No access to e-mail or web.
see you in two weeks.Moishe's going to miss you.
He's going to ask for you constantly , said Sarah in the car on the way to the airport.
Tell him daddy's on safari to get him pictures of buses and trucks , was my response.
As you probably know my last trip to Pakistan two years ago was a photo bonanza.
I took almost a thousand photos and really learned a lot about my camera. I learned a couple of great lessons, including:
- At my skill level you don't always know when there's an amazing photo in front of you, just shoot a lot and sort it out later. One of the was taken on a whim when I happened to wander into the back hallways of the Great Mosque in Lahore.
- Always shoot, even when the subject isn't really right, especially when shooting people candidly. I took at a protest at Jinnah's tomb. Though my subject wasn't entirely in the frame, I really liked how it turned out and have come to love it for the combination of flags and protester.
My Canon Digital Rebel, which is a 6.3 megapixel digital Single Lens Reflex. I use the stock lens because it's pretty good, but occasionally drop in the telephoto.
A big difference this year is that I'm going to shoot exclusively in RAW mode instead of JPGs. I've picked up the for downloading and manipulating my images before cutting them to JPGs. I'm very excited about the potential for really improving my photos.
It uses Compact Flash cards, and I've got two 2GB cards on me, and a laptop to back them up to. For lighting situations I have a Speedlite 550. I'm still learning how to use it.
(As an aside, isn't that awesome? I love learning how to use my gear. I'll probably be on my deathbed at the age of 80 admiring the functions on my new cellphone.
..)
There's actually a newer version of this camera out, but honestly, I haven't hit the edges of performance for this camera yet, so it would be stupid to upgrade.
This is a new addition to my arsenel. I really wanted a small camcorder because I feel that I'm missing opportunities for some things that can only be captured via video. In addition because of YouTube, hosting video won't cost me a dime.
I picked this up at RadioShack for $200, which is the way low end for a camcorder. The device is tiny, about the size of a deck of cards and uses SD cards for storage. I have three 1GB SD cards, and I am able to store 40 minutes of video on each.
I'm also carrying an iGO Juice. This is one of those Universal Power supplies that has interchangeable parts for charging everything I carry including cellphones, camcorders, laptops, iPods and a bunch of things I'm not carrying. It's really well designed.
On one end of the device you have an appropriate power cord. I'm carrying the cords for American outlets, European outlets, cigarette lighters, and inflight Empower plugs. On the other end I've got these little interchangable tips that you buy for every new device you get.
When I bought the Sanyo camcorder abvoe, I immediately tossed the power brick that came with it into a drawer, found the right iGo tip to charge it up, and saved myself a pound of weight in my pack. It's awesome.
Brookstone Noise Cancelling Headphones with iPod Shuffle Dock
I've got the headphones I purchased on the last trip with a Shuffle stuck in it with Tom Waits' new three disc set loaded up.
I love the fact that these are cordless. It really makes it easier to deal with. Sadly they don't appear to make them anymore.
The one great flaw in my packing has been my decision to not include my camera case. I felt it was bulky, and that my gear would be just fine wrapped in clothes in my backpack. That has since proven false as my telephoto lens and flash are bouncing around my backpack.
Nothing will get broken because I'll be extra gentle, but it's still a pretty idiotic oversight.
Ah, this is the life.
26 hours.From start to finish, I'll be traveling 26 hours. It was this thinking, among others, that Traveling business class (there is no first class on PIA) is like hanging around a lot of people with disposable income who aren't rich enough to allow anyone to forget the price of the ticket. If you're super rich, you never see an airport lounge.
Instead your limo rolls up on the tarmac to your jet and you get in. If you're merely rich instead of super-rich, to your NetJet, which is sort of like a FlexCar for private planes.
Sarah agreed though to allow me to spend a little extra money and not fly coach, and when I roll into JFK and am given the business class lounge entry card, I see where that money went.
Flat screen tvs everywhere, a conference room, and special Internet kiosks are everywhere. There's an extremely fast wifi network (SSID: SwissLounge , password a1a1a1a1a1 ) and newspapers from every conceivable place on the planet.
Oh, did I mention a full bar, an espresso machine, and a buffet meal being served?
How could I forget...
Sarah calls me and I tell her I'm spending the next weeks here, this place is stocked better than our house.
I love you, but I think I need to see other people. Brown people, specifically.
In just about 6 hours I'll be sitting on a plane beginning my 26 hour journey to Karachi, Pakistan. Don't feel too sorry for me though, I'm not flying coach. And I'm flying alone for the trip there.
Upon arrival I'll be with my sisters, her three kids under 10, an armed guard, my dad, his wife, and a coach driver for 14 days. I will most certainly not be getting any alone time, and I'm not in the habit of wandering alone on the streets of a country where Daniel Pearl got kidnapped. So I'm looking forward to some time by myself.
I've been packing all week, and making lists in my head of what I want to bring back for a month. I'm not going to be back in Pakistan for a long time, so I'm pretty conscious of my last opportunity to see people and places on this trip. Prime on the list is the Khyber Pass, which has long been the only way to get between Pakistan and Afghanistan unless you happen to have a friendly Pashto guide.
When I come home, I'll be one of the few people you've ever met who's ever been to Afghanistan, even if it's only for an hour.
I'm going to a Muslim country, so in my last 12 hours I hung out with friends, watched some lascivious television, drank a bottle of wine, ate some bacon. I wanted to smoke a cigar but never really got the chance.
I could smoke one in Pakistan, but my father's an oncologist, and I don't really need to push his buttons.
If I get wifi anytime soon, I'll post my diaries here and my photos to flickr. Otherwise you'll have to wait for my return.
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