The anatomy of a trip planning

It starts: It’s time to go someplace.

What’s driving the decision: The time of year? The location? The amount of time? The cost?

In this case, the timing is known: late October, about 2 weeks.

Where to go that time of year? What is the weather like around the globe? Raining in the South East, Hot along the West coast, Dry to the South, Cold in the far South..

What do we want to do?  Should this be adventurous? relaxing?

And so the research begins.  The flight searches: can we use miles? are there cheap flights anywhere?

A trip to Get Lost. Browsing options: itineraries, hotels, cities, countries, regions

This is the fun part.

But it’s also frustrating.  Too many choices, not enough known.

But then things coalesce.

And the fun continues

San Telmo district, Buenos Aires

San Telmo was my favorite neighborhood of Buenos Aires.  It had interesting streets to wander around, curious shops, good restaurants and cafes and a great mix of diverse people.  All this said, I was never in this area very late at night but I definitely wandered around a few streets that had a pretty grungy vibe that bordered on hip and and just plain dangerous.

Of course, I kind of like that vibe as it adds a little excitement to any trip.  I’m not looking for Disneyland..

And so I wandered through this area a few times, the most memorable being on a Sunday when the area is transformed into an outdoor market with lots of sights and sounds and a lot of dancing and music as the night comes on.  This is where I saw the Tango act whose music I used for my South American video and it’s where I captured the dancing/drumming images used in that video.

On other days of the week the neighborhood offers a very different, less frenetic vibe that’s equally enticing and is also worth a little of your time.

Anyone who is thinking about a trip to Buenos Aires should definitely consider being in this neighborhood on a Sunday and if you are there, make sure you stay around for the evening music!

Photos from South America

This week I’m finally getting some photos online from my South America trip.

Buenos Aires was my first destination and it’s an awesome city.  I really liked the vibe of the city: friendly people, good food, abundant cafes, good parks, different neighborhoods with unique feels.  It’s everything you’d want in a city.

I spent a few days in Buenos Aires before taking off for Patagonia.  I stayed in the Solar Soler hotel in the Palermo neighborhood.  It was a really nice little hotel that I booked online before the trip (I always like to have my first night’s hotel booked before a trip).  After returning from Patagonia I again stayed with the Solar Soler folks but this time in their apartment which was cheaper and actually a little closer to a subway station.

The Palermo neighborhood reminded me a bit of the Mission/SOMA districts here in San Francisco in that it’s a pretty mixed neighborhood with expensive shops and restaurants and new development alongside older residences and light industry.  I liked having it as a base from which to explore the city (though this district puts you at one end of all of the areas you’d want to visit and not in the middle).

The Subway system was really convenient for me and a great way to get around town.  I’d just pick a destination and take the subway there (or close to there) and then walk from then on.  That’s essentially how I spent my days.

Nights were pretty mellow since I was on my own but I definitely enjoyed the food and atmosphere of the late-eating crowds (restaurants are easily still crowded at 1am on any day of the week).

I’ve sorted through and chosen just a few of the photos that remind me of the city and that I hope best convey what I saw while I was there.

I’ve split out a subset of photos that I’ll post next, which are from the San Telmo neighborhood.

South America video

I’m finally getting around to my photos from my trip to South America and this time I decided to do things a little differently.

After our trip to Africa in 2008, I not only posted photos online but I also put together a little video of the trip.  Using iMovie on the Mac, I  combined photos, videos and some songs from an African choir I downloaded from iTunes.  That video turned out to be pretty long, so I never posted it online.

While in Buenos Aires, I was so taken by the rhythm of the city, and the fact that music was everywhere, I decided I wanted to do a video presentation to accompany the photos.  I recorded videos of street performances thinking that I would use those as the soundtrack but the microphone on the G10 didn’t do such a great job of capturing the music – at least, not the way I was shooting with it (not really standing with the mic pointed reliably at the source).  And then I came upon this tango orchestra performing during the San Telmo markets on Sunday.  They had the audience captivated and I couldn’t resist purchasing one of their CDs. It’s their music I used for the soundtrack.  If you’re ever in Buenos Aires (and I would highly recommend it) be sure to check out Orquesta Tipica El Afronte.  They play regularly in town, though not on days that I was able to see them in a proper venue.

This video contains images taken during my trip including photos from Buenos Aires, El Calafate, Colonia Del Sacramento, Torres Del Paine, and Los Glaciars National Parks.

I will post the individual photographs soon as well as a few blog posts about the trip.  In the mean time, I hope you enjoy the video.  By the way, the little 4-arrow button on the bottom right of the video will blow this out to full-screen, definitely the way to watch (if you ask me 🙂 )

As before, I used iMovie to put this together.  It’s a pretty decent product and the ’09 version fixed some of the little issues I had with the previous version.  This still turned out a little longer than I’d like – next time I’ll make it even shorter.

The photos and videos are taken using either the NIkon D300 or the Canon G10.  All of the videos are from the Canon and it’s obvious that the quality of the videos is not as good as that of the stills.  I’m really looking forward to getting an SLR with video capabilities but that’s not a purchase I’ll be making soon.

Quick update from Torres Del Paine

I´m in Torres Del Paine park in Chile trekking through incredible terrain.  On this night I´m at one of the fancier ´refugios´ in the park, so they even have internet access.

I wanted to quickly check-in with email to make sure that everything´s OK at home and I  had to buy 30 minutes of time, so I figured I´d write a quick note.

This park is really amazing.  The Refugios are just what they should be (though this one is a little over the top): simple rest stops for the weary hiker.  A bed, a beer, a dinner, and a warm atmosphere.  We really need more hut-to-hut options in the states.

The scenery has been fantastic.  I look forward to downloading my photos onto a computer so that I can check them out on a big screen.

Looking forward to the next few days of trekking and checking out glaciers before heading back to civilization.

Cafe culture

p_1600_1200_7B25BDDD-BEB5-4D93-9B1C-993D8236EF3D.jpegOne has to love a city with a strong cafe culture. It’s great to know that around just about any corner is a place to sit, re-group, watch the locals, and enjoy a good coffee.

Such is the case in Buenos Aires.

I’m sitting here along one of the many boulevards, drinking this coffee while overhearing all of this Spanish dialogue that I wish I could comprehend. Oh well, it’s still entertaining to watch.