Traveling, and your camera

As I look out my window and notice the mound of yard work that I really need to get done I can do nothing but day dream about going out and about with my camera. When I say go out and about I more specifically mean going on a vacation, or traveling somewhere, well really anywhere but to my back yard. Don't get me wrong, I love my house and where I live, but it is summer, and it is one of the best times to see the world and all that it has to offer.

In thinking about traveling my mind set is slowly changing. All of my children are old enough to keep track of themselves, and for the most part travel on their own if they want. With this concern, and stress slightly lifted from my shoulders this gives me more time to think about me and what I want to take on the next adventure.

In most cases my traveling consists of somewhere within a couple hours of home and looking for new places to hike and explore. I love exploring a new area and photographing anything that draws my attention. Which is great, but now that I am looking to start taking bigger trips there are things that I need to start thinking about.

1. Where am I going to go?
I have so many options running through my head that I have no idea where to begin really. I want to see the world and I want to do it all right now! Very unreasonable thought I know, however it is not quite so unreasonable to plan to do as much of it as I possibly can. So in order to slow myself down I have started a "Bucket List" I am sure that a number of you have them, and I am finding that they are great to have. I love lists. My biggest reason for loving them, because I love to check things off of them! So I figure that this is the best way for me to accomplish the traveling that I want to do and at the same time be organized and make sure that I do not forget or over look a place that I want to go.

2. How am I going to get there?
This is a question that in most cases would be a simple answer, however, as I said before I love lists and checking things off of them. For example, I have never been on a cruise, and I also would love to go on a tour of Alaska. Well my friends I can officially take two things off of my list. There is a cruise schedule in Alaska and if I go at the right time I can go whale watching, which means, you got it, another thing off of the list. 3 birds with one stone!  I am not sure that I can do much better than that.

So here is where my concern now comes in. I must admit that I have not done alot of distance traveling with my camera and this leads to a number of concerns that I have about my gear. For example:

1. Do I need to look at having a different camera bag for different places or activities?
2. How do I take care of my gear while I am traveling?
3. How do I keep track of my gear while I am traveling?
4. Does the care for my camera change in different climates and what is different in those climates that I need to consider to protect my gear?
5. How do I protect my memory cards from things like X-Ray machines at the airports, and do I need to worry about things like climate changes?

These are just the 5 basic questions that I have, and I am sure that there are many more. However these are the 5 top things that I think about when it comes to traveling.

I am sure that are a number of you that have great answers for these questions and I would love to hear them! Please share them in the comment section below.

If you don't have answer, but may someone that does, please share this with them and than you and I can both learn from them together,

I am looking forward to all the suggestions, guidance, and new questions that may come along the way!