Card, so no need for tapes, i just upload directly to the comp via USB stick, nice and easy!

The download time was really quick. The image quality isn't amazing in low light conditions, but outside and under water it’ll be great! Lets hope the rest of the video blogs will be a little more interesting!

Video Blogging - The Reality !

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Well if your keeping track of this blog chronologically (which is definitely advised!) you will know that I work in video production and that’s the reason i am keen to create a video blog opposed to only a written one. I had really high expectations early on about what I thought i could do and achieve while I’m away, from actually editing the videos into little films through to high quality output. However I was sharply brought back down to earth when I started to work on the practicalities of it all, most of which I have come to realise are not possible or practical while i’m on the move and will no doubt not have hours and hours to upload the videos.

But difficulties aside, it isn’t going to deter me. Ok, so I won't be able to edit my videos into neat little films, meaning what you see is what you will get! They will be raw video, in a reasonable resolution, but that’s the balance i have to get if i can realistically keep a video blog!

I will be able to stitch clips together and that’s about it, it’s a case of making the most out of it. I'll be uploading the videos onto an online file storage server and streaming them directly from there. To be honest it’s definitely going to be better to download them and watch them from the download option below; they will be bigger and better quality and size.

When it comes to the filming, i want to capture as much as possible and getting opinions from as many other people as i can too. Nothing can be planned out so i’ll just see what happens and go with the flow.

I'm filming everything on the little bad boy you see above (Sanyo CA8) I’m going to be filming in 4:3 (square) opposed to 16:9 (widescreen) and the reason is this camera can only film in 4:3 (which does suck) ... However that is a sacrifice I’m going to make because it’s one of the only video cameras on the market that’s Fully Waterproof! (Up to 5ft) this sold it to me considering what I’m doing and where I’m going! So next is phase 2 ... Testing the camera out!

About the Adventure . . .

Now I’ve made the blog the next step is to test it all out and get to grips with the 'posting/blogging' issue before I head off, so here we go. . .

I'm all booked up, and with a few last minute alterations to my itinerary I’m all sorted!

THE TRIP IN A NUTSHELL . . .

28th Dec - UK, Heathrow to Sri Lanka
8th Jan - Sri Lanka to Singapore
13th Jan - Singapore to Oz, Sydney
27th Feb - Oz, Cairns to NZ, Auckland
14th Apr - NZ, Auckland to L.A
15th Apr - L.A back to UK!

I have wanted to travel for as long as i can remember, see the world and meet new people, that has always seemed so exciting to me. People all around me either have travelled, are travelling or will be and so i had to make the decision to do it sooner rather than later. A decision made a little more difficult due to owning a video production company with two other guys (Pro-Mo Media) and we have worked extremely hard over the last year and a half since graduating from university getting it to where it is now. But i’m not going for a huge amount of time so it should be enough to get the taste of travelling and when i get back i’ll get back into the work i enjoy a great deal.

Roughly over the last 5 months my trip has evolved from a month travelling up the east coast of Australia to 3 and a half months doing a mini world trip. I figure if I’m gong all that way around the world, i may as well make it a worthwhile period. I’ll always want more but i’m more than happy with that.

THE REASONING BEHIND SRI LANKA AND SINGAPORE . . .

As i mentioned I was only intending on going to Oz, then hop over to NZ. The flight I was booked on going to Oz had a compulsory flight change in Sri Lanka and another in Singapore. At the time it meant I was going to be hanging around for hours and hours waiting for my connections. Basically I started researching into Sri Lanka (to be honest I didn't really know anything about the country, only where it was!)

The more I researched, the more interested I became and discovered there are so many amazing and interesting things to see and do there. So the possibility of visiting there became more real, and to persuade me even further the flights through STA allowed me to stay in the country as long as I liked with no extra cost to the flights, so I gave them my dates and the rest is history, I’m now going to be adventuring around Sri Lanka and the same for Singapore! Admittedly the more I discover about the place the longer I want to stay there, but 10 days should give me a good taster!

The Intro . . .

Well this is the start of it all, not knowing what to expect, fulfilling things i have waited to do for a long time and embarking on an ever approaching adventure around the world. Memories are a great thing, so documenting those experiences will help to share them with everyone and bring them back to life later down the line when i look back on it all. So i’m going to join the blogging world and as you can see i have created this so i can keep everyone up to date with what i’m doing.

For me the thought of writing and writing.... and writing doesn’t appeal to me a great deal, i don’t mind doing it to an extent but i’m going to push the boat out a little and attempt to keep a VIDEO BLOG. The main reason behind that is i do video production for a living, so keeping the camera handy and capturing the moment should come naturally, i don't however do anything infront of the camera so thats the bit that will take some getting used to. I will still write about things and upload as many photos as possible, but the key element of this blog will be the raw video side of it, you will almost be there with me, experiencing the things i do and seeing the things i see!

My theory is: seeing what I’m up to will be a whole lot better than just reading what I’m up to, for you and me both! That way you’re not only going to be able to see what i’m doing and what i think but i’ll get other people involved along the way, getting them to share their experiences too. The reality of keeping this updated might not be as productive as I hope, i admit it’s a little ambitious, not just technologically but it’ll need a fair bit of time and dedication to keep it going, something i might not get as much of as i would like. Whatever the case, I’ll give it a good go!