How much is enough?

As you are reading, this I am standing in awe of the Taj Mahal. Since I just left for India a few days ago, I thought it would be a good reminder of what you need to do about money before you take off on your next amazing journey.

Clients always ask me how much money should they take or how much should they exchange before they go? My standard answer is, as little as possible. There’s no value in coming home with Euros that cost 1.5 dollars to take them back at another time when the Euro is a 1.1 dollar. Or even worse, to pay a transaction fee to change your dollars into Euros then pay to change it back again. In today’s world, plastic is the way to go. 

1. Credit cards and your ATM debit card are your best choices. 

But you must be smart about both cards. Use a no foreign transaction fee credit card for the majority of international spending (this includes purchases made through foreign-based companies while still in the United States).  That cute little Paris B&B you booked directly with the owner, before you left the US, could add 2-4% in foreign transaction fee. All your purchases abroad could cost you an additional 2-4% if you don’t have a foreign transaction fee credit card. In addition, why waste the time exchanging money and risk carrying it around, when a credit card gives the best possible exchange rates?

It’s common for international travelers, especially first-timers, not to feel ready to leave until they’ve got some of the hard currency used in their destination country. It’s just one of those things that have traditionally been recommended.

But with the banking system becoming increasingly digitalized, it makes sense for the easiest way to buy things in a foreign currency to be with plastic. Why waste the time exchanging physical currency and risk carrying it around when a credit card handles the process automatically and gives the best possible exchange rates in the process? You’re going to save relative to a bank or airport kiosk exchange no matter what card you use, but getting a credit card with no foreign fees is an easy way to reduce costs even more. Just remember to get such a card before booking anything through a foreign-based company because if the transaction gets processed outside of the U.S., it will trigger a foreign surcharge.

2. Bring a debit card with low international ATM withdrawal fees as well

You’re going to need cash at some point in your trip – whether it’s for a cab, tipping a bellboy, or something else entirely. The best way to accommodate that need is to bring an ATM debit card, as long as it doesn’t charge too much for international ATM withdrawals. This will enable you to not only get the same low exchange rate as with your credit card, but you’ll also be able to take out cash as needed and reduce the damage a pickpocket could do.

3. Notify your bank of your travel plans

Banks will suspend your credit and debit cards due to suspicions of fraud if you do not alert them to the fact that you’re traveling out of the country. This might actually be a good idea even if you’re traveling domestically because banks have been known to suspend accounts that display transactions outside one’s normal geographic area.

4. Get the phone number to call your bank collect

If your card gets lost or stolen, being able to contact your bank will not only help nip any potential fraud in the bud, but most banks will also overnight you a new card. The bank will pay for the call too, so you needn’t worry about international charges.

5. Steer clear of dynamic currency conversion

If a merchant offers to convert your purchase total from the native currency to U.S. dollars, they might be trying to help you out. Or they could be looking for an excuse to apply a high exchange rate and squeeze a bit more money out of you. It’s best not to find out, especially when you can use your phone or a small pocket calculator to make quick conversions and better understand how much things cost.

I'm going to do my part to support the Indian economy. I hope you'll do yours on your next trip.

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What's the difference between a Bistro and a Bistro?

As you are reading this I have probably just gotten off the plane from India or just walking through my front door. That being the case, I decided to share a colleagues' wonderful blog on how to navigate all the fabulous food options Paris has to offer. Thank you to Autumn Stettheimer Welborn, Jet Lag Please, whose favorite city is Paris for this enlightening and humorous lesson on French restaurants.

Clients ask Autumn “I know Paris has all this great food, but it’s like there are too many choices! Can you break it down to something a little easier?”

Of course, I can. Now, if you are one of my clients, then you know I always offer to supply my best dining suggestions based on the itinerary I’ve designed (and make any reservations for you). But some of you are determined to “fly by the seat of your pants”— in which case you will most certainly need to know (first and foremost) the difference between the different types of restaurants and food sellers. So, this may feel like you’re back in school, but my glossary has saved many a day in Paris!

Café: These little things are for coffee and don’t offer a ton of food options. Think of them as a good stop for breakfast (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t go to a boulangerie and get some fresh bread or pâtisserie for pastries). Cafés are easily confused with bistros if they contain a few tables, though the bistro is your better option for a cooked meal. My suggestion: stop by the neighborhood bakery (the one with the longest line) and pick out your breakfast. Then, walk to a neighborhood café with street tables, order up your preferred caffeinated beverage “to stay,” and take a seat at a table for some people watching.

Bistro: Ah, the Parisian bistro. Unfortunately, so many restaurateurs have confused and ruined the name and worth of a bistro. A true bistro is your best friend when looking for a great meal in Paris. These are the places that the neighborhood locals frequent. You’ll know you’re at a bistro because you’ll see one of these little beauties out front: 

LOOK TO THE CHALKBOARD TO FIND YOUR LUNCH. That bad boy right there is called the “plat du jour”—the daily special. You know you’re at a not-made-for-tourists spot when:

  • At least 15 of the 20 or so tables are full
  • Those tables appear to be pretty jammed together
  • There is a plat du jour on a chalkboard outside
  • People are speaking in French

When you find that place, eat there. Order the plat du jour. It’s there for a reason! And that reason is because the chef found all of its ingredients at the market that morning.

SIDEBAR: Bistros serve alcohol, BTW; cafés do not.

Now, let me explain an important distinction among bistros. There are these little cozy sidewalk bistros like I just described. You pop in there for lunch. But there are also bistros. These bistros are actually restaurants dressed up as bistros because they serve traditional French bistro food.

The difference??

You’re there for dinner, people look nice, and you probably should have made a reservation two days ago. This kind of bistro you should definitely eat at. It won’t be cheap, per se, but it will be divine. Take, for {an inflated} example, Benoît (in le Marais district). This little gem serves up Classic French fare as designed by THE Alain Ducasse. You’ll probably spend 60+ Euros per person on dinner here. I know, right. But it is quite different than a “restaurant” because, at an Alain Ducasse restaurant, you’ll spend upwards of 200 Euros per person. This is the case at his phenomenal Eiffel Tower restaurant, Le Jules Verne—worth every penny for the experience alone and double for the food. But at his flagship restaurant at the Plaza Athénée, get ready to spend 500 Euros! Per person! At lunch!!!! Suddenly fulfilling your Parisian foodie fantasies at Benoît is sounding pretty good, huh?

Brasserie: This one is much easier to describe. Generally (though exceptions abound), a brasserie is a bar—a nice one that serves good food all day long with quicker service and good prices. If you want to be all American about fast eating on your schedule, go here. They also offer a plat du jour and a good carte. Let me be clear. This is not Hooters. They are fancier than you expect, though you aren’t expected to come in dress clothes (but then again, Parisians always look nice, so don’t go in your yoga pants). Brasseries serve traditional French and Alsatian (like, from Alsace) food—but they do it in a more typical to Americans way. Think of a really fancy gastropub. Got it? The best of these usually have choucroute and saucissons. If they do, order that. One of my favorite authentic Alsatian brasseries is Chez Jenny, also in the Marais (there’s seriously so much good food in the Marais).

Okay, now we are all salivating from Autumn's descriptions. When are you going to taste these delights for real?!

Want to go to Paris? Call me. Let's talk.

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10 Tips For Better Travel Photos

Travel photos are not only a way to share our adventures with family and friends, they bring back all the memories associated with our journeys. Photos freeze that moment in time, preserved for years later, to savor.

The trip to India is less than 2 weeks away. I still haven’t mastered all the things my wonderful Sony Alpha 6000 can do.  Sadly, I’m still shooting on automatic. I came across this article by Angela Nicholson and thought these tips will help any traveler using a cell phone to professional camera. Here are Angela’s tips to making those travel photos the masterpieces you want to see.

1. Take the right camera Professional photographers use big, complex cameras and they produce fantastic pictures, but if you’re a novice a pro-level camera is likely to be very intimidating. If you’re planning to buy a new camera to take on your journey, be realistic about your experience and get something appropriate. Ideally select a camera that has a large sensor, as physically bigger sensors tend to produce better quality images. There are some excellent compact cameras with good sized sensors and extensive zoom ranges. However, also consider a compact system camera (CSC). Like many compacts, CSCs and SLRs, they also have automatic modes that you can use when you’re starting out, along with more advanced options that you can use when you gain in confidence. (That’s the part I’m still aiming for.)

2. Travel light If you’ve got lots of camera kit, think carefully about what you’re going to be shooting and the kit that you need to take. If you’re going on a walking holiday, then do you really need a long telephoto lens? Granted, there might be the odd occasion when you could frame up a nice distant detail, but do you want to carry it for the rest of the time? If you’re going on a safari, then it’s a different matter; take the long lenses to get the wildlife shots. (Tigers, I hope to catch you). Once you’ve decided which camera and lenses you’re going to take, make sure that you’ve got the batteries, battery chargers and memory cards. Lots of memory cards. Make sure that the bag you’re going to use can take everything you need and that it’s comfortable to carry. If you can, take a tripod; you’ll be glad you did at night and if you want to shoot long exposures. There are lots of travel tripods that are small and lightweight yet reasonably sturdy.

3. Shoot raw (This is for the pros out there) Nine times out of ten you can get away with shooting JPEGs, but Raw files contain much more data and they allow you to perform more adjustment if you make a mistake with the white balance or exposure. You also get control over the level of noise removal so you can process low-light images to hide the colored speckling without losing lots of detail.

 

4. Know your exposure modes Most cameras have scene modes that tailor the camera settings to suit the shooting situations. With a portrait for example, portrait mode will tell the camera to set quite a wide aperture to blur the background, while in landscape mode it sets a small aperture to capture lots of sharp detail. It’s better to swap between these modes than shoot in fully automatic. If you’re more confident, try using aperture priority, shutter priority and manual exposure modes. In aperture priority mode you set the aperture so you can control how much of the scene around the focus point is sharp, while the camera controls shutter speed for you. Meanwhile in shutter priority mode, you set the shutter speed to determine whether any subject movement is blurred or frozen, while the camera takes control of aperture. In manual exposure mode, you set both aperture and shutter speed. Generally speaking, aperture priority is a good choice for travel photography. Shoot at a wide aperture (small f/number like f/2.8) to isolate subjects from their surroundings with background blur.

5. Be quick Candid photographs of people are a great way of capturing the vibe of a new place. When you’re photographing someone, you want to capture them unawares. So don’t hang about, have the camera at the ready and take the shot quickly. If they spot you and smile, great: give them a wave and ask if you can take another. Again, be quick; they’ll become self-conscious if you take ages. If they frown, give them an apologetic wave and move on.  

6. Shoot themes and details There are often things that stick in your mind about a particular place. In a spice market, for example, it might be the vibrant colors, in an old Tuscan city it could be the peeling paint and texture of the walls. Whatever it is, make a point of shooting a series of images about it. It’s often the details that you recall rather than the bigger picture.

7. Shoot at night Lots of cities and towns look better at night. Any litter is lost in the dark and the most attractive buildings are illuminated. Shoot while there’s still some color in the sky, before it goes inky black; it will give you more attractive images with less dense shadows. Shoot with your camera on a tripod and keep the sensitivity (ISO) setting low. This will ensure the best image quality with the most vibrant colors.

8. Take proper selfies Don’t forget to take a few photos of yourself enjoying the trip. But don’t do it with the camera at arm’s length: put it on a tripod and use the self-timer or if it has the option, Wi-Fi control on your phone. Including people in landscape and scenery shots can help add scale and depth. Also, if the people are looking towards the view rather than at the camera, their gaze helps draw viewers’ eyes in the right direction. (I wonder what she thinks of selfie sticks??)

9. Get up early In busy tourist areas it’s worth getting up early to beat the crowds and traffic. Getting up before sunrise on a day that promises you sunshine will reward you with the best light: warm and soft. Don’t forget your tripod; it will be gloomier than you think at sunrise and a low sensitivity setting will give the best results. Once you’ve captured the general scene, start photographing local people setting up market stalls and arriving at work. 

10. Try long exposures It can be hard to replicate the shots that you see in travel magazines if you can’t get to tourist hot-spots before the masses. However, there are still creative opportunities in busy locations. Fitting a dense natural density filter over the lens of your camera will allow you to take a very long exposure in daylight. The aim is to shoot with an exposure that’s long enough to blur the movement of the people in the scene, so you’ll need to put the camera on a tripod and shoot in aperture priority or manual exposure mode with a low sensitivity setting. If the people move quite quickly you may be able to get a shot without any figures being visible. Alternatively, you can get shots with blurred ghosts that give a sense of the business of the place and reflect your experience more closely. 

Because of space limitations I eliminated the photos. If you would like to see the photos that go with the tips, here’s the link. 

Angela Nicholson has been head of testing for various photography magazines and now works as a freelance reviewer, writer and photographer.  If you want to know more about Angela, click here. 

If you would like to share your favorite travel photos, I would love to see them.  

Maybe I’ll start posting reader’s photos on my website.

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