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Brigada Today
06 Apr 2007
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#1: Beat jet lag (Sleep E., Party W., Gear up to sleep, Herd your kids)
#2: Get your own mosquito tent (for malaria-infested areas)
#3: Insist on AC adaptors that don't require converters/transformers
#4: Rent or buy a "worldphone", satphone, and/or sat modem
#5: Pack by checklist, pack light
#6: Use roller bags
#7: Bring a filtered water bottle
#8: Carry a thin notebook & a pen, write everything down
#9: Use a money belt
#10: Try a photographer's vest
Today, we suggest you add to that list... #11: Stay healthy, but don't become O.C. -- I always tell my kids, "If you want Ferrari performance, you better power up your engine with high octane fuel." How do you power up your own personal engine? You decide, but I'll tell you what works for me. No matter where I am in the world, I make sure I have breakfast food with me. I never miss. Maybe it's a granola bar from home and a banana from the local market. Or maybe it's a bowl of some kind of bran cereal with "a box of milk." Either way, I think it's the most important meal of the day. If I miss breakfast, however, I roll with the flow and just pick up when I can. No worries. In general, when traveling, I like to avoid any food that hasn't been peeled, washed in a safe way, and/or cooked. That means most leafy salads are off-limits for me. They just trap too many impurities in the crevices of all those leaves. In fact, I stay away from any foods with crevices. I also avoid sauces and dressings that might have picked up impurities from setting out too long. I carry a very small bottle of hand sanitizer with me to "wash up" before handling any foods with my hands or before I touch my eyes. I make sure I know how much sleep I need -- then I get it as best I can. Know yourself and your limitations, then stick to them. You'll do no good for anyone else in the world if you get amoebic dysentery. At the same time, I try not to become obsessive-compulsive (O.C.) about the whole thing. After all, we are in God's service, we are in the work of making disciples of all nations, so he's promised he'll be *with* us. What safer place on earth can one imagine? :-)
#12: Find a camera/kit you can truly *carry*, then *use* it -- I was hauled into the back of a swat truck once in Uruguay because, unbeknownst to me, policemen were making a drug bust in the market I was photographing. I think they concluded I was working for some magazine or something because the camera I was using had one of those long telephoto lenses on the front. It was too high profile. My suggestion is - carry a camera that's comfortable and practical for you, but beware of equipment that raises your profile unnecessarily. Right now, I'm using a Canon PowerShot G7. It's one of those unique cameras that has essentially all the settings of a single-lense reflex, without the look of one; in fact, it carries reasonably well in my jacket or vest pocket, completely out of sight. But it's probably too much camera if you're not the type to study the owner's manual. Again, the secret is to find something that works well. Read reviews online. When you notice that a friend or co- worker is producing great results, ask her what she uses, then see if that would work for you. And once you find something you like, stick with it -- and *use* it. That means you'll probably a little tripod to stick in your backpack or vest pocket. It's the only way you'll get shots with *you* in them (using the self-timer). My carry tripod is so light, I barely know it's in one of my right vest pockets. It's probably just 6" long, but it's generally all I need to capture a shot of a luncheon meeting or a time-exposure of a church building at night. I sacrifice a bit by carrying a rather powerful external flash. Those built-in on-board flashes are great if you're only taking snapshots up to 11' away. To capture all those new believers at 10pm, you'll need something stronger. Get a flash attachment with a head that you can pivot upwards to "bounce" the flash off the ceiling so it illuminates the entire room. That's the way to get a really pleasing picture at night without all the glare in your subject's eyes.
Catch more "cool tools" for mission and travel, next edition
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