Two more weeks until America – and a bit of miscellaneous rambling

In two weeks from today, we’ll be arriving in the States. I can’t wait.

There’s a ton of work to be done between now and then, including wrapping up a lot of work and this little detail of moving condos. We’re probably completely insane, but we’ll be moving to a new condo only three days before flying out for the summer. Needless to say, I’ve been quite busy lately.

While considering our flight halfway around the world and all of the packing involved, I’m striving to stay well under weight with baggage. One of the items I really need but am not sure I can bring is my Manfrotto Tripod and Manfrotto Joystick Head. It’s a fantastic tripod and very necessary for our travels in the States, but I chose weight and stability over portability when I purchased it. I’m pondering the idea of just purchasing a stable yet cheap tripod that I can just leave in the States full time so I don’t have to deal with this anymore.

This also brings me to the point of increased restrictions on carry-on luggage. With my photo equipment and my Apple 17″ MacBook Pro, I’m well above Singapore Airlines’ carry on allowance. The only thing that saves me is letting them know there’s a laptop in my backpack. How do traveling photographers deal with this dilemma on a regular basis? Sure I can leave a bunch of lenses behind, but in 8 weeks of holiday, I DO actually use them all.

This trip we’ve cut the travel time from an absurd 46 hours in 2008 (multiple layovers including a very lengthy Singapore stop), to a much more lean 25 hours. In 2008 I literally slept about 3 hours in those 46 hours. After running myself down like that I immediately got a nasty cold upon arrival in the States. This should be cake in comparison.

Also, I’m so much more pleased flying Singapore Air than many of the U.S. run airlines. I find the entire experience to be far superior, even in cattle class.

We’re going to try something new this trip – flying direct into NYC instead of Michigan. My father will drive to NYC to pick us up and we’re tentatively planning to tour New England for a week or so. I’ve never been in that part of the U.S. (Odd that I’ve been across 4 continents but not much of my own country). I hope to find some interesting photos as a stranger in my own country.

After that we’ll head to Michigan for a week or so, followed by some time spent in Tennessee on the lake, and possibly a trip to Florida. It’s looking like the trip out West we had initially planned will have to wait.

It’s been a great year professionally in Manila with lots of great experiences and a fantastic group of coworkers, but man oh man, is it time for a break.