Any of you using DSLR camera tend to bring tripod along? Still think whether i shud bring full-length tripod or just bring a small flexi tripod for my solo trip.

Very troublesome to bring it around but really really need it when taking low light shot.

i hav a tip for female travellers.. i got this from a fellow air stewardess friend.

it's for ladies who wants to bring more than 1 handbag outstation ! to save space in your luggage, u can put all ur skincare and cosmetics into the extra handbag that u are bringing wit u in the luggage.

It is really a tough choice. Being a wise photographer, you have to decide what would u want to take today/this trip, unless u dont mind to carry everything on you. So, it is really your own choice.

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Added on April 22, 2009, 3:19 pmI have a tip for hotel stay too. Make sure you book the 'non-smoking' floor if you are a non-smoker. This is why:

Usually there are not more than 2 floors out of the xxth floors of the hotel. Usually a floor for low-rated rooms and another for high-rated rooms. Last year I booked a room on the NS floor, but upon check in they cant find a room booked under my name althought they verified my booking ID and the staff was sweating and dunno what to do. So i tried to be polite for a while and then I raised my voice for a little higher, immediately Im being put on top of the higher rated NS floor and I get to stay at the best room of the hotel on the NS floor cos most of the other lower rated rooms were fully booked.

I managed to stay in that corner room with great view for many nights by only paying the promotional rate of a 3 star hotel on a 5 stars hotel

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Added on April 22, 2009, 3:29 pmThere are many types of waist pouches nowadays which comes in nude (skin) colour, sweat(water-proof)-free design, light and thin, for travelers to wear close to your body (neck/breast/waist). it is best to be carry all of your important personal belongs, especially passport.

2) It is best to have a copy of all of your personal ID, especially passports of you and your family, wedding certificates, child birth cert., at least 2 photos of each travelers, as well as a copy of all credit cards that is coming with you in the trip. I usually make two sets of these info before travel into small plastic zipped bags. One in the backpack on board and one in the luggage shippped. This is to avoid hassle if you have accident/lost of PP during the journey.

3) Make sure you know all local info/language to any emergency helps: eg police, hospital, embassy in foreign language, even your home country's name, Malaysia, Asia, etc... It sounds and written in different way.

To travel meaning to have an opened minded heart and mind )






This post has been edited by secretsquirrel: Apr 22 2009, 03:29 PM

guys.. how do you pass the time when u spend like 20 hours in a plane?? can share? and what should i pack in the cabin bag besides extra clothing, camera and laptop.. should i pack snacks? meds? books? anything important i left out?

A few humble experiences I would like to share :

NOTE: These are not paranoid steps but rather cautious steps. Cautious-do this in case something happens. Paranoid-something bad is happening.

i) Roll your clothes to save space and put fragile products in between the cloth(rolled up) rather than between clothes . This way you save space and your clothes act as a plastic bag of some sort

ii)Be wary of ANY help from people in any situation. I think another forumer also touched on this. Human altruism does NOT exist in airports.lol. Always reject politely whenever someone offers some help especially if its' regarding your luggage transportation

iii)Do always keep your luggage near you-at all times. Even when you are getting a cup of coffee, do not put it beside you,put it opposite you(on a seat prefably) where you can see. I can attest to this, lots of my friends and friends of friends have had their hand luggage stolen while they were reading a book or talking because they put their luggage on the side of a arm chair.

iv)Be wary also of any inquiries. Let me share something with you, while I was at the airport going to Bora Bora Islands,,this guy came up to me and started asking me about terminals. I of course peered at his ticket to see the terminal number. While doing so I could feel a slight tug...almost unnoticable..I turned around and saw someone reaching into my pockets. BEWARE: pickpockets DO NOT act alone!!! Thank god my wallet or passport wans't stolen.

v)NO expensive gadgets for short term trips-not worth it. Keep your Apple Mac and etc at home. Only things you truly need for short term trips (e.g. 4 days in new york)- passport,cash,debit card and phone. Another experience: while staying at an inn during my stay in Times Square-these few party animals came bk at 4.30 am. I awoke a bit due to the noise when I heard one of them say, " Hey dudes take the computer now" . Another said,"Where is it?" Then another said,"It's in the bag" Luckily,they were too drunk, if they had come closer to my bunk I would have confronted them. So even if it's a short trip-leave your laptop etc at home unless necessary.

vi)Mugging-yes I have been mugged once. Again luckily, it was only 10 bucks after I had spent all my cash on watching the Wicked musical. hoho But yeah, ppl in NY are less likely to help when you are getting mugged,,,,so basically if you are a tourist-call the cops if you really want to report but honestly, if you are spending like a week there nothing much can be done tbh. I just shrugged my 10 bucks off and took a good night rest.

vii)DO not try to fight back. It will not end nicely. These are foreign streets my friend,you might beat them up but trust me the rest of your holiday week is gonna be paranoid like hell=watchinge very corner is some gang is gonna jump on you. Be wise and not foolish

viii)Be VERY WARY of BLACK ppl in the states. okay,I know I am going to get some bashing for saying this but as I quote Russel Peters, "I don't make the stereotypes,I see them" Please my friends, I am not a racist and I think the black community is very talented and contributes to society actually-but there is the other end who have grown up in bad sociological conditions and thus act out this way. I am NOT blaming the race but their sociological conditions.

a)I once saw a group of black kids trying to "sell" their album. they asked for donation for change konon. So I gave them 10-the cd was 2 bucks. Straight after handing them the 10 they said,,,oh you know we need the donations for our album-ok basically,they kept the whole 10 bucks. I then asked a New Yorker and he said these ppl are everywhere. they will ask for some cash for change but will not give change but keep everything. Be careful and just politely reject and move on from street sellers

b)Again,,had to be black. Me and my friend were touring the south-we were at Memphis Music fest when this black guy said he could help with directions. So of course, we asked where the Fall Out Boy stage was at, he said he needed some change first before he could tell us the directions. My friend gave him 20-his only dollar and the guy suddenly said,"Oh i'm homeless dude,I gotta keep this 20 for my wife and family". He then proceeded to walk away.

c)My friend went New York-also got mugged by group of 5 black guys. Oh btw, the earlier mugging of mine was a group of 3 black guys.

d)My roommate,Sean, went to Florida for Spring holidays. Black man came up to him to ask for a cigaratte,Sean obliged but after that, the black guy asked if he wanted to do Coke-he could sell.

e)Similar incident,,I tried a cuban cigar..while walking down Times Square a black guy came up to me and asked if I would like drugs-he could get it for me.

f)final bad experience with black person on street-I was walking home one late night alone when these few black guys walking the opposite way looked at me and one of em took out a knife. I am not lying or exaggerating. I quickly went into the nearest restaurant just before crossing their path.

These all are true recounts of my traveling life-although I have been to NY like 12 times and always partied until 3 so maybe the probability of these bad experiences are more. Of course I know plenty of friends who have gone and came back all mug free.

Again, I am not trying to instill fear or paranoia-just caution. I actually have lots of black friends in my uni which I am studying at right now. Just be wary of people who live on the streets and take desperate measures to get cash-it's a normal human survival trait.

I say black because of all my travel experiences-I have yet to be mugged or scammed on the street by an Asian,Latino or White.

Can anyone give me some advice or can recommend me a hotel/B&B in Venice and Paris?
I am looking for a hotel/B&B nearby Metro in Paris?any suggestion

maybe any of you can share your experience if you've been to these places.
was thinking of somewhere to stay not to expensive,clean and convenient...

cheers

hihi...your avatar pic is estella?

anyone knoe how to call bac Malaysia from switzerland? any cheapest way?

hii..I'll be go oversea to further my studies soon..i wish to know..for multivitamins...flax seed oil etc...as i bought a few glass bottle( 5 in total for half year supplement) of it...may i know i should put them in handcarry or check in luggage?

and am i allowed to take out those vitamins and put them in other plastic ware as it save some weight..

thanks

Im going to UK soon to study . Anyone knows that what stuff is illegal . in terms of illegal stuff i meant softwares in laptop . Do they check ?? if yes how??

Because i have loads of Animes that i want to bring over there. Might save them in a hard disk to prevent from checking.

I want to be more careful because i don't want because of animes i got sent back -.-

they wont check whats inside ur lappy. Just dont bring drug and alcohol that more than a limit..

but my fren's sister cant get thru the immigrations when they found out she's using a pirated copied microsoft office .. LOL..

then do they check your hard disk ?

nope ,as i remembered..But hard to say.

emmm
wanna ask

wat limit ??

i plan to bring some antibiotic... sorethroat pill.... panadol when i go to france this coming tuesday
is it allowed?

small amount allowed inflight..
but if large amount better put in check in luggage..

em

lets say got 10 pills... if i put in check in luggage... need to inform them i bring in medicine aka drugs?
hehe

and the 100 ml liquid restriction is just for hand carry bag right ??

check in luggage no restriction ?
plan to bring shampoo.. body shower gel....

This post has been edited by kueks: Oct 12 2009, 02:11 PM

if off the shelf drugs & 10 pills no need..

yes 100ml liquid restriction is strictly followed..
they will ask you to place it in a bin before boarding if found on you at the security checkpoint..

check in luggage no restriction.. i had a shoe bag full of toiletries and all was intact when i arrived at my destination..

when go to pulau perhentian / pulau rendang?
which beautiful??
wah i alway see pic there very nice. hope can go there next year haha...

add something from page 1.

1. DO NOT leave your electronic gadgets e.g. iphone, ipod, camera, laptop in the room even it is still charging or no battery. You bring them over and you should carry them all the way

The followings are always told by my mom and I always followed it:

1. When sleeping, put your wallet and passport under your pillow (Just don't forget next day to take it out!) if you are travel with tour and same room with strangers.

2. If you carrying a backpack, carry it in front! Hug it when you at crowded places to avoid snatch thives! (I always did this even in local because I don't like to put my wallet behind my pocket! hahaha)

This post has been edited by beck_ken: Nov 9 2009, 11:16 PM

LoL, let me tell you my experience as a frequent business traveller. It will attract more ppl to rob or steal ur bag if you carry it in front. The locals will thought that you have large amount of $$$ in ur bag and that's why u need to carry it in such a odd way.

My advice is just act normal. Even you have few thousands in ur bag, just carry it the normal relax way.

The more you afraid, the higher the chance for you to get robbed.

Otherwise, dun carry any bag. If rain, just buy an umbrella or wait till the rain stops, if thirsty, just buy a bottle of water (wont cause u much la), if wanna take pics, just use ur phone. I always go empty handed while travelling.

This post has been edited by Jurlique: Today, 01:12 AM