So you’re going on the road to shoot photos/videos for fun or for a client? Kate here again, Executive Producer over here at Team Chase. This is part 4 of 4: You’ve made it! So now what? Let’s dance!
Part 4: 8 Mission Critical Tips for Being on the Road
1. Kick Jet Lag’s Ass. If you are traveling a long way, start sleeping at the right times for your destination during your flight. If you can land late afternoon or evening, that will help you stay up until bedtime. If you land early, getting some fresh air and exercise during the day really helps. There are over the counter, naturopathic remedies that help with the adjustment or your doctor may prescribe something.
2 $$$$$$. Make sure to have some cash with you in the LOCAL currency and know how, where and when to get more. Know the exchange rate. Keep in mind that your credit card company may charge a transaction fee for each and every international charge – there are cards that do not charge international fees that may be worth it for your trip. Plan ahead if you will need to pay contractors.
3.Be smart + be aware. Tourists and people with gear can be targets for crime. Travel low profile. Avoid opening up all of your gear in public. Take official taxis. Don’t carry too much cash on you. Don’t leave your bags unattended.
4. Contacts. Keep phone numbers of local contacts and important numbers with you.
5. Keep your receipts and make more notes than usual. When you return, your credit card statement will list your charges in your home currency and may be in a different language. This can be very difficult to reconcile with your statement later – trust me!!! There are websites that allow you to compute historical exchange rates that can help with this process as well. On our last trip, I used this site: www.oanda.com/currency/converter
6. Valuables. Lock essentials in the security boxes in your hotel.
7. Be a good ambassador. Remember that when you are traveling, you are a representative of your country and a guest in the country where you are visitor. Be kind and respectful, hire locally, buy a souvenir from a local artist, give back whenever you have the opportunity and make attempts to speak the local language (even a few words like please and thank you go a long way).
8. HAVE FUN! Sometimes travel can be tiring and even stressful, but what an amazing opportunity… Don’t forget to enjoy yourself.
Baie dankie and happy trails, Kate
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Check out the last three posts in this series:
10 Mission Critical Tips for Booking Photo and Video Travel – getting there
12 Mission Critical Tips for Pre-Production – tips BEFORE traveling
12 Tips for Travel Packing – tips on what to take
I leave a response each time I like a post on a website or I have something to valuable to contribute to the discussion.
Usually it is a result of the passion communicated in the post I
looked at. And after this article Traveling for Photo and Video Shoots – 8 Mission Critical Tips for being on the
Road [Part 4 of 4] | Chase Jarvis Blog. I was actually moved enough to post a commenta response 😉 I actually do have a couple
of questions for you if it’s okay. Could it be simply me or do some of these remarks appear like they are left by brain dead visitors? 😛 And, if you are posting on additional social sites, I’d like to keep up with you.
Would you make a list the complete urls of your public pages like your twitter feed, Facebook page
or linkedin profile?
Deceivingly simple great advice. I “evernoted” it for future reference.
Dankie Kate, seems like good advice – let me know if you need help translating those bank statements – Groete vanuit Kaapstad.
Dont over eat and try to be sure about your food allergies.
All are great essentials!
Thanks Kate!
Re: #2 I felt like a complete tool on my first trip to Canada when I asked if price to enter Banff was in US dollars.
The woman in the toll booth rolled her eyes and said with a snarky tone,”What country are you in?”
I shrank in my seat and handed over some loonies.
Ahhh a fine list of suggestions indeed. And being that I am currently overseas, I definitely agree with these suggestions., Other helpful tips (as I have learned as i go) if I become disoriented, stop by one the big hotels and ask for assistance to include a local map. Most of the personnel have a working knowledge of a few languages. And hang on to any and all maps you recieve. You never know when you might be back in that area again a few days later. One of my biggest lessons has been getting around the communication barriers. It doesn’t hurt to invest in one of those electronic dictionaries. It has saved me on more than several occassions. And when in Rome do exactly as the romans do. Being a foriegner with good manners toward respecting the customs and culture of your host country goes a very long way.
Electronic dictionaries? You mean iphone? ha
Keep in mind that you will have I ternation all roaming charges if you do not have an international plan on your iPhone. It is cheaper to just get an electronic dictionary 🙂