There are a few spots left on the upcoming Laos Photo Tour that Gavin Gough and I will be hosting this October. If you’ve been thinking of participating in a photo tour or workshop and haven’t yet experienced the wonder that is Laos, then I would encourage you to take a look at the tour site. This will be something special!

Laos is one of the few countries in SE Asia that remains relatively untouched by the outside world. But this is changing. This is an opportunity to see and experience a unique country and culture before it changes forever, and alongside a world-class travel photographer in Gavin Gough, no less!

But this is more than merely a photo tour. You will get the opportunity to give back to local communities and NGOs as we visit ethnic minority tribal groups and community development projects. Both Gavin and myself will be donating a portion of the tour fees to a local NGO and we encourage participants to do the same. As a group, we will photograph a community development project and each donate a selection of our images to the NGO for use in media and marketing materials to promote their vision and mission.

The tour runs from the 11th to the 24th of October from Vientiane (you will arrive on the 10th, and the tour concludes on the evening of the 24th). The cost is $4100 USD from Vientiane and includes all in-country travel, food and accomodation. You will need to make your own way to/from Vientiane. For full details and registration details, please visit the tour site.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Gavin or myself through our websites or the tour site. We look forward to welcoming you in Laos!

“…and it came to pass that they made a green as green as grass. Green as green leaves on a tree, green as islands in the sea.” (Extra points if you recognize the reference)

Today’s wallpapers are brought to you by the colour green.

That’s right folks, I’m feeling so generous, I’m offering two wallpapers for your viewing pleasure this month. The first was made early one morning at the flower market in Bangkok and the other on a side street in Vientiane, Laos.

Part of the reason you’re getting two is the that the focus on the woman in the first image is quite soft. But I like it anyway, so I’m posting it here. If it bugs you, then hey, you’ve got another choice Enjoy!

Wallpaper 1 Download Links

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the relevant image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

Wallpaper 2 Download Links

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the relevant image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

June’s wallpaper was taken in Wat Sissaket (Sissaket Temple), one of the oldest temples in Vientiane, on my recent visit to Laos. It was great being back in Laos after two years, though as expected, things had changed a little. I was able to observe our Metamorphic training program in full and catch up with some old friends.

Back to the Wallpaper! The image is a hand of one of the many Buddha statues that line the alcoves of the temple courtyard. The brilliant colours are from the robe draped over the Buddha.

Laos is primarily a Buddhist nation, with 67% of the Lao population identifying themselves as Buddhist. In practice, Lao Buddhism consists of a mix of Buddhist and Animist beliefs and ceremonies.

As usual, the wallpaper is available in a number of sizes:

June Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
June Wallpaper 1440 x 900
June Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

I realize this is extremely overdue, but here’s the wallpaper for May. I’ve been in Cambodia and Laos for Metamorphic programs and just haven’t had the time to really maintain an online presence lately. It’s been both exhausting and absolutely brilliant at the same time. After a month away, I’m more than ready to head home and see my family. I’m in Bangkok today and tomorrow before catching the midnight Thai flight to Brisbane tomorrow night.

This shot was taken in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A big thankyou goes out to photojournalist Jack Kurtz, who kindly lent me a lens after one of mine died while photographing the red shirts a month ago.

You know the drill. Various sizes available below.

April Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
April Wallpaper 1440 x 900
April Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

Hi Folks,

I’d like to bring a very important matter to your attention. On April 14 a series of powerful earthquakes hit the town of Yushu, China. Friend and fellow photographer Brian Hirschy lives in China and often works in and around the town of Yushu. He is involved with the only NGO officially allowed to work in the area, making the need for awareness and support enormous. Brian has a deep passion for this, as he has lived and worked with these people for many years and has experienced personal loss of close friends in this tragedy. I won’t go into details here, but rather will point you to some blog posts that Brian has written:

The first is a guest blog post on fellow humanitarian photographer Matt Brandon’s blog, thedigitaltrekker.com , called ‘When We’re Simply Human’

The second is a post on Brian’s own blog where he has posted a photo series featuring the people directly involved in the relief effort, called ‘The Faces of Relief’

Lastly, and most importantly, the NGO that Brian works with has set up a website called Yushu Earthquake Relief where you can follow the latest updates on what is happening on the ground, spread the word and donate urgently needed funds to the only NGO officially allowed to work on site. Please take a look and help us raise awareness of this issue and if you are able, please consider giving a generous donation.

Some images from my first week back in Papua New Guinea. I’ll most probably be off the radar for 4-5 days while I’m in Madang, on the north coast. I’ll be back Monday evening. Enjoy!

April’s wallpaper comes from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG), and was taken along the waterfront near Ela Beach. Just a quick one today as I have sketchy access to internet at the moment. As per usual, choose your preferred size below.

April Wallpaper 1280 x 800 (or click on the image above)
April Wallpaper 1440 x 900
April Wallpaper 1920 x 1200

I’m very excited to finally introduce fotofugitive[tours], an initiative that provides socially responsible and culturally sensitive photo tours focusing on development initiatives and cultural events in developing countries, with an emphasis on respect, compassion & humility. And I’m especially excited to announce our first tour which will be in Laos from October 10 through 24 and hosted by myself and travel photographer extraordinaire Gavin Gough.

As most of you know, I lived in Laos for two years and loved every minute of it, so I just can’t wait to give you a glimpse into the magic of this wonderful country. The tour will cover Temples and Festivals in the capital Vientiane, dramatic karst scenery in Vang Vieng, ancient World Heritage listed temples and processions of saffron-clad monks in historic Luang Prabang, and the colourful dress and cultures of ethnic minority tribes in Luangnamtha including the opportunity of an overnight village stay.

We’re very lucky to have Gavin Gough on board for this tour. This is a unique opportunity to travel, shoot and learn from one of the best travel photographers out there. If you haven’t seen his recent coverage of the Wai Khru Tattoo Festival and the Red Shirt protestors in Bangkok, then do yourself a favour and check it out. You will also benefit from having someone leading who has lived, worked and played in the places we will be visiting – yours truly

The tour runs from the 11th to the 24th of October from Vientiane (you will arrive on the 10th, and the tour concludes on the evening of the 24th). The cost is $4100 USD from Vientiane and includes all in-country travel, food and accomodation. You will need to make your own way to/from Vientiane.

There is more information on the tour website, so rather than prattle on here, without further ado I’ll simply direct you to the Laos page on fotofugitive[tours] where you can read all about it, sign up and ask any questions you may have. Feel free to drop questions in the comments below too.

Looking forward to meeting up with you in Vientiane …

So, your flights are booked, bags packed and you have your passport at the ready. You’re all set. But what happens if your passport, tickets or other important travel documents are stolen or lost? Do you have a backup plan? Most Embassies/Consulates will issue you with a temporary travel document in lieu of your missing passport but you will still need to prove your identity, and if your other ID is also missing, then you’re in a bit of a bind. The process will go a lot smoother if you have a scanned copy of your passport with you. It’s always a good idea to travel with a printed copy of this on your person, and have access to the original file. Now, I realise this will be old hat to many of you but here are some ways to store your important travel documents while on the road. Who knows, maybe even the seasoned travelers among you will pick up an idea here or there.

Gmail

This is the first solution I heard of, quite some time back. It simply involves emailing your travel documents to your gmail account for retrieval at a later date. But what if you get a lot of mail in that account? Sifting through months of emails to find what you’re looking for is nobody’s idea of fun. Heres how to set up gmail so you always have instant access without having to search:

1. Create a label. Go to Settings and click on the Labels tab. At the bottom of the page, create a new label (I called mine ‘Travel Docs’).

2. Create a filter. Go to the Filters tab and click on ‘Create a new filter’. Choose a keyword/s and enter it/them in the Subject line. Be sure to choose something specific or include symbols. You don’t want it catching random emails that have nothing to do with your travel plans. I use [traveldocs]. Click Next Step. Tick the checkbox marked ‘Apply the label’ and select the label you created in Step 1. Click Create Filter.

3. In your email client, create a new email. In the Subject field, make sure your the keyword you selected in Step 2 is included, [traveldocs] in my case. Attach your travel documents and send! Be sure to send from a different email address than your gmail one to avoid the email showing up twice in your filter and looking messy (it will grab it from your inbox AND your sent box). Check your gmail account. Your filter/label should be in the left-hand menu and your travel document email/s should be in it.

I choose to send separate emails for passports, frequent flyer details, and individual trip documents to make things easier to find.

Evernote

Save your travel documents as notes in Evernote. You can access your evernote account from the application on your computer, via the web or using your iPhone or equivalent, and it is all synced across the board. I’ll let you explore this  one for yourself as it’s pretty straight forward. The one thing to be aware of though is that you can only export as Evernote XML (.enex) or HTML. If you want to directly acces the original jpeg or pdf you put into evernote, you need to export as HTML. Your original file will be in the .resources folder of the exported HTML folder. It’s pretty straightforward once you know this, but until you do it can be confusing.

Evernote comes in free and paid accounts, but the free option gives you ore than enough storage space for our purposes here.

Dropbox

First, download Dropbox and sign up for a free account. Once you have it set up, simply copy/paste the folders containing your travel documents into your dropbox. You can then access your files from your computer or via the web. Dropbox comes with 2GB of free storage.

accessMyID

If you’re willing to pay to ensure your documents stay secure, accessMyID looks like a great option, and is probably the way I will go in the future. From their site:

AccessMyID.com allows you to upload and securely store your vital travel documents, Personal and Medical Profiles online. Stored documents provide indisputable Consulate or bank ID.
Be organized. Travel prepared.

This looks like a much more secure option than those listed above IMHO as it uses 2048 bit SSL security. Prices are $19.95/1year, $34.95/3years, $49.95/3years

And there you have it. I’m currently using Gmail, Evernote and Dropbox to ensure redundant backup while on the road, as some services such as Gmail can be blocked in certain parts of the world.

Have any other solutions that have worked for you? Please share them in the comments.

Over the next two months I will be taking no less than 9 flights, one of which is BNE-BKK. Now, every time I take that flight to Bangkok, I wake the next day with cold-like symptoms. The cause could be a variety of things, from picking up a bug on the plane to the air-conditioning in the hotel. I am going to test whether it may be the former by trying this nifty little travel tip I picked up from Daniel Pink:

Note from Daniel’s site:
(Warning: This video might gross out some of you. Viewer discretion is advised.)

I believe the antibiotic ointment he mentions is spelt Bacitracin, in case you didn’t quite catch it.

Have other travel tips that have worked for you? We’d love to hear ‘em. Please share them in the comments.