Today marks 2 full months on the road since departing from my father's house in Kingsville, Ontario on October 20,2008. The trip has been incredible so far.... and I sure appreciate being down south when my friends tell me about all the snow back home right now. I'll take blowing sand over blowing snow, any day!
First, let me thank everyone who has been following the blog and especially those who've taken time to post or send comments. A huge THANKS!
I thought you might be interested in some of the trip stats which are current as of today:
- 19,955 photos taken
- 14,180 km driven
- 170 km walked carrying my camera gear
- 77 species of birds photographed
- 1,156 unique visitors to this blog (don't worry, I don't know who you are!)
- 5 days - longest time I've gone without a shower
- 13 times eating Mexican food for dinner
- 7 pieces of camera gear damaged or wrecked
- 1 hard drive ruined (backed up)
- $1.49 US/Gallon - cheapest gas [equals about 50c/litre CDN]
- 3 Mexican residents seen climbing the fence between Mexico/US border then running
- 1 public washroom found with bullet holes straight through both walls
Every day has new adventures and photo opportunities. Thanks again for continuing to read the blog!
C'mon dude. Only 5 days without a shower? I know you can do better than that...
ReplyDeleteAlex, how many days for you? Not that we should be making a contest of poor hygiene!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info update Ethan. My wife and I had a good laugh about the washroom with the bullet holes in the walls. What camera gear did you damage?
ReplyDeleteHi Ethan, it is fun to follow your adventure and enjoy your photos as always, have a great Christmas and travel safely.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Ethan, enjoy the warmth!
ReplyDeleteEthan,
ReplyDeleteNot sure if you remember me from way back, I'm Bob Wickett. Fantastic blog and photos. Inspired me to create my own (http://bob-wickett.blogspot.com). May as well share some of the pictures I take. Added you as a blog I follow. Good move going south. Ask Tom about the Cedar Creek CBC yesterday. He couldn't wait to get to Tuscon for the Holidays. Keep up the good work. Your photos are fantastic.
Bob
You should be very happy to be in the warmth!!! It's getting difficult to shovel the snow to the top of the heap!! I'm very impressed with your stats... that's 1 photo every 700 meters of your trip so far!!! I'm traveling to Ottawa tomorrow for the holidays to spend time with our families, Simon's meeting me there Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas & Have fun in Tuscon with your Folks!!! Shar
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your 2 month anniversary! Wow that's 327 pics a day. Not bad. Hope you got shots of the Mexicans..that's not something you see every day (or maybe you do if you live there). Anyhoo, have a wonderful Christmas.
ReplyDeleteNice work Ethan, but 5 days without a shower is nothing new for you....Melissa says you went weeks when you were roommates....or at least you smelled like you did. Hehehe...she didn't actually say that, I made it up.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, happing shooting buddy! I'm fully jealous. We don't have as much snow in Guelph as the Bruce or Midland, but I'm shoveling....
I also picked up a D300!! So I'm pumped to get out for some good winter scenes for practice...as soon as I figure out how it works....
Cheers,
Clint.
Thanks for sharing your adventures and great pics.
ReplyDeleteHave a terrific holiday with your family and safe travel in the New Year.
Regards Shell&Chris MacLEAN
Ethan,
ReplyDeleteThose are some impressive stats!
First question for my pending travel adventure: how the heck did you damage so much gear in such a short time???? YIKES! I will take notes :)
Ethan,
ReplyDeleteHave been reading your blog for a couple weeks now and, you are doing a great job not only with the photography but in taking us all on this trip with you!
Inspirational Images and words
Keep it coming!
Thanks everybody for the kind words!
ReplyDeleteA few people have wanted to know about all the gear that I've damaged. I'm unusually hard on gear - especially on a trip like this where I'm shooting a very high volume of photos and often in rugged conditions. Here's the list:
-3 filters dropped on rock - 2 shattered, 1 scratched
-24-70mm lens barrel loosened up due to continued movement while hiking with the gear hanging over my shoulder, or travelling on rough roads
- cable release shorted out from being stretched, stepped on and accidentally dunked in water
-500mm lens with 1.4x teleconvertor fell out of car and landed with the TC end into the dirt; scratched the 1.4x
-1DsmIII body - lens release pin became stuck in, so I made an emergency repair
Crossing my fingers that I don't wreck anything else!
Ethan-
love close up of birds..its always looks so impressive
ReplyDelete