Just interested in those who travel without a camera and why.
Reply to this - Only when I've had it stolen! I love travelling for the opportunities it gives me to write, but I also love taking pictures. Perhaps for people who travel to, say, trek or meditate, photos aren't as important to the experience?
Reply to this Hello Ben 😊
I travel without a camera.
4 reasons
My photos never look like I want then to. They just dont capture what I am looking at and how I feel about it.
Without a camera and other valuables I am less likely to be robbed.
I have lost and damaged a lot of my travel souvineers while moving house. Photos are just more stuff to get lost and damaged in transit.
I dont have much trouble remembering my travels even without photos to look at.
Mel
Reply to this Bedreddin (url?) doesn't have photos on his blog, but he writes so well that he gives a much better impression of the places he goes to than most people who do have cameras.
Reply to this I always take my camera.
But I hiked to the top of Mt Machu Picchu a few weeks ago with a guy from Australia who doesn't own one. He had been traveling around India about ten years ago, and the bag that had some 15 rolls of exposed film got stolen. The experience just killed his willingness to bother with the whole thing. Morever, he said he never goes back and looks at the photos he has taken, so no point.
Having said that, as soon as the clouds broke and revealed the citadel of Machu Picchu far below, he quickly went digging through his daypack to pull out his cell phone and snap off a few pics 😊
-Tony
Reply to this Never with out camera!
I love taking photo for my memories and to show at my frinds when I return home.
Giulia
Reply to this I never travel without a camera, but sometimes I'll put it away and just sit there soaking things up.
I find the photos actually take me back to a place better if I've done that, rather than just 'snap and move on'.
Reply to this Next to my passport, a camera is the most important travelling item in my possession. I would never consider going anywhere without it, and have even planned my travels around purchase of new camera equipment so that I can get the most out of every journey.
There are some days where my camera never leaves my bag – I am content just to sit, observe and think - but this is not the norm. My camera is a great creative outlet. The composition and creation of a great photo is akin to finding the most appropriate and descriptive words for a travel experience, and they combine to be a most satisfying and fulfilling pursuit.
Reply to this hear hear!! Camera is top priority! Probably more than my passport if theyd let me, haha! I love looking back on all my photos and the memories they bring. But then im a part time photographer so probaby quite biased!
Reply to this i would die if i lost my camera while travelling.. i always see posters all over tourist areas from people looking for their lost stolen cameras...i feel soo sad for them😞
Reply to this Did it many times. I did my first round the world when I was 28 years old...didn't take one with me and loved it. Yes it is weird to go to places like Bora Bora or Match Pichu or Rio and not even take a pic...but hey, the best part of it is that you stay focus on what you see, and not what you may bring back. My Mum nearly killed me for that, but that's ok, we are great friends!
So love to do it without the pics, but love to do it also with the pics!
Reply to this I think there are two types of photographs - the ones that we take with cameras for posterity, and the ones that we take with our eyes, the moments that stay with us whether or not we can see them again on a computer screen or in a frame.
The people on TravelBlog don't seem to like my pictures, but I think I'm pretty good at lining up interesting shots that illustrate my stories. But the images that reflect my - our - travel experiences can't be taken with a camera - they're just snapshots of people and scenes that very few photographers are talented enough to do justice to.
Reply to this Well, I like your pictures Jonathan! If I look at a photo and think "I have to go there one day" or if my emotions are stirred by an image, then that is the highest honour a photographer can receive. Your photos of the Ukraine more than pique my interest in that country - and that is as much as anyone can ask of a photograph - giving someone another does of
wanderlust!
The same goals of
wanderlust and emotion applies to someone's writings as well - however, since this thread is only about cameras and photogaphy, I'll limit my thoughts for the moment.
Reply to this I expected to see a few more people saying that they traveled without a camera. Having said that, from the few people I've met who travel without a camera most of them wouldn't look at a travelblog website either!
Personally I take very few photo's while traveling. When I started traveling I took lots of photo's but then the more I traveled the less and less I took. I was disappointed with my photos (although that's because I'm not a very good photographer) but more so dissapointed with how much effort I spent taking photos instead of enjoying the moment.
I think there are two types of photographs - the ones that we take with cameras for posterity, and the ones that we take with our eyes, the moments that stay with us whether or not we can see them again on a computer screen or in a frame.
Sometimes I felt like I was having "one of those moments" but all I could think was "I need to take a photo of this". Like a need to capture that perfect moment, like a need to pin it down. Which is ridiculous. Instead of feeling it I was trying to capture it. So I basically gave up on photography and loved all those moments all the more. I think next time I go away I won't take a camera. Having said that I've just spent the last few days selecting a hundred or so of my favourite photo's to stick up all across my living room wall.
And Jonathan, your photo's of Ukraine are really good. I does make me want to go back there and see more of the country.
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