1.625 Days Left.

Happy New Year everyone! With the ushering in of 2012 it means I'm getting super close to take off. Without getting too mushy about 2011, I will say that it was a rough year, and I'm glad that 2012 is starting off on such a positive note.

Today's countdown topic is a very important one, and is probably going to be my last countdown post. We're talking about getting to know your destination, and getting mentally ready for your arrival. This should be a continuous process from starting to decide where you're headed to in-flight reading. There are a ton of ways to familiarize yourself with your destination's history, culture, and terrain before whisking off around the globe. As always, any links are provided for your reference, and I'm not affiliated in any way with the products or websites linked to.

Culture Shock:
Why is it so important to understand as much as possible about your destination? Well, especially on long travels abroad, like studying, working, or living, it is impossible to escape the culture shock phenomenon. There are four major phases to culture shock: honeymoon, negotiation, adjustment, and mastery. I won't go into details of each stage here, though a simple web search will give you lots of information. Here's a high level overview of culture shock, symptoms, and tactics for dealing with it from the architecture program at Virginia Tech. You can also check out the Wikipedia article here for another high level overview of the various stages and techniques.
The reason knowing about the culture of your destination ahead of time, as well as know the various stages of culture shock, is so important is that it helps you to recognize the differences and navigate through the feelings of culture shock more easily.

Web Sources:
If you're traveling from the United States, like me, I would suggest starting at the US State Department's travel website. They have a lot of country specific information and tips for safety, differences in culture, descriptions of the country and society, requirements for entering the country, and oodles of other helpful information and resources for Americans overseas.
The next web source I go to is the Blogoshpere. Blogs are a great source of information and stories from real people who have visited and experienced these destinations before. Because they generally aren't sponsored as heavily by travel companies, and usually travel on a tighter budget, they tend to share hidden gems, and will tell what's really worth the money and what isn't. What are my favorite blogs (besides this one)? I like Matt over at LandLopers a lot. He writes very insightful posts on his travels, and gives excellent recommendations on other resources, travel apps, and destinations. I also like The Vacation Gals by Beth, Jennifer, and Kara. These three well traveled moms write great posts on their vacation destinations and also make awesome posts on travel gear. Awesome source for people traveling with families or groups.

Books:
Yep. They still make those! Travel books can be found in great quantities at your local library (yeah, those still exist too!), and I like to check out a few at a time. In getting ready for my France trip, I got a few books from my library, including Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Paris, Frommer's Paris 2012, and Paris for Dummies (which included some content from Frommer's). I also got a copy of TimeOut Shortlist's Paris 2011, but I haven't gotten a chance to go through it yet, and it should provide some good in-flight reading. Out of those I got a chance to read so far, I think I enjoyed Paris for Dummies the most. It seemed to mix in culture, food, language, and history very well, instead of just listing the top attractions. Plus, with tips from Frommer's it seemed like a good two-for-one kinda deal.
Books are great for ideas about what you want to see, as well as quick tips and reminders for negotiating the differences in culture for your destination. They provide a lot of phone numbers, addresses, hours, and pricing too, which help in getting to your destination and staying on budget.

History and Laws:
History and laws are also very important to learn about your destination. Books are great for learning some general history, and you can also try a simple web search (ex. "Paris history") or look to Wikipedia for a starting point. A lot of people discredit Wikipedia, but as long as you follow the references and do some supplemental research, it can make a really good place for an overview of a subject. You also need to learn certain laws for your destination country, because when you travel abroad, you are subject to them, and the US State Dept. can rarely come dashing to your rescue. For example, as a photographer, I needed to study the laws of what I can and can't take pictures of in France. Most officers will let a one time slip happen in when they come to realize you're a foreign traveler, but why take the risk? Know before you go. Again, a simple web search (ex. "French photography law") could produce some useful results, but make sure make to look at the Consulate/Embassy's website or contact them (if allowed) to get a definite answer.

Be Ready for Adventure:
No amount of book reading or web surfing will eliminate the culture shock, but it will make your visit more comfortable and enjoyable. Just remember, even if you plan the whole trip out on paper, things rarely go according to plan. Be ready to have a little adventure, safely of course, and go with the flow if your bus is a little late or you miss a train by a few minutes. Getting overworked and upset over sticking a strict itinerary is a sure way to make sure nobody enjoys the trip...

Photo time! This is also probably one of my last photos that doesn't really seem to be related to the post. I've just wanted to get into the habit of posting photos so it isn't something strange and new when I arrive.

Today's picture is of a girl who thinks she can't ever look good in a photo.

Cori looking absolutely gorgeous on New Year's Eve

I think the photo above is more than enough to prove her wrong. The only post production work I did was to correct the color balance from the indoor lights (one of the few things I prefer doing in post) and I added a light from the bottom left corner and in the background. I did that with a pretty nifty feature in Corel Painter Essentials, which I didn't know even existed until I was messing around and stumbled onto it. The menu is called "Add Light..." and can be used to add multiple light sources. It can be difficult to wrangle in and not way over light the picture, but can be used for some really well done lighting, as seen above. Especially useful for students like me, who can't afford a lot of fancy lights.

Alright, that's it for this post. Thanks for everyone's support so far in the getting ready process, next post will be from across the pond!