Traveling to Europe with your digital camera?

Written by Doug Rogers


The Vacation Season is fast approaching and naturally you will be taking your digital camera along forrepparttar journey. After all your vacations are far and few between and it is nice to look back on those memories as you slave away at your job. However, when you travel with a digital camera, it is a completely different experience from that of traveling with a film camera. This is a lesson that far too many travelers seem to be learningrepparttar 135359 hard way, especially if you’re traveling to Europe. After a couples years of relying mostly on digital for taking photos when I travel, there are things you should consider before you head off on your next trip.

Charging Batteries is one ofrepparttar 135360 biggest stumbling blocks you'll face when you travel. Outlets can be scarce in hotels. On a recent trip to Europe, only one ofrepparttar 135361 five modern hotels I stayed in had more than one outlet available for use when charging up electronics. Charging your battery can be more of a hassle if you're traveling by train: If you take an overnight train in Europe, they don't have power adapters atrepparttar 135362 seats (certain trains do, but it's not something you can count on). I suggest bringing at least two rechargeable batteries, three if you plan to travel with overnight trains, or don't think you'll be able to charge every night. If your camera uses regular AA batteries, consider yourself lucky-you'll find those everywhere. Scope outrepparttar 135363 situation in your room when you check in: You should get at least one usable outlet, but don't count on more than that.

Bring your plugs. Some digital cameras typically come with a power brick that can handle international voltages, so you won't need a voltage adapter. However, you will need a power plug adapter to convert a US outlet plug torepparttar 135364 local plug. Most of Europe is onrepparttar 135365 same outlet now-but not all countries acceptrepparttar 135366 general "Europe" plug. Be sure to research what you'll need to jack in, and try to buy it before you leave (try CompUSA, Radio Shack, Rand McNally, or your local luggage store). If you don't have a chance to get what you need Stateside, don't fret: You should have no trouble finding an outlet converter overseas.

How do I offload my images? For fellow travelers using digicams, this wasrepparttar 135367 number one problem I have heard repeatedly. Many comments from folks traveling for a week or more are: "I'm taking more pictures than I expected to." "I'm not shooting atrepparttar 135368 best resolution, because I needrepparttar 135369 room on my memory card." "I'm only halfway through my trip, and I have only 50 shots left." When you travel, odds are you'll take more pictures than you expect to also. A 1 GB card is very useful, and should suffice for low-usage shooters. But for those of us, who can go through a gigabyte or more in a day, not a week? Whether it's because your a high-volume shooter, shooting in RAW format, or a combination ofrepparttar 135370 two. What I discovered is many who had digital SLRs, that had 5 megapixel or more reported they were traveling with a laptop to off load their images. None of these folks were traveling on business, so they didn't need to bring a laptop along. The sad fact is, for now, a laptop remainsrepparttar 135371 most efficient and usable means of off loading images. Epson and Nikon have dedicated

The Florida Keys

Written by Clint Leung


When people ask aboutrepparttar top sights to see inrepparttar 135358 south Florida area including Fort Lauderdale and Miami, I always advise them to try and make some time to go down torepparttar 135359 Florida Keys. The Florida Keys arerepparttar 135360 string of islands just south ofrepparttar 135361 Florida mainland and runs 120 miles from end to end. Fort Lauderdale and Miami are fun but for a relaxing change of pace,repparttar 135362 Florida Keys isrepparttar 135363 place to be. For snorkellers and scuba divers going to south Florida, I would consider Florida Keys a must. The waters around Key Largo are a protected marine park with a very healthy fish life and offerrepparttar 135364 best diving inrepparttar 135365 US. Key Largo isrepparttar 135366 first town as you enterrepparttar 135367 Keys after crossingrepparttar 135368 bridge fromrepparttar 135369 mainland. It can be reached from Miami in an hour and from Fort Lauderdale in an hour and 45 minutes. Oncerepparttar 135370 bridge fromrepparttar 135371 mainland is crossed,repparttar 135372 change in pace is noticed immediately. There is much less traffic and people just seem more relaxed inrepparttar 135373 Florida Keys compared torepparttar 135374 mainland.

Key Largo isrepparttar 135375 main scuba diving town with many dive shops. There is even an underwater hotel with two guestrooms for adventurous types. This was a former marine research unit that was converted torepparttar 135376 hotel. Islamorada and Marathon located more west are also top scuba dive locations. For those who are not into diving, there are numerous shops with colorful local arts and crafts. One collection of shops has a giant statue of a spiny lobster out in front. For more fun, there are two dolphin centers, one in Key Largo and another near Marathon where visitors can interact with captive dolphins. Dolphin programs should actually be booked well in advance since they are extremely popular.

There are sign markers alongrepparttar 135377 main US number 1 highway that mark each mile alongrepparttar 135378 120 mile route. Most addresses inrepparttar 135379 Florida Keys alongrepparttar 135380 main highway will actually refer to which mile marker they are located near. It's a very efficient way to navigate. It takes about 3 hours to drive from Key Largo torepparttar 135381 far end at Key West but more than likely, visitors would want to stop off at numerous locations alongrepparttar 135382 way for shopping, photo opportunities or just admiringrepparttar 135383 scenery. The scenery gets better as one heads out more west, especially nearrepparttar 135384 bridges that connectrepparttar 135385 islands. A common sight to see are locals fishing offrepparttar 135386 bridges and numerous pelicans standing onrepparttar 135387 posts like permanent fixtures. One ofrepparttar 135388 most spectacular sights isrepparttar 135389 seven mile bridge which isrepparttar 135390 world's longest segmented bridge.

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