Deadvlei, Namib Desert, Namibia
It’s a nightmare trying to fly with all the kit we need for a trip like this – all the photographic gear, the panoramic and 35mm systems, plus all the camping kit. Pulling together a desert expedition is a major logistical exercise, but when you’re there, camping under the stars, plugging in the dawn patrols and making the images, there’s nothing quite like it.
• Fuji GX617, 105mm lens
Preparation
‘Don’t think about it too much; just go,’ is the best travel advice I’ve ever heard. Do I practise it? Well, sort of. It is possible to be too pedantic about researching and planning every aspect of a trip, as few plans survive their first contact with reality. But good research and planning can help you get the most out of a destination. Actually deciding where to go and for how long is the most difficult part. Reading between the lines of guidebooks and Internet sites to determine the photographic potential of a specific region is a black art, and a bit hit and miss. Pictures can help but they can also mislead. Before embarking on a recent trip to New Zealand I was researching the Hokianga region out of interest. I could find little on it and virtually no pictures on any of the major photo-agency websites. That could have meant it was a region of little interest, or the opposite but so off the beaten track that few photographers have ever been there, in which case it would definitely warrant a visit. In the event we went, and it was moody, wild and dramatic. Conversely, I have visited many areas with glowing reports in guidebooks only to wonder what all the fuss is about. So, the key is to have a plan but build in sufficient flexibility to enable decisions about how long to stay to be made on the hoof. Ideas come as I move through a country talking to the locals and other travellers; consequently I try to avoid booking more than a few days ahead unless it’s absolutely necessary. Time is the currency we’re all short of and it’s tough to decide how much to allocate for each phase of a journey. As a remarkably faithful rule of thumb I have a three-day rule; I never stay for less. That’s because it takes time to find locations that aren’t obvious, to get under the skin of a place and make
The Complete Arsenal
Of course I would never carry all of this on my back at the same time, but on a long trip with no airport restrictions this is the kit I take. We left out the kitchen sink, and I never return with as many lens caps as I left with.
the most of its photographic potential. If you’re moving on every day you’re travelling far but seeing little, never getting beyond a surface view. I find the days in transit are rarely productive photographically, so I often stay for more – five days, a week, sometimes more. Be wary of first impressions – after a long, tiring journey they can be very deceptive. Many a time I’ve been on the point of skipping a stop based on a fleeting judgement, only to wonder five days later how I could have been so wrong.
Practical considerations
Beyond those fundamental choices of where and when, the modes of travel, accommodation and what to take will vary considerably depending on the type of trip. The reason we appreciate our annual European wanderings so much is the simplicity of them: we just load up and go. We’ve got a rough plan but nothing is fixed. But where flights and car rental are concerned that’s obviously not practical. In fact, dealing with the hassles and restrictions of air travel is the major bugbear of my job. Planning a trip to the Namib Desert was a major logistical exercise. I can’t remember how we used to do it before the Internet.
And one final top travel tip: never read the warnings about the dangers of various destinations in the front of travel guides, they’ll put you off going anywhere. Bears in Canada, spiders in Australia, thieves in Peru, malaria in Malawi, Maoists in Nepal, time-share touts in Spain, all of the risks are overstated. There’s nothing like a bit of local knowledge to sort the grain from the chaff. Just go.