Off to the Land of the Rising Sun for a Vacation...Geek Style!

[Jason Dunn]

<p><img border="1" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//zt/auto/1205991524.usr1.gif" alt="" /></p><p>Tomorrow, I&rsquo;m off to Japan for two weeks for a real, business-free vacation with Ashley (I'll be back in action on April 7th). It&rsquo;s going to be awesome! I tend not to get excited about vacations until right before they happen, so I&rsquo;m just starting to get excited. I&rsquo;m all geeked up, bringing:</p><ul> <li>&hellip;the XPS M1330 laptop for photo and video processing (gotta&rsquo; have some grunt for processing those raw files)</li> <li>&hellip;the Fujitsu P7010D for watching movies on</li> <li>&hellip;my Proporta battery for keeping the Fujitsu lasting that 11 hour flight</li> <li>&hellip;the Nikon D300 + four lenses (including my new ultra-sharp 24-70 f/2.8) + 32 GB CF card + 3 x 8 GB CF cards</li> <li>&hellip;the Canon SD 850 IS (with 8 GB microSD) for snapping casual pics and for videos (damn I wish it did HD videos - I don&rsquo;t want to bring my Canon HV20)</li> <li>&hellip;two Zunes 8&rsquo;s (one for the wife, one for me)</li> <li>&hellip;one pair of Ultimate Ears super.fi 5 EB&rsquo;s</li> <li>&hellip;a TomTom GPS (without maps, just for finding our way back to our starting point GPS coordinates - was going to bring the HP iPAQ GPS, but it crashed and that didn&rsquo;t make me feel very confident)</li> <li>&hellip;iGo Juice with several adaptors, PPC Techs Lil Sync Cable, Lil Sync Mobile USB Power Pack for charging everything</li> <li>My T-Mobile Dash, not to use as a phone, but to look up our travel schedule</li> <li>&hellip;a few assorted adaptors and cables</li></ul>Quick, I don&rsquo;t leave until tomorrow AM - did I miss anything? ;-)

[Tim Williamson]

Quick, I don’t leave until tomorrow AM - did I miss anything? ;-)

Passports? ;)

Have a great time!

[Rocco Augusto]

You're missing your Nintendo DS for mobile game playing :)

Have a great time! I won't throw any parties while you're gone! ;)

[David Tucker]

Have fun! Eat lots of pocky!

[yslee]

I'm going to disagree with your lenses. Are you going for a holiday or a photoshoot?

My personal belief is if it's a holiday where you want to experience the place it's best to travel light, not just with the camera, but with the mind. Trying to take good photos tends to take up a lot of brain activity...

[yslee]

Have fun! Eat lots of pocky!

Mmm, Pocky. That's something I haven't had for years. :P

[Arne Hess]

A UMTS smartphone? When my girlfriend was in Tokio last year, I gave her my HTC MTeOR and it worked perfect. :-)

Anyway, have fun and enjoy!

[David Tucker]

Mmm, Pocky. That's something I haven't had for years. :P

I have it all the time! :)

[Kacey Green]

Wow you're travelling heavy! This coming from a hardware geek too. :)

[bcre8v2]

I would almost suggest traveling lighter and buying cool gadgets in Japan that aren't otherwise available here {wink}.

Have a great trip!

Oh.... Will you be attending the Boston Red Sox season opener?

[Stinger]

Quick, I don’t leave until tomorrow AM - did I miss anything? ;-)

Travel insurance? ;)

[euromed]

how will you carry all those gadgets, you're incredible...

enjoy the holiday¡¡¡

[gasusan2006]

don't forget extra headphones for you and Ashley...

and since you won't be around next week (25th?)...

Happy Birthday!! :)

Have a GREAT trip!

Susan
aka gasusan2005 www.mobilitysite.com (http://www.mobilitysite.com)

(Hah! Thought you could get away without anybody saying something...

[Jason Dunn]

Passports?

Got 'em. My wife handles all the non-tech packing, I handle the tech stuff. :D

[The Yaz]

Jason,

Looks like you're gonna need to pack an E-Vest or jacket to properly carry all of your stuff! Between that and "the bag" you'll be locked and loaded...

Have a great trip!

Steve

[Darren Behan]

Enjoy your well deserved vacation!

db

[asif2020]

Have a good one mate!

[Jason Dunn]

You're missing your Nintendo DS for mobile game playing

Actually, that's one of the gadgets that I don't have - when I'm on a plane/train/whatever, I watch movies, read books, listen to music, write...but I don't game. I sometimes will load games on my laptop to play while on vacation, but I don't have a portable gaming unit. I keep thinking about buying one, probably a PSP, but then I remember it's a Sony product and I come to my senses. :D

[Jason Dunn]

I'm going to disagree with your lenses. Are you going for a holiday or a photoshoot?

I somehow knew you'd chime in. ;) For me, there are two types of vacations:

1) Relaxing, sit on the beach in Mexico vacations where you don't have much planned, and your absorption of the culture is like a slow seeping. On those vacations I don't take many pictures. Maybe 1000 or so. :D

or

2) High-activity, action-packed, invigorating exploration of the culture. There's not much lying around relaxing, it's about getting out and seeing different things, going to different places, and taking pictures of everything you can along the way. It pretty much is a photo shoot! I'll probably return with 3000 to 5000 photos initially, cull that down to 2000 pretty quick, and likely end up with 1000 or so keepers from the two weeks.

Japan is a #2 vacation - I have a tremendous respect and love for many aspects of Japanese culture and history, and I'm going there to spend two weeks awash in it. So for me, that means taking a lot of pictures and videos - capturing the essence of a place that I likely won't return to again in my lifetime. So, yes, that means packing my lenses - I don't want to be at a temple with my 24-70mm lens and be wishing I could take a wide-angle photo with my 12-24mm lens.

We're spending four days in Okinawa at the end, which is our relaxing beach portion...I won't be snapping many pictures when we're relaxing on the beach.

My personal belief is if it's a holiday where you want to experience the place it's best to travel light, not just with the camera, but with the mind. Trying to take good photos tends to take up a lot of brain activity...

Thank you Mr. Miyagi - I'll practise waxing on and off on the way there. :D We each have our own style of vacationing, and I've found that mine works great for me. I should point out, however, that that's all the gear that I'm bringing to Japan - it's CERTAINLY not all the gear I'm going to bring with me every time we go out of the condo/hotel...

[Jason Dunn]

A UMTS smartphone? When my girlfriend was in Tokio last year, I gave her my HTC MTeOR and it worked perfect. :-)

Would be nice if I had one, but I don't, so I'm going to rent a phone at the airport instead...maybe. Not too sure yet.

[Jason Dunn]

Wow you're travelling heavy! This coming from a hardware geek too. :)

Well, my wife is carrying some of the gear - I've got my camera bag and my laptop bag, but she's got one laptop, the Proporta battery, and a couple of other things. This is just the stuff we want to have with us when we're there, not the stuff we'll take with us every day.

[Jason Dunn]

I would almost suggest traveling lighter and buying cool gadgets in Japan that aren't otherwise available here {wink}.

Other than a Tamron 38mm to 300mm lens that I can't seem to get here yet, there's not much in the way of gadgets that I really need/want. But I am going to Akihabara, so you never know... :D

Oh.... Will you be attending the Boston Red Sox season opener?

What a strange question...no, I don't follow baseball. Is that some inside joke I'm not aware of? :o

[Jason Dunn]

don't forget extra headphones for you and Ashley...

Extra, you mean four sets total? You mean in case ours break? Hmm....I think we'll be ok. :)

and since you won't be around next week (25th?)...Happy Birthday!! :)

Thanks Susan! Hopefully even though I'm not here my team won't forget about my birthday. Haha. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Looks like you're gonna need to pack an E-Vest or jacket to properly carry all of your stuff!

Heh...I'm using a Skooba 17":

http://www.skoobadesign.com/product/skooba-seventeen-29/

Although not that new cool one, the older one. Damn, I really want that new black/red one, that's hot! Matches my Dell laptop too. :D

[Janak Parekh]

What a strange question...no, I don't follow baseball. Is that some inside joke I'm not aware of? :o The Red Sox will be playing the season opener in Japan (against the Oakland Athletics) in late March.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071114&content_id=2300048&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I wonder if it's sold out already, though I'm guessing Jason is not planning to go. ;)

--janak

[Darius Wey]

It pretty much is a photo shoot! I'll probably return with 3000 to 5000 photos initially, cull that down to 2000 pretty quick, and likely end up with 1000 or so keepers from the two weeks.

Great time of the year to go. Sakura makes for great shots. :)

[DaleReeck]

I'm going to disagree with your lenses. Are you going for a holiday or a photoshoot?

My personal belief is if it's a holiday where you want to experience the place it's best to travel light, not just with the camera, but with the mind. Trying to take good photos tends to take up a lot of brain activity...

I agree, take one good walkaround, like an 18-200 if you got it. That's save you some serious weight.

[k_kirk]

Wondeful! Have a great vacation. You might want to take a copy of H&H Japan2Go... http://www.hnhsoft.com/jtgpbook on one of your PocketPCs. I have used this software with great success on a number of trips and would very much recommend it to any alien traveling to Japan.

[Rocco Augusto]

Actually, that's one of the gadgets that I don't have - when I'm on a plane/train/whatever, I watch movies, read books, listen to music, write...but I don't game. I sometimes will load games on my laptop to play while on vacation, but I don't have a portable gaming unit. I keep thinking about buying one, probably a PSP, but then I remember it's a Sony product and I come to my senses. :D

You should get a Nintendo DS, they're fun. I mostly use mine now for all of the cool homebrew apps (who doesn't love Nethack?!) but I recently picked up the new Zelda game and the new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and both have been hours upon hours of amusement :)

[Pete Paxton]

What? No iPhone? JK:) Have a great trip!

[Steven Cedrone]

Have a great trip Jason! :)

[marlof]

Have a great trip. And you're not exactly telling the truth: when you were in Amsterdam, you were already excited that you were going on this trip. ;-)

My only advise would be to leave the Dell at home. I find it's a waste of time spending time behind a computer when in a totally new environment. It keeps me from absorbing that environment. But hey, if your style suits you better, more power to you.

I'll keep an eye on your smugmug site for images. And yes, I hope you'll have a great Bday there.

[felixdd]

Isn't technology and convergence supposed to make you pack lighter Jason? :P.

[Adam Krebs]

Have a great trip, Jason! Make sure to take some background-able pictures!

[Arne Hess]

Would be nice if I had one, but I don't, so I'm going to rent a phone at the airport instead...maybe. Not too sure yet.
Ouch... :-( Well, any UMTS phone with European (2100 MHz) frequency would be fine but I think my reply comes to late...
Anyway - enjoy... Japan is a great place but AFAIK Akihabara is overrated... That's what expats told me...

[burtcom]

Have some Gyoza and tempura

/enjoy!

[LordFuzzy]

Dont forget your Chargers. I went on a week long vacation and forgot my charger for my cellphone (ATT Tilt). I made it down there and spent 4 days without my phone. Must of gone to 10 stores and never found a charger. And extra batteries...

[Jason Dunn]

I agree, take one good walkaround, like an 18-200 if you got it. That's save you some serious weight.

I have the 18-200, and it is indeed a great walkaround lens, but it's not great in low-light situations. I brought along my 1.8 50mm, which is so light it weighs nothing...but my new 24-70mm lens weighs a LOT....yet how could I NOT bring my wicked-sharp lens?? :D And then my 12-24mm Tokina - yeah, the 18mm on the 18-200 might have been good enough, but why take the chance of not having a lens that's 50% wider? I'm planning on visiting temples, shrines, castles...it's important to have a variety of lenses I think.

[Jason Dunn]

My only advise would be to leave the Dell at home. I find it's a waste of time spending time behind a computer when in a totally new environment.

What I did in Amsterdam for the first few days was process my day's shooting at the end of the night before going to bed - that helps me to avoid getting backlogged. It worked fine until we went to the zoo and I shot 1000+ pictures...but for the most part I think it's a good idea.

I'm not checking work email while on vacation, and with the exception of this thread, I'm not going to be checking in on the sites either. I really do want to be completely on vacation. :D

(the other laptop is for watching movies on...long story about batteries, external batteries, adaptors, and airplane power plugs as to why we brought TWO laptops)

[Jason Dunn]

Anyway - enjoy... Japan is a great place but AFAIK Akihabara is overrated... That's what expats told me...

Yeah, we're going there because it's close to some other stuff we're seeing, but I could take it or leave it based on what I've heard - but I might as well go since I'm in Japan. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Dont forget your Chargers.

Oh yeah, got that covered six ways from Sunday. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Ok, I'm going to enjoy Japan now and won't be checking in on this thread again until I return. Watch my blog for updates (http://www.jasondunn.com) if you want to follow my Japanese Journey. :)

[SassKwatch]

<ul> <li>&hellip;the Nikon D300 + four lenses (including my new ultra-sharp 24-70 f/2.8) + 32 GB CF card + 3 x 8 GB CF cards</li></ul>

Do you really expect to utilize all that flash storage space? Given that you'll have a laptop (presumably offloading each day's images to it), that seems like an overabundance.(??) Nothing wrong with that, of course....it's certainly lightweight and next to nothing in terms of space taking.

I guess I'm a dinosaur. I generally have a 2GB microdrive in my camera, shoot exclusively RAW and never fill it up in a shooting session. In fact, I start getting nervous when it gets much over half full as I start worrying about the portable media crashing and burning, and losing everything. Even on a trip such as yours, I suspect I wouldn't carry much more than maybe 4 2gb cards. That does assume I have the ability to offload each day's shots that evening.

[Tim Williamson]

Next week I'm off to DC for two weeks and am taking my couple year-old Gateway laptop, Canon EOS 10D (512MB CF, 3 lenses, 3 batteries), and Canon SD870IS (1GB SD and 1 battery). Planning to offload and filter through the images each night, and if I get a chance, clean-up and upload the good ones to Flickr (as an additional backup).

I might have to start my own topic to compete with this thread. :)

[Jason Dunn]

Do you really expect to utilize all that flash storage space?

Nah, not at all. It's just that's where I happen to keep my flash memory for cameras, so they came along for the ride. There was exactly ONE day in Japan where I had to swap out the 8 GB Delkin for the 8 GB Transcend. I shot with the 32 GB for the first couple of days but found it was a bit slower when I was reviewing/deleting the image on-camera, so I switched to the faster cards.

I guess I'm a dinosaur. I generally have a 2GB microdrive in my camera, shoot exclusively RAW and never fill it up in a shooting session.

Microdrives, in my experience at least, have a higher chance of failure, are slower, and are harder on the battery life than Flash memory - and with Flash memory prices being what they are, you could probably pick up a 2 GB CF card for $20.

Even on a trip such as yours, I suspect I wouldn't carry much more than maybe 4 2gb cards. That does assume I have the ability to offload each day's shots that evening.

Yeah, I was off-loading to the laptop every night and also making a copy to an external hard drive I brought along - I always had two copies of my pictures. Oh, and the processed photos trickled back to one computer at home via FolderShare. :D

It's good to home...I'm still in a time-zone daze, but am recovering. :)

PS - I'll be doing a "geek analysis" of all the gear I brought, explaining how it performed, what I would/wouldn't bring again, etc. I think you'll find it interesting!