Okay, so you’ve decided to stop
your normal life routine for a year.
You, of course, have already psyched yourself up for a global
sojourn of twelve months or more, or maybe just one. First stop: http://www.tripprep.com
There you can obtain travel info from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe--information
about travel related ailments, including the vaccines you might
need, insight on how illnesses are transmitted and prevented, treatment
guidelines for side effects of any nefarious escapades (for those
so inclined), and a few hints about preparing for emergencies.
You’ll
probably need several immunizations before you leave and perhaps
even one or two on your way home depending on those nefarious pursuits.
You might even need to know the best strategies for burning off
those insidious leaches that seem to inhabit the tropical jungles
of Irian Jaya. Some good tips on malaria prevention might be helpful—perhaps
a few warnings about crime prevention would be beneficial too.
Go
to www.tripprep.com.
Or read my book, “Penis
Gourds & Moscow Muggings” for a more lighthearted
approach to your travels.
Of course it’s essential to know when the moon will be
full or when it will rise or set during your global journeys.
Go to: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.html.
If you need info on cosmic menstruation symbolism perceived in
total lunar eclipses you might check out: http://redmoonrising.homestead.com/.
X-rays and Film
As far as X rays go, I never put film
in my check-in luggage. Since 9/11 many countries are using X-ray
machines for checked
baggage,
machines that will literally fry film. In the United States it’s
usually still possible to get hand inspection for carry-on film
if you ask politely, especially if you have high-speed emulsions.
I’ve discovered that many places in the world aren’t
so gracious when it comes to hand inspection, especially in Europe
or any country where there’s a war nearby. Security in Israel
is incredibly intense, as can be expected; they’ve been dealing
with terrorist activities for decades. A few years ago at the Ben
Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv I was interrogated for
thirty minutes, and that was before my bags had even gone through
the X-ray machine. I was traveling with a couple of friends. We
were separated and each of us was asked myriad questions: “Where
did you have dinner last night? In which hotel did you stay three
days ago?” And so on. Then the security personnel huddled
together and compared our answers. Fortunately for us, our responses
must have jived. Who’s complaining? Such delays are preferable
to being blown out of the sky by terrorist bombs and now that terrorism
has become an even more global threat, I welcome the tighter security
measures at airports around the world.
Though it might not help much, I use lead
bags (available at most pro camera stores) for my film—three bags stuffed inside
each other because of my paranoia. Many have said that X-ray machines
for hand-carry baggage won’t hurt most film unless it’s
high-speed. Still, it gives me great satisfaction to not believe
this, even though it’s most likely true.
Nevertheless, I’m
leery of antiquated machines in Third World countries, machines
that might not have been inspected or calibrated for decades. So
I continue to use my “customized” triple-layer X-ray
bag. At least I feel good about the whole debilitating X-ray process.
Lead bags can crack with repeated folding, thus allowing X rays
in to expose the film, so the bags should be replaced after extended
wear. Using triple layers adds more protection from possible cracks.
X-ray bags are not designed to be 100% ray proof, but the small
dosage that gets through would only affect higher speed films,
and then only of they were passed through the machine more than
one- or two-dozen times.
To make life easier at X-ray machines
around the world, I always make sure my film is visible in clear
plastic zippered bags. It’s best to first remove the rolls
from the boxes and plastic canisters. I usually tell inspectors
that I’m planning to push process the film to ASA 3200. Most
of them probably don’t have much technical knowledge about
such things and usually offer little resistance to hand inspection—at
least in the States. It might look more convincing to include lab
processing instructions on a small piece of paper placed inside
the plastic bag of film and positioned so it’s clearly visible—a
message that reads, “LAB INSTRUCTIONS: DO NOT EXPOSE TO DAYLIGHT – PUSH
PROCESS TO 3200 ASA.” Even so it might be wise to carry a
couple of rolls of ASA 1600 film in your bag just so you can produce
the goods if requested. Having a roll or two of high speed infrared
film might help convince security personnel to allow hand inspection.
Even the name makes it sound like the film would be vulnerable
to X rays even with small doses.
A
hundred 35mm rolls of film will fit into a one-gallon clear plastic
zippered
bag which I double, reversing one bag into the other before putting
this assembly inside the lead bag. When the security person asks
me to open my triple-layer-X-ray-proof-lead-bag-because-his-X-ray-machine-can’t-see-through-the-damn-thing,
the trusty zipper of the plastic bag inside, since it’s doubled,
won’t come loose, thus scattering a hundred rolls of film
under the X-ray machine, which has happened to me two or three
times.
You probably shouldn’t worry too much about all this. During
more than five hundred international flights over the past decade,
I’ve only had one exasperatingly bad experience with X-ray
problems. That was at the airport in Vilnius, Lithuania. An over-exuberant
security guard didn’t seem to believe that each of the three
hundred film canisters I presented wasn’t stuffed with a
plastic explosive. Randomly selecting a roll of film from the pile,
I removed the little one-inch piece of Scotch # 202 masking tape
from the film leader and then pulled the entire roll of unexposed
film from the cassette for his inspection. The security man finally
acknowledged my innocence and let me pass.
Customs
Carrying along a tear sheet with your credit line and indicating
that you do professional photography for the promotion of tourism
in that city or country can make you appear more benign and beneficial
to the community and its economy, too, perhaps enabling the security
procedure to go more smoothly.
It’s best to register camera equipment at the customs counter
before leaving your home country. Obviously you wouldn’t
want to pay duty on photo gear when coming back home. When leaving
the States, I always visit the Customs counter the day before flying
because, invariably, the one-and-only Customs person on duty will
be on a coffee break during the last ten minutes before my flight
is scheduled to depart, which has happened to me more than once.
As required, I take all my equipment with me to prove my serial
numbers, though in my experience Customs officials rarely ask to
see every piece of the gear—a few random items at most. It
seems that if they think someone is really a professional photographer
(depends on how you talk the talk) then they might trust that all
the equipment on your list is in your possession. It would be wise
to bring everything just in case, along with a list of each item
by serial number. It’s much faster that way when filling
out the declaration form. Though seemingly casual, customs inspectors
are highly trained to spot frauds.
Copy Your Travel Documents
As a backup to my original travel documents,
I always carry photocopies of my passport ID pages and the visas
that are attached or stamped
inside. That way, if I were to be mugged, it would be easier to
have a new passport issued at the local American embassy and to
at least try to prove I’d already been officially authorized
to be in the country in which I’d lost it. Ditto for my airline
tickets and any other important documents, even traveler’s
checks. This includes my little yellow “International Certificate
of Vaccination As Approved By The World Health Organization” in
which is listed every vaccination I’ve had since I was born—almost—including
my immunity to Japanese Encephalitis and my eyeglass prescription.
I keep extra copies of these documents in my money belt, my camera
bag and my backpack and in some cases my underwear. Obviously I’m
very paranoid and anal-retentive.
If you are on safari in Africa (especially when not in a large
group) or other areas where there might be a high risk of ambush,
it might be wise to leave the valuable original documents in a
hotel safe and to only take duplicate copies.
Take a Passport (or Two)
By the way, it’s possible to have two legal USA passports,
assuming you are a U.S. citizen, though it takes some effort to
obtain the second one. I once visited ten countries in a row—passport
required, of course—while my second passport was in London
for eight weeks in the hands of an expert visa service. In my absence,
and on my behalf, they acquired five rather difficult to obtain
visas to Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan—a
Silk Road trip I had planned. I was amazed that the visa service
bureau was able to process those visas for me in such short order,
meanwhile my other travels continued unimpeded. If you do have
two passports, however, never let the immigration officials see
both of them at the same time or you’ll have a lot of explaining
to do. More important, make sure you exit a country with the same
passport you entered with . . . or you might find yourself in deep
trouble if the immigration stamps don’t match.
A Note on Planning Ahead
Nowadays I usually don’t plan trips in too much detail prior
to my departure. And I almost never read guidebooks thoroughly
before I leave. I buy them, yes. But usually there’s never
enough time to look at them until after boarding the plane. Making
precise advance hotel reservations is difficult because I never
know how long I might want to stay in each city. If the weather
is bad or my favorite travel icon is covered with scaffolding,
I might want to move on.
Reservations aren’t always necessary—except for hotels
listed in guidebooks.
It’s guaranteed that all the hotels in just about any guidebook
to major cities are fully booked months in advance. Why? Simply
because those hotels are printed in the guidebooks. Can you imagine
how many accommodations exist in a city like Paris? Guess how many
are listed in the guidebooks? Maybe only fifty at most. Tens of
thousands of tourists arrive in Paris everyday . . . and they each
have one of those trusty guidebooks in hand. Every hotel they call
is fully booked. There are hundreds of half-empty hotels on any
given day in Paris that aren’t even listed in the guidebooks.
Just flip through the yellow pages to find them. Les Pages
Jaunes, en francais.
