I’m nervous, and scared, and oh so excited all at once. Despite being 28 years old, this will be the most alone I have ever been and for the longest period of time.
In order to cope with the nervousness, here’s a brief, annotated list of things I need to do between now and Thursday at 2:30am.
* Create a Rough Outline of my trip.
** Not meant as a plan, but simply as a guide for when nothing else lends itself and as a method of making sure I’ll make it home in time.
* Note the names and locations of hotels on my route.
** Not to make reservations but to have a backup plan just in case the whole, stay at whatever place falls in front of you doesn’t pan out.
* Get another Radar detector.
** I don’t plan on speeding much, but, I don’t have cruise control in my truck and am not looking forward to another ticket.
* Find, build, purchase, pray for a flash diffuser to fit a Vivitar 283.
** I’ve tried to build one three different ways, all of which have failed. At this rate, I could have bought the real thing and come out even but $60 for a hunk of white plastic seems awfully silly.
* Pack clothing and toiletries into one small duffle bag.
* Pull GPS Coordinates of important locations from the web.
* Get my passport from the safe deposit box at the bank.
** Just in case I need to prove I’m an American while in Mexico.
* Clean out my truck.
** I wouldn’t want fields of Mexican crops to die because I brought them some terrible bacteria growing in the unending pile of paper in my backseat.
* Buy “a new lens”:http://www.adorama.com/SG70200MNKAF.html?kbid=62466.
** Hahaha haha ahahaha hahaha hahahaha haha ahahaha ha aha ahahaha. Sometimes I’m really funny.
* Practice some Spanish.
** “Tengo tus huevos en mi mochila!”
** “Quiero sacar un foto de tu hermana.”
** “Hago un grande queso en mis pantalones.”
* Burn some road music.
* Pack my camera.
** This is more work than you can imagine because I always struggle with the ability to be portable and the ability to have what I need. I think a backpack is the best option for the urban photography, but I’ll bring my shooting belt and bags for any nature hikes I go on because it frees up my hands. A messenger bag could prove to be useful as well, but I don’t want to go overboard.
* Consider bringing one or two books on tape.
* Build 6 or 8 flash gels.
** For adaptation to interior light as well as creative use on buildings at night, especially in ghost towns and with abandoned buildings.
* Buy a hat.