Like a face filled with the wrinkles of time, my camera’s scratches evoke a life well-lived. My trusty Canon Powershot camera has been with me for multiple years, on multiple continents, and across state borders — tucked away safely in my pocket. It’s survived drops, falls, and the occasional guy in India yelling at me to put it away. It’s not the fanciest, priciest, or most high-tech camera out there, but because it fits in my pocket and is always with me, as photographer Chase Jarvis has famously said: “the best camera is the one you have with you.”
Indeed, always having a camera with me has become my number one rule of travel. The beauty of travel is that it opens up your eyes to new ways of seeing even the most mundane things in the world. Having a camera with you — and as a result thinking of what could make an interesting shot — refocuses your mind on your travels allowing you to better connect with your surroundings. I’ve found that as much as I enjoy reliving my travels through my photos in which I took the time to compose a shot, often-times the spontaneous snapshot — the dog bathing itself in a tub of water following a rain storm, or a ridiculous sign in Russia — bring back the strongest memories. Indeed, it’s because of this that I eschew the big SLR cameras, preferring, instead, to rely upon a model that can be taken anywhere at anytime. Besides, traveling around with a huge black camera is a good way of drawing unwanted attention to yourself, and, afterall, a great photo should be all about the subject, not the means of capturing it.
So, before sharing a few of my favorite serendipitous travel photos with you, I implore you, dear Sosauce travel geek: bring your camera with you!
A dog cooling off after a rainstorm in India
Somehow a cat wandered past airport security in India...and no one seemed to care
After randomly deciding to buy these Costa Rican candies, about 5 minutes later we happened to serendipitously walk by their advertising car!
Apparently if you walk up this hill in Moscow...you get decapitated?!
Alex Budak is a recent graduate of UCLA and is currently enrolled as a graduate student at Georgetown University where he studies Public Policy and Social Entrepreneurship. You can see more of his travels on Sosauce, his blog, or follow him on Twitter.
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[...] Three hours later we boarded Cruise #2 to Helsingfors (that’s Finnish for Helsinki). Nothing better than serendipitous travel! [...]
To Stephanie: a strap helps. I don’t even need a drink to be clumsy. I try to force myself to put the strap around my wrist before taking the camera out of the case.
…Always bring your camera… everywhere, every day! There is often something worth snapping, even in your home town.
I have a Canon powershot that I love as well. Unfortunatly it’s my third one. After dropping the first two I learned that I really can’t take it everywhere…especially if I’ve been drinking. Oops!