I had the best intentions; I was going to provide thrilling
updates to my friends, family and readers as I traveled throughout Japan.
Greeting each person each morning would be a fresh set of pictures and even a
video blog that detailed my travels and travails. And then reality set in.
1. Wi-fi is great, if
you can find it. I didn’t have an international data-roaming plan for my
phone, nor was I going to invest in one. Nope, I was going to just jump on
Wi-fi networks all around Japan—one of the most wired countries in the world.
The only problem: the directions and registration pages were in Japanese.
2. If you login from
another country, you must be a hacker. Well, at least the security works on
your favorite social networks. I tried Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and, yes,
Blogger and all of them asked me to verify my identity. One small problem: I
didn’t remember any of the answers to my security questions. Whoops.
3. Editing video is a
pain on the road without the proper equipment. Even the best shots can
sometimes be compromised by an unexpected train whistle, surprise visit from a
deer or a camera battery suddenly dying. And without an easy to use editing
option, it’s oftentimes just easier to wait until you get back. Plus, waiting
also saves your precious battery life … for taking more photos and video.
4. Sometimes the best
solution is to put the camera down. What good are memories if your memory
of your vacation is just you trying to capture the memories? Living in the
moment and not worrying about “likes” or “retweets” means you can actually
experience your vacation before you share it with the world.
