Olympus E-PL1 with Kipon tilt adapter attached

Olmpus camera with Kipon tilt adapter and Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS lens

Olmpus camera with Kipon tilt adapter and Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS lens

While I could have saved a lot of money and just purchased a plain adapter, having the option to tilt the lens allows for greater control of perspective and depth of field. And one fun thing to do with a tilt adapter is to make miniatures. That is, the tilted lens gives the look of looking down onto a fake miniature city or toy models.

Here are some examples that we shot. These are straight out of the camera and other than resizing them, nothing has been altered or “Photoshopped.” All of these photos were taken with a Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AIS lens as shown above.

(Click to enlarge)

Miniature construction site

Miniature construction site

Miniature city

Miniature city

 Technique

The technique to get the miniature look is pretty easy. You simply set the lens to the widest aperture, we used f/2.8, tilt the camera down,  tilt the lens up, and manually focus on the center of the frame.  I found that that the more downward you shoot the better the effect. Trees and sunshine also help to maximize the effect as the shots taken while cloudy or lacking trees did not have as much pop.

We are planning to hit a couple of other cool locations around Portland and will post those photos here when they are ready. We are also curious to see how different lenses look and will post our results.

This past weekend we had unusually good weather for being May and instead of keeping with our intended plans of working on house projects, we decided to take a stroll through the gardens… with camera gear, of course.

(Click on any of the photos to enlarge)

Flowers

We come to the gardens year round for the peace and tranquility that can be found there. But during the Spring the garden becomes a very colorful and magical place with 1000′s of colorful flowers.

Photographer’s Paradise

The rhododendron garden is a very popular shooting location for wedding, portrait, and macro photographers who take advantage of the colorful backgrounds, flowers, and the tranquil setting. On the day and time that we visited the sun was overhead and direct, which is a lighting nightmare for photography. We could have come back at the magic hour (right after sunrise or right before sunset) and had some amazing photos, but we were there and thought we would try our luck and just have fun.

I came across a park bench that I thought I should try out. It might become our home after we blow all of our money on a round-the-world trip.

Wildlife

Besides having a lot of flowers, the rhododendron garden is also home to a lot of not-so-wild wildlife. There is an assortment of geese, mallard ducks, wood ducks, squirrels, blue jays, blue herons, and others. We often come with our daughter to feed the squirrels peanuts and the birds crushed corn (they don’t allow bread.) Many of the animals are so friendly that they will come right up to you and take the food out of your hand. During the Spring and Summer it is common to see lots of fluffy baby chicks swimming around the pond.

Location

In case our photos have inspired you to go visit this wonderful place, you can find the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden is at 6015 SE 28th Ave in Portland, Oregon.

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For many of us, it’s the natural environment – be it the majestic, soaring grandeur of the Swiss Alps or the pastel shades of pastoral Provence – that is often most influential in helping you reach your decision on where to go. Whether you’re following a winding path as it leads you to discover an idyllic corner of some sun-kissed Greek island, or wandering beneath the awe-inspiring backdrop of the rugged Sierra Nevada in southern Spain, glorious landscapes are best absorbed and appreciated on foot.

Walk and be inspired by the natural wonders around you – from the almost surreal fairy chimneys of Cappadocia to the geysers, glaciers and waterfalls of Iceland’s striking interior. Walk to get away from it all: off the beaten track along Corfu’s north-west coast or amid the handsome Picos de Europa in Asturias, unhindered by baggage and, more importantly, at a pace you set. Walk and encounter friendly, unassuming people in the medieval villages of Tuscany or the traditional pubs of southern Ireland and discover more about the place you are in: its history, culture and heritage.

Piedmont, Italy © Linda Lashford

It’s also vital to match the level of walking you’re planning to undertake with your own capabilities and levels of fitness. Some may prefer the thrill and exhilaration of high mountain routes that cross craggy ridges beneath the snow-capped peaks of Bavaria; for others, a leisurely walk amid rolling hills, shady woodland and the quiet villages of Istria will be enough to recharge the batteries and re-energise the soul; while for many more, a gentle stroll along the picturesque coast of Brittany, or through flower-filled meadows in the Yorkshire Dales is sufficient reward. Equally important, too, is selecting the type of walking holiday that best suits your needs – does the idea of walking from village to village in the Apennines of northern Italy appeal, or would you rather spend each day exploring a place in more detail, from the comfort of a single base on the genteel island of Menorca or along the rugged coast of Crete?

And when the day is done, your walk is over and you reach your accommodation for the night, it’s time to relax and reflect on where you have been and all you have seen. Dine on a delicately-flavoured seafood dish in an elegant 4-star hotel overlooking the Catalan Coast; savour a hearty wild boar stew in an authentic wayside inn in the mountains of the Auvergne, or relax over a feast of local delicacies in a traditional Norwegian fishing village in the remarkable Lofoten Islands.

On an ideal walking holiday, it pays to be inquisitive – you see more by slowing down, by stopping to pass the time of day with the people you meet, and by relaxing into the rhythm and patterns of everyday life. Only by taking time to walk at your own pace will you appreciate the little things and see a place as it really is – as the locals do…

About our guest blogger: Peter Williamson is an experienced travel writer and walker, having spent the past five years as copywriter for specialist travel company, Inntravel, the Slow Holiday People. During this time he has travelled extensively throughout Europe, researching and writing route notes for the company’s self-guided walking holidays, as well as writing for Inntravel’s brochures and website. Prior to this, Peter was a freelance writer and author for many years, writing on a wide range of subjects across a wide range of industries. He has published a number of popular walking books, including ‘Castle Walks in Yorkshire’, highlighting his love of his home county; history (he has an MA in Historical Research) and, of course, walking.

Top photo: Lofoten Islands, Norway © Peter Williamson

Guilt

Having a sick or injured animal put to sleep is humane. It is the logical thing to do and we should not feel bad for relieving an animal’s suffering. Yet, I feel so guilty for having our dog put down. I thought it would be easy, but that’s not the case. I have found it way harder to deal with than I would have thought. I now understand the pain that others go through when they put their beloved animals to sleep. Before, I would dismiss it with a simple condolence, but now I understand. Gabby wasn’t just an animal, she was a member of our family. She was like our first child.

Quality of Life

When we first decided to go travel for a couple of years, it was planned that Gabby would not be going with us. She was around 8 or 9 at that time and we assumed she would be at the end of her life span by the time we left and she would have already passed from old age. It sounded like such a easy plan. We would wake up one morning to find that Gabby had passed away peacefully in her sleep. But in the off chance that she was to be one of those Beagles that live an extra long life, we would find a caretaker for her while we traveled. But sometimes things don’t go as planned.

Over the past few years Gabby developed typical age related problems. She had arthritis, her vision decreased, and she became mostly deaf. Even though she was slower she still enjoyed going on trips to the coast, camping, and hiking. But over the last year she spent most of the time sleeping and stopped greeting us as we came home. Just 3 months ago she became incontinent and developed a bad cough. We took her to the vet and they ran a set of really expensive tests and x-rays and concluded that Gabby had a heart murmur, an enlarged heart, and pneumonia. The veterinarian prescribed medication to help her heart pump better, a diuretic to rid her lungs of the excess fluid, and antibiotics to fight the pneumonia. It seemed to help for awhile even though the heart medication made her really drowsy and she could barely get up in the morning. We used a baby gate to keep her in the kitchen during the day and night for the incontinence, and this seemed to work really well. But her heart problems were causing a fluid build-up in her lungs again and her cough became increasingly worse, often making her gag. The medication was increased, but she continued to get worse every day. She would pace at night coughing and gagging and look at us like she wanted us to make the discomfort stop. She was suffering and we knew that we might need to put her down, but neither Kerri nor I could do it. So, we waited for Gabby to miraculously get better, but she only got worse. This past week we knew it was time and I called the vet and made an appointment for Saturday at 10:30am.

Gabby’s Last Night with Us

It’s a weird having an appointment in which a family member is to die. But this also gave us time to say our goodbyes. For Gabby’s last night with us Sydney and I gave her a bath and a good dinner of canned gourmet dog food. We then placed her on the couch with a blanket and Sydney read her the book, “Walter the Farting Dog.”

Our Dog is a Faker

We awoke Saturday morning to the sound of Gabby coughing and gagging and a house full of large pee puddles and a pile of poo, which Kerri found the hard way by stepping in it. It seemed Gabby decided to leave us a gift. I gave Gabby another bowl of canned dog food, her last meal, and she looked very happy to get such a great treat two times in a row. We took Gabby for a short walk down the street and she coughed and gasped for air the whole way. Gabby was loaded into the car and we drove towards Sydney’s art class where she would spend the next couple of hours. We left a back window rolled down so Gabby could stick her head out and enjoy her last ride in style. Before getting out of the car Sydney gave Gabby one last long hug, and then went quietly inside the building towards her class. Kerri and I drove towards the vet clinic listening to Gabby cough and gag in the backseat and knew we had to go through with this. She was suffering. Just before pulling into the parking lot of the vet clinic the radio started playing Elton John’s “A Funeral for a Friend.” I am not making this up!

We walked Gabby into the vet clinic while she coughed hoarsely and gagged and they led us to an examination room. A vet tech came in and asked us what was wrong with Gabby and wrote everything down. The tech left the room and as we waited for the veterinarian we gave Gabby a good back scratching and told her how much we loved her. She looked like a very happy dog. The veterinarian came into the room and looked down at our happy dog and looked kind of puzzled as to why we wanted to put her down. Gabby was no longer coughing or gagging and looked old and gray, but healthy. The vet said she had to advocate for the animal and listened to us tell all about how sick our dog was and how we wanted to end her suffering, yet, Gabby continued to look healthy and happy and I don’t think the vet believed us. We felt very odd trying to advocate for our dog’s death and could not figure out of all times for Gabby to stop coughing and gagging and looking sick she chose now. The vet examined Gabby and then agreed that her lungs sounded terrible and were full of fluid. She explained the procedure for euthanizing Gabby and we signed the form and chose to have her body cremated and paid with a credit card. It seemed so surreal.

The Procedure

The first step in the procedure was to take Gabby in the back and give her a sedative so they can put an IV line in a vein for the lethal injection. As the vet attached the leash to Gabby she started coughing hoarsely again and the vet looked at us like she finally believed us about how bad she has gotten. I have since learned that as a defense mechanism in the wild, dogs will hide their pain and suffering so as not to look weak. After about 5 minutes they came back to the room carrying Gabby and spread out a blanket on the examination table and laid Gabby down on it. The vet told us to spend as much time as we wanted with her and to poke our head out when we were ready. We had expected Gabby to be coherent, but she was completely sedated and breathing quickly trying to get enough air into her liquid filled lungs. This was the point where we could have changed our minds, but we were seeing how bad she really was and how much of a struggle it had been for her to breathe. Even if we did change our minds she would continue to suffer until she finally died a painful death, or we would have to return to the vet clinic to go through this all over again. We took off her harness and then spent a few minutes petting her and telling her how great of a dog she is. When it was time I poked my head out the door and nodded to the vet. The vet came back into the room and laid two syringes on the table; one large one full of a pink liquid and one small one with a clear liquid. She asked us if we were ready and after saying we were she told us to pet Gabby so she knew we were there with her. As Gabby gasped for air the vet grabbed the large syringe and inserted it into the PICC line and pulled back on the plunger to see if the IV line was still in the vein and then started to slowly push the pink liquid into Gabby. She picked up the second syringe and injected it and Gabby’s rapid breathing slowed quickly and then stopped all together after just a few seconds. It was probably just my imagination but I swear I could feel Gabby’s soul, life-force, or whatever you want to call it leave her body and pass through the room. The vet used her stethoscope as we continued petting her and confirmed that Gabby was dead. The vet told us that we had made the right decision and that we could spend as much time as we wanted with her and to leave whenever we wished and they would handle the body. After spending a few minutes saying our goodbyes we picked up the leash and harness and made our way quickly across the waiting room filled with people and pets and out to the car.

We Miss our Dog

After 14 years of life with Gabby our house seems empty without her. When we returned home from the vet clinic we put away her food bowl and threw away her bedding. I tried to explain to Sydney about how peacefully Gabby had died, but she kept screaming at me, “I know” and then stomped out of the room. I guess that is how a 7-year old deals with loss.  Kerri and I dealt with the loss by taking a break from doing house projects and went through all of our old photos looking for photos of Gabby and remembering all of the great times we had had together. We have compiled some of the photos we found into a slideshow as a tribute to our fine dog. You will be missed, Gabby!

Gabriella Malone (Gabby)

June 2, 1998  -  May 5, 2012

In 2001 we bought a small starter home in a working class Portland neighborhood with the intentions of fixing it up, selling it in a few years, and buying a bigger house. The typical American dream. Five years later, while everyone else was racing to buy bigger houses before the prices got too high, we decided to stay put in our 980 square foot “starter home.” We consolidated our debt and refinanced from a 30 year to a 15 year mortgage with lower interest rates. Housing prices were going up daily, everyone was selling off their yards to squeeze in one more house, and the real estate market looked like a great investment. We purchased our house for $100k and in just 5 years it had more than doubled in value.

Dude, Let’s Go Cruising

The reason we had decided to stay in our house and refinance was that we had agreed to a 5-year plan. The plan was that we would spend the next 5 years saving money, paying off debt, and then sell everything we own and go travel for a couple of years. At that time we were heavy into sailing; we owned a sailboat, I raced 2 times a week on the Columbia River, and we wanted to spend a couple of years cruising around the Caribbean in a sailboat with our daughter. The call of warm turquoise waters and white sandy beaches was strong. Our boat at that time was a 27-foot Pearson, not nearly big enough to be a liveaboard, so our intentions were to sell our house and use the money to buy a cruising sailboat big enough for a family of 3 to live on. But after our sailboat dismasted and we experienced the hassles of boatyards and costly repairs, we realized that one little accident while cruising could ruin our dreams and break us financially. We then discovered a nice alternative to cruising on a sailboat; barging through France. France has a network of canals designed for barges. Many people have purchased barges and slowly travel through France and Europe via these canals on their floating homes. If they want to stop for the night they pull over and tie off to the bank. If they need supplies, they stop at the next town. You don’t have to worry about hurricanes nor pirates.It sounded ideal and we were committed! Unfortunately, a lot of other people have this same dream and the cost of barges is not cheap. The other issue was that we could not stay in France for longer than 90 days at a time unless we got residency, which is not easy. They also drain many of the canals during the winter, which would leave us stranded in a costly marina. So, we opted to just travel as tourists and go round-the-world; a plan that would have us see more places and we would not have to worry about being slaves to a boat. Though our plans kept changing, the dream of taking time off work and traveling was still the goal and was the real point of our 5-year plan.

The End of a Plan and the Beginning of a Dream

The end of our 5-year plan has arrived and we have saved money, paid off our debt (not including mortgage), but unfortunately the housing market is in dire trouble. The housing prices are falling daily and the banks are hesitant to lend out money for loans. Our original plan was to sell our house to buy a boat to live on and it is a good thing we changed our plans. There is no way we could afford a boat big enough to live on with the leftover money from selling our house now. Whatever money we do get from the sale of our house needs to go towards the purchase of a new home once we are done traveling and have resettled. We don’t want to keep our current house as we would like to relocate to a different area, preferably one with less rain and more sun.  We are fortunate that we are not upside down in our mortgage like so many others, but we still won’t be getting nearly as much money out of our house as we had hoped 5 years ago. So now we are at a crossroad on what to do with our house.

Sell the House?

We would really like to sell our house but the thought of the housing market recovering in a couple of years and losing money now worries us. But the future is unknown and the housing market could be even worse than it is now. With more and more foreclosures happening around the area, the future is starting to look grim. We had hoped to have our house on the market this month, but with all of the projects we still need to complete, it might be next month… or the month after that…

Rent the House?

Portland is experiencing the lowest rental vacancy rate in years. This is driving up the cost of rent and the rent can actually cover the cost of a mortgage, something that wasn’t possible 5 years ago. The option of renting sounds great on paper, but what if you get a renter that trashes your house or decides there is nothing wrong with having a meth lab in one of the bedrooms. We would need to pay a management company to collect the rent and deal with emergencies and this would work out pretty well. But if no one wants to rent our house and we must pay the mortgage payments from our travel fund thus cutting our RTW trip short. A seriously scary thought!

What Do We Do?

We would really like to sell the house and not be worrying about it halfway across the world, but we might not be able to sell it for what we want in this economy. We plan to talk to a couple of real estate agents about the sell vs. rent option and see what they think. Our thoughts now are that we will try to sell our house for what we want and try renting it out if it doesn’t sell. Maybe being landlords won’t be that bad. But then again…

Hotels, B&B’s, and Hostels, Oh My!

Most travelers stick to the standard lodging options of hotels, B&B’s, and youth hostels. The problem with these is that you will be surrounded with other tourists, many from your own country, and the experience will lack true immersion into the culture that you are visiting. For us, one of the main reasons why we travel is to experience the different cultures as a local, not a tourist. This allows a better understanding of the place you are visiting and offers a more memorable experience. This can be easy to do as long as you find the right place to stay.

Besides the lack of culture found in touristy hotels, B&B’s, and youth hostels, they can often be more expensive than you would have thought. Depending on the size of your family, you may need more than one room or a suite with bedrooms, which can really blow your budget quickly. But the real expense comes from the lack of a kitchen. Being forced to eat every meal at a restaurant (excluding the breakfast provided at B&B’s) can really add up quickly. Many hostels have a communal kitchen where you can prepare meals. But hostels are not family friendly for more than a night or two. Spending every night in a quad with your kid(s) while you and your spouse are crammed into a tiny bunk is not my idea of a fun time!

Stay in a Timeshare

One type of accommodation that we have used a lot while traveling is the use of a timeshare. Timeshares can be found in every touristy place around the world. They can be a very affordable option if you travel often. But you need to be a bit flexible on where you want to stay, unless you own a specific time slot at a timeshare resort and return to that location every year. Most of the timeshares we have stayed in have included a kitchen stocked with dishes and one or two bedrooms making our stay very comfortable with our daughter. Unfortunately, European timeshares are mostly located outside the cities and away from the museums and places that you would want to spend time visiting. Transportation costs can quickly eat away your budget or turn into a nightmare if you rent a car. When we were in England 12 years ago we rented a car and made the mistake of driving into Central London. We were lucky enough to find parking for the night, but the real fun came when we tried to leave London the next morning. The British don’t believe in straight roads and even with a map in hand, we ended up back where we started after 2 hours of making a large circle. Even if you do want to spend your European vacation outside the cities hanging out with other tourists, the chance of actually finding an available timeshare in Europe is slim. Timeshares in European countries are in high demand and you would be pretty lucky to find someone willing to trade or an available vacant week.

Stay in Someone’s Home

So where can traveling families stay where they can cook their own meals, have enough room to spread out, and be surrounded by the culture they came to visit? Private homes is the answer! And I don’t mean couch surfing. What I mean is that there are furnished apartments available throughout Europe for the same cost, or cheaper, than staying at a hotel.

Although there are plenty of furnished apartments listed on Craigslist as vacation rentals, I would not risk dealing with anything listed on there. There is a good chance you would get ripped off and end up having your dream vacation ruined. Better to deal with established companies that specialize in apartment vacation rentals.

We recently came across a company with raving reviews called onefinestay.  Onefinestay gives you the chance to stay in an unhotel – someone’s place while they’re out of town. You get to live their life for a few days and nights, see what they’d see and, if you like, do what they’d do. The homes come with recommendations from the people who live there on where to go and what to do. Now that’s cool! Before we travel to London next year we will definitely be considering onefinestay for our accommodation needs. And hopefully, they will expand to other cities in Europe.

Nyepi

Festivals come in different forms, and the annual festival of Nyepi, for example, involves a day of silence to mark the lunar New Year, often during the spring equinox.  Visitors need to be aware of the nature of this event, as shops and restaurants are closed and it is considered polite to stay indoors for the day. This is made easier because many people are recovering from the festival of Melasti, the previous day.

Melasti

Melasti involves a ritual of purification, and so the main events of the festival take place either processing to or next to water, such as beside the sea or at one of the holy springs. The background to the ritual, which involves the washing of statues, is the sound of drumming, shouting, and firecrackers.  Visitors to Bali should make sure that they arrive on the island before Melasti, and that they do not make plans for excursions or trips during Nyepi.

Galungan

The festival of Galungan, on the other hand, is a 10-day affair that occurs every 210 days, according to the island’s rather complex Wuku calendar.  The festival marks a celebration of the victory of good over evil, and private Balinese homes are cleaned and adorned with special offerings in honor of the occasion.  In addition, the streets are decorated, and the day of Galungan itself is marked by praying and feasting.  Visitors may be able to enjoy special local food on this occasion, and can certainly find plenty of picturesque sights to photograph.

Negara

Another active festival is Negara, which takes place in the early autumn and is marked by bull races. Pairs of bulls are specially decorated and are guided by jockeys that ride in chariots.  This is another of the festivals for which a visitor will find that a camera is almost obligatory.

Odalan

Meanwhile, each temple has a ‘birthday’ festival, known as Odalan, every 210 days.  Each temple celebrates this ‘birthday’ on a different day, which means that a village can have several Odalan festivals each year.  The colorful clothing and purification rituals mark the festival days distinctively. In addition, family festivals celebrating life events, such as birth, marriage, and cremation, may happen at any time.  Visitors may be surprised at the processions and celebrations that take place at these times, so it is always worth stepping out onto the streets of Bali with an open mind and a camera at the ready.

About our guest blogger: Ben Jenkins is a part-time blogger who enjoys supporting Manchester United, making music, and is a self confessed ‘travel junkie’

Photo Credit: Riza Nugraha

We chose to camp at Fort Stevens State Park located just south of Astoria where the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean meet. Even though it was early Spring I decided to reserve a tent site just in case. This turned out to be a smart decision as they have converted many of the tent sites to deluxe cabins and only a couple of tent sites were available. Even though Fort Stevens has over 700 camping sites, most of those are RV sites and offer little space for tents.

After a 2 hour drive from Portland we found our campsite and made camp. Having lived in Oregon all my life and being a frequent camper there are a couple of things one must do to be comfortable while tent camping on the coast. First thing is to bring lots of plastic tarps as it rains year round and that rain often comes in sideways. Second thing is to stock up on lots of dry firewood for a huge fire. Unlike camping in our heated trailer, a fire is your only source of heat when tent camping. As soon as we set up the tents and tarps, the rain started. Typical!

Our camp at Fort Stevens State Park

My 7-year old daughter, Sydney, and her cousin were bouncing off the trees with energy and excitement. We decided to wear them out by taking them for a long walk to the beach in the rain and check out the skeletal remains of the Peter Iredale, a massive sailing ship that came ashore in 1904. It worked great, but now we were all wet. Back at camp we started a large fire and prepared the ultimate dinner for cold weather camping, chili dogs and hot tea!It rained all night but I awoke the next morning to sunshine. It was brisk, but at least the sun was out which is a rarity on the Oregon coast. I started a fire and made tea for Sydney and I, the only ones who were up at that point. Sydney sat by the fire with her herbal tea and played a game on her Nintendo DS while I prepared a hearty breakfast for everyone; animal pancakes, sausage, hash browns, and fresh fruit.

Sydney playing her Nintendo DS next to the fire

After breakfast we all decided to head back to the beach for some 4-wheel fun. Fort Stevens is one of the rare beaches in Oregon where you can actually drive on the beach. After punching through the soft sand at the ramp leading to the beach we drove down the beach looking for seashells the easy way; through the windshield of a heated SUV. We then returned to the Peter Iredale where Sydney and Addie had fun climbing on the barnacle encrusted remains of the once massive ship.

Parked on the beach

Eli, Addie, Simon (the dog), and Sydney on the beach

Eli and Addie on Abbey Road? Two more people and it could be a Beatles album cover!

Addie and Sydney climbing on the Peter Iredale

Sydney having fun on the shipwreck

After our 4×4 beach adventure we packed up camp and went to explore the old structures of the former military fort. Fort Stevens was established at the beginning of the American Civil War as the primary military defense for the mouth of the Columbia River. It served for 84 years until the end of WWII. In 1942 a Japanese submarine fired 17 shells at Fort stevens, but did little damage. Today, the old military bunkers make for a great place to explore, photograph, and let your wild kids run amuck.

Creepy Battery Russell

Spiral stairway inside Battery Russell

Hell room? Don't go in there!

Outside Battery Russell

Rusty hinge at Battery Russell

View of the Columbia River from Fort Stevens

Simon, Eli, and Addie enjoying a rare sunny day at the Oregon Coast

We had a great time camping at Fort Stevens and spending quality father-daughter-brother-cousin-neice-uncle time together. I forgot how much fun it is to actually “rough it” by sleeping in a tent; with air mattresses of course. Hopefully, I can convince Kerri to go tent camping one last time before we sell our camping gear and start our around the world adventure later this year.

As we established this weekly routine of going to the library, I began to look around and realize how much free information is available to us for free!   I love the fact that if I am interested in a subject such as traveling, photography, cooking or whatever else is currently holding my interest, I can do a search and find numerous books on the subject.  The only drawback: at our local library you can only have 15 holds at a time.  Luckily for me, I have commandeered Jason’s library card and can now have twice as many holds.  But, I am not too greedy and do occasionally allow him to place a book on hold.

So, back to my original point on how much I will miss my locale library when we travel.   I was initially nervous about what I would do for books while we are traveling.  Though, Jason has had some luck with book exchanges at some of the places we have traveled to, that plan seems a little too risky for me.  What if I am not able to find a book that looks interesting that is in English?   I definitely cannot lug around an entire suitcase of books with me; Jason just won’t go for that.  Mailing books also seems like a really expensive proposition and unreliable.   Fortunately for me, last year my mother solved this problem as she gave me a Kindle e-reader for my birthday.  Since this generous gift, I have taken my Kindle on several trips and found it worked out great.  Advantages to the kindle: it’s small, portable and I can find a book wherever I am as long as there is a wireless connection.  Taking the Kindle around the world seemed like a viable solution.  But then I started thinking about the cost, I could easily spend $40+ a month in books just for me.  That would not include books for Sydney or Jason.   Given the cost, this would not work with our tight budget.  When I first received the Kindle, I noticed the library had ebooks that could be checked out.  However, I could not figure out how to download the ebook onto the Kindle.  Recently while in the library, Jason pointed out a pamphlet on how to download library ebooks to the Kindle.  Success!  Since I have come across this pamphlet I have been able to request and download books.  I am so excited to think that I will have access to a bit of home around the world… my local library.

With the popularity of ebooks it is only a matter of time before every public library offers free ebook downloads. So, if you are looking for free ebooks, be sure to check with your local public library.

This year, December 21 to be exact, is the end of the Mayan calendar and the end of everything as we know it. Yup, we are all gonna die! So, if you can’t make it to Mexico before the end of the world, at least you can enjoy some of our photos. Enjoy…