Frequently Asked Questions

Below are the answers to some of the frequently asked questions that I've received during the last few years. Please feel free to contact me if you a question that's not answered below.

Photography Questions

What type of camera and photo equipment do you use?

Most of the images on my website were shot using a Canon EOS-3 camera with 28-135mm and 100-300mm lenses. The Canon EOS-3 is a mid-range film SLR that was introduced about five years ago, so it's no longer state-of-the-art but still provides great images. The Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 is a great all-around lens for a wide range of situations and lighting conditions. The 100-300mm f/5.6 telephoto zoom lens is a little bulkier to carry around but very useful in situations where you can't get close to your subject (like that leopard in Africa).

I primarily use Fuji Provia 100F and Fuji Velvia color slide film, which is largely responsible for the color quality and saturation of the images on my website. I generally prefer Provia 100F because Velvia colors can be too saturated for some situations (portraits) and the film is very slow at ISO 50. Provia is a better all-around film, still provides great colors, and you can even push it two stops to ISO 400 for low light situations. If you haven't tried these slide films before, I would highly recommend them.

I recently purchased a small Canon S400 digital camera for family snapshots and situations were I didn't want to carry a heavy SLR. So far, I've been very happy with the quality of the digital images. All of the photos from my recent trips to Morocco, Peru and Ethiopia were shot using the Canon S400.

Did you have any photography training?

I've never had any formal photography training, although I did read a few basic photography books before leaving on my trip. I believe the best way to learn is just to take a lot of pictures (easier these days with digital cameras) - keep the ones you like, delete the ones you don't, and over time learn what works best for you.

Travel Questions

How much does a trip around the world cost?

The cost of extended travel is probably less than you'd imagine. Although it varied from country to country, I spent on average $1000 per month for all my travel expenses including accommodations, food, local transportation, and all activities (such as trekking in Nepal or scuba diving in Thailand). This was a "backpacker" budget, so I wasn't staying in 4-star hotels, though I was living quite comfortably in some parts of the world.

India and Nepal are the cheapest places to travel and you can get by comfortably on $500 per month. Southeast Asia is also very affordable and very easy to travel around because of the established budget traveler infrastructure. Europe is probably the most expensive but I still kept my budget to around $1000/month by staying in hostels and eating at McDonald's (compared to my own bungalow on the beach and three restaurant meals a day for the same budget in Thailand!). Africa can also be surprisingly expensive, though it's also possible to do it fairly cheap if you're willing to sacrifice a fair amount of comfort. South America varies by region: the Andean countries (Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, etc) are quite affordable while Brazil, Argentina, and Chile are more expensive but still reasonable.

The Round-the-World Travel Guide is an excellent resource providing detailed information about costs, transportation, health and many other important issues.

Where can I buy cheap airline tickets?

Bucket shops and airline consolidators provide some great deals on around the world airfares. Would you believe you can buy an around the world ticket for $1000?

Personal Questions

Has the experience changed you as a person?

Now for the difficult question: has the experience changed me as a person? I think that the best advice I can offer is to start a trip like this is with no expectations about how it will impact you. I certainly didn't have any single moment of epiphany although over the course of two years I did change and evolve in many ways. And the two years I spent traveling were without doubt among the best of my life.