RTW without a camera – no photos!

I’m the kind of traveler who hardly can contemplate a trip to the store without tossing a small camera in my bag – so the concept of setting out for a long-term trip without a camera is inconceivable to me. Yet that’s just what BootsnAll member circusoflife is planning to do.

Circusoflife is currently without any cameras in his life, and is about to set off on his second long-term trip. This time it’s a roughly 3-month adventure he’s got planned, including Iceland, Italy, Poland, Kuwait, Yemen, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, Cambodia, and Hawaii (among other places). Most of the places on his tentative itinerary are places he hasn’t been before.

And he’s still planning to not bring a camera with him on this trip.

I have taken thousands of photos from the last RTW (2003/2004) and numerous 1-2 month trips. Many I have used on a website – but I seldom, if ever, look at these photos again. They collect digital dust on the hard drive. I’m past the idea of seeing myself in a photo at some exotic locale or proving to others – “Look I was here”

I have already decided to NOT bring / use a camera. My brain will be my camera. Not having to frame an image / “look for the shot” of coolness / uniqueness – maybe I will notice things I didn’t before. Experience things differently – a different sense of time / space. Maybe I will buy some postcards – but if experience is any guide – those collect dust too.

Since his decision is already made, circusoflife isn’t looking for someone to talk him out of (or into) something, but he is looking for other travelers’ thoughts on taking a long-term trip without a camera in tow.

Hop over to this thread on the BootsnAll boards to see what others have already said, and add your feedback, too.