Travel Tips: Documenting: Postscript

"Documenting" is interesting. Many people try to show a lot of things online. However, many people confuse about "facts" and "thoughts."

Some for facts & imaginations:

Here is a very boring photo. I think many people don't feel anything for this. However, you can find a lot of facts on this.

You can try to write a sentences like this.

There is near the beach because there are some seagulls. The tide might be low because it has a lagoon. I found the couple. They must be travelers. This is a gulf scene because behind the waterfront is a land, or maybe this is a lake photo. The water is calm, and some sailboats are on the water. I looked for the birds on the illustrated book, and I saw some of them are albatrosses.

Well, it's a scene with my imagination, but which are the facts? which are my imaginations?

There is near the beach because there are some seagulls. The tide might be low because it has a lagoon. I found the couple. They must be travelers. This is a gulf scene because behind the waterfront is a land, or maybe this is a lake photo. The water is calm, and some sailboats are on the water. I looked for the birds on the illustrated book, and I saw some of them are albatrosses.

       : Facts        : Imaginations

In documenting, the combination of fact and imagination is very important. Before you travel, you imagine a lot of things for the destinations and attractions(Imagination), but when you reach there, you find they have only some small glossary marts, a small inn, and a dirty beach(Fact).

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"Documenting" is with the same way of "Academic Writing." I took some English language classes in a community college in California. Their instruction is completely wrong because their instruction is with the Imagination parts. If their instruction is correct, people can say everything as they want. It's the wrong way for documenting.

If you take English writing, or documentary classes in your place, please take with a good teacher. It absolutely makes your sense either better or bad.

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Here is a very famous "imagination" song in the world.

"Imagine" (1971) 

by John Lennon

Please listen to the song carefully. This song has both facts and imaginations at once. If he sang for the purpose of informing the world situations, he told the facts. If he sang for the purpose of inspiring people, he told his imagination.

Which is your answer for this song? or both?

Travel Tips: Documenting #3

How was your winter vacation? After we travel to the world, we have a lot of memories and things from the travel. How to keep the memories are very different from each person. Some people don't like to keep these items. Therefore, they don't bring back anything for it. Some people like to have a lot of items. However, they keep too much. How much things did you bring back from your travel?

Now the time is great. Many people use their smartphone to keep everything. You may just have a memory card for the travel. However, when you open your memory card, it's totally mess, right? I tell you some solutions here.

CASE 1: IF YOU JUST WANT TO KEEP AND SHARE

Rearrange and share on the Internet

This is the simplest way to keep your memory. Some photo albums on the Internet such as Picasa, fliker, Instagram, and Tumblr are very popular to sharing these memories. With some comments, store the images for a long time. On some web storages such as SkyDrive, you can store and share images too. You can enjoy slide shows with them.

Print Photos Through Online

You also can order paper print photos through some web storages such as Snapfish, Picasa, fliker etc. You can receive your favorite photos near your supermarkets and drug stores. If you directly use some drugstores' websites, you can choose the option directly to send by mail to your home.

Through into Dropbox

If you just want to share and you don't want to do anything, you can just through into your Dropbox, and share with your friends.

CASE 2: IF YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH SENTENCES

Make your albums with your travel journals

You can write a lot of things like a travel writer online, and share. You can use blogs and homepage for this. Put your favorite photos, and some comments that you thought important for the places or objects. You can create "physical" albums if you have accounts online services such as Snapfish.

CASE 3: DVD MAKING

DVD making is complicated? No, it's very simple now. Both Windows, and Mac has tools like Windows Movie Maker, and iMovie.

Preparations:
Image files(photo, video, audio etc.), your travel journal, your travel stuff, and smartphone(or, camcorder).

Order all things: There are some simple ways to order all materials.

1. Chronological Order

"Chronological Order" is one of the simplest way to indicate your travel. Follow with your schedule, order the materials. If you find the important moments on your materials, put some notes on them.

2. Follow Your Motivations

If you don't like thinking about Chronological Order, you can think about your motivations instead of it. You can pick the most important moments(such as the best, worst, and funny scenes), and collect  images and topics related to the moments.

3. Watcher's Interests

This is a little difficult. If personally you don't want to keep the images, you never fail to have some watchers. Think about your watchers, decide which topics and scenes are more important on your DVD.

If you are an advanced editor, you can mix all of them, and create your video comfortably. I don't write how to use the software here, but you can find a lot of information on Youtube.


Softwares:

There are a lot of video making software in the world.

For beginners,

• Microsoft Windows Movie Maker (Freeware): Windows Only
• Google Picasa (Freeware)
• Apple Movie ($14.99 in US): Mac Only
• Adobe Premiere Elements
• Corel Photo & Video Suite

For Advanced Editor

• Apple Final Cut Pro ($299.99 in US): Mac Only
• Adobe Premiere Pro 

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"Documenting" is not difficult like the film and television programs. You can try anytime you want in your life. You can discuss what you think for things on the Internet. It's maybe a good chance to indicate your talents to people

Here is the professional documentary work for free on Youtube.

"Life In A Day" (2011)

This "LIFE IN A DAY"is an interesting documentary film by famous film makers, Kevin Macdonald, and Ridley Scott. This documentary is based on the video posts from the world. This is the day of the world. If you have a lot of travel friends, you may ask to send some videos. You may can do similar things with travel friends for a day in the world.

Travel Tips: Documenting #2

Last week, I posted about "Documenting." It's not a serious thing because you are not a broadcasting stations' directors. However, there are some points that you have to understand.

1. Take the Landmarks and Attractions

Maybe you walk around the cities. They normally have famous attractions and scenic places. Attractions are also good. For example, if you visit Seattle, Pike Place Market is one of the famous landmark. The top of the Space Needle is the wonderful place to see around the Seattle.

2. Record Your and Your Friend's Motivations

To record your motivation is one of the most important things. If you get a place, you have expectations or predictions for it. Before your trip, what you think about it? After the trip, what you think about it? Is your expectation is right, or wrong? How your impression change after you visit? Does your friend have the same thoughts?

3. Don't Hesitate to Take Images

This "images" includes not only videos, but also photographs and audios too. If you find anything special for you, and favorite things, take them. They are very nice to track your interests in the future.

(Notice: There are some places that you can't take images such as military basements, airports, some kinds of museums, and so on. In these places, when you take images, immediately, they confiscate your cameras in the worst case. Please follow their directions, and be yourself safe.)

Also, you can write your travel journals. Travel Journals sometimes compliments above the information. It's a good way to do it.

After you travel, you can use your computer to edit all the materials at once. The most interesting process is to make a video. You remember the memories in the future whenever you watch the videos.

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"Travels change our values, and the world." This is the very fundamental influence from the world. If you are still on your holiday travel, did you find any good change on you? If you don't, it's not a strange thing. "If you don't feel any change, it's your change with the travel."

"Waiting On The World To Change" 

by John Mayer (2006)

This "2013" has begun. Everyone thinks about something a change for own live. Well, will this year be better than before? It depends on you. What you can start and be positive are related to your achievements on this year.

If any chance to change, travel is one of them. Travel is not only to walk in the world, but also it's next on your daily lives. Today, after five, please stop a cafe or shop that you have ever been. It may have a surprise for you, and change your life forever.

Travel Tips: Documenting #1

This post is related to my old post "How to keep your plan?"

Now a day, we have a lot of tools to keep our memories. In the movie "On the Road,"one of the heroes   always had a notepad, and recorded what they do on the way. Now you have the best video and photo taking tools named "smartphone" and "tablets"

These years, smartphones are developed very well. Especially, after Apple released iPhone, and Google released Android(Free OS for mobile phones), they have become very convenient.


Here are things people felt heavy in our ancient time :-)

Taking Photos / 8mm Films

We needed to wait to print after our travel. We needed to order to develop all photos at once. For 8mm Film, people needed to edit. They needed very expensive equipments. We needed a lot of time when we share with friends.

Sound Recording

We needed to bring a small voice recorder with small tapes. They sometimes went wrong and broken. The speed of recording and playing were not stable. They didn't always remind us the impressions on the travel.

Notetaking:

Notetaking is always with notepads and pens. Naturally, we can annotate for our writings, attach a lot of items directly onto the journals or diaries. However, it was very difficult to share with friends.


From Now On:

For all of these, we needed separately to have things such as a camera, film camera, camcorder, tape recorder, voice recorder, notepads, pens etc. These were a lot stuff on our travel, weren't they? Now we can use just a small smartphone on our hands, and it solves all the problems.

Well, now I'm talking about "Documenting." I introduce what we should do.

"Documenting" is very easy. In fact, everyday, we do. You may keep your diary for years, and record what you do on your work on your journal. You also keep your housekeeping book. These are also your documenting.

One very different thing about documenting on your travel is that you have your specific purpose/theme for travels. For example, if you have a vacation now, you think what you want to do. Maybe they are that you visit snow resorts, or you enjoy your reunion.

Here is what to do:

1. Taking photos

You can use your smartphone and take photos for all your interests. This includes very small ones. If you like the wall clock on your hotel room, you just take it. If you find some local candies or materials, you just take it. It's the simple way to remember everything.

2. Taking videos

If your smartphone has video functions, use it as possible as you can. Cameras on your phones are not always the best qualities, but you can record some important things called "impressions" at the moment. You record your favorite things with your comments. You can also take your comments and your friends' thoughts about the travel.

3. Notetaking with Cloud Apps

If you have some apps such as Evernote and OneNote on your phone, you can take notes for everything even your phone is offline. You can sync all notes when you are in WiFi Hotspots. Also you can upload all your materials such as videos, photos and audio on the same cloud service. (For audio, normally, smartphones have voice recorder functions, you can record and keep them on the same ways.)

Recently, there are some software such as Day One(for iPhone), Quick Office Pro, Office Suite Pro 6, etc., they can sync with cloud drives such as Dorpbox, Box.com. Sugarsync, and SkyDrive. We can use the same format such as Microsoft Ward and Open Document Format(ODP). They are also can read with desktop applications. If you don't have anyway to sync, or don't have the internet line. You can keep your memos on your phone.


Or, For More Current People

You can use Social Network Services, such as Google+, Facebook, Socl, Instagram, Foursquare and Pintarest to update your things. You can share all things you do on the way your travel. However, I don't recommend to update about your travel on SNS because it means your house may be "empty." If you live alone, it's a good signal for thieves.

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New Year's Day has already come to some countries. In some countries, people are just enjoying their new year moment. Maybe these are good ideas to document the first scenes in 2013.

This song was included U2's album "War," released in January 1, 1983.

"New Year's Day" 

by U2 (1983)

Rarely, I try to read blogs written by other people. This is an example. An Asian person visited Germany, Denmark and Sweden. She took a lot of photos, and attached small memos and thoughts for them. She was inspired by the sturdy live of German people, design of IKEA and the fine costless lives. After she was back from her travel, her life was completely changed. Before her travel, she kept a lot of waste stuff in her room. Now she have a very clean room. She rearranged her room, and cleaned all the messes. Originally, her travel was for her vacation. However, gee.., she found one her fundamental.

Happy Holiday!

First, why I wanted to start this blog is just I wanted to know what blog was. I was wondering what kind of people came and went. Still I'm thinking about the way how to know about them.

Now one thing I thank is that this blog constantly has some visitors :-) There are many blogs in the world, and most of them are sleeping on the Internet. This is not like those.

I wrote a lot of things, and maybe a lot of people read these posts. I'm not sure how much these information are useful. If you take advantage of these, I'm happy. Especially, if you use for this holiday travel, it's nice!

Thanks for your coming!

Happy Holidays & New Year!

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(Regularly, I'll keep updating posts in the future too. However, I may shift to a website because, at least, here, nobody comments for my posts, and I have some materials like photos, videos, and images. "Website" may be better than this blog. When I decide it, I'll tell on this.)

Christmas Trees (Extra)

I went to Los Angeles. Los Angeles is one of the biggest cities in the United States. There are a lot of luxury shopping malls, and also a lot of Christmas displays.

During I went down to downtown, I found a place to sell Christmas Trees in a corner of the block.

This place is near the Venice Beach at the big cross. Then I needed to get other cities. I was hurry. I didn't stop there. However, inside the famous Big Blue Bus, I saw some cars with big Christmas Tree on the passenger seats.

If you read this blog with images, you can see the palm trees behind the Christmas Trees. It's something like Southern California, isn't it?

"Little Saint Nick" by Beach Boys (1963)

Christmas is the world event. However, this year one more big one is in Peru. In ancient time, people in Peru, called Mayan, used their special calendar. It called "Mayan Calendar." This calendar ends soon on Dec. 21.

Now many people think about the meaning. Will it be the end of the world, or come the new age? To think about the meanings, it's maybe a special gift from the ancient Mayan people, isn't it?

Holiday Notice

Update(12/12): This Los Angeles' Metro' s Holiday service has specific time. This free hours starts from 9pm on both 12/24 and 12/31. These are until 2am on through on midnight.

I also need to be careful :-)

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'Day Trip' is one of the fun for everyone. Naturally, we have desires to have a break. However the tragic jams are always our worries.

I wrote these before the thanksgiving day. However, please check once more!

In fact, Christmas is a big day in the world because many of them believes new or old testaments. Without wolves in the cities, people tend to stay with their family. Especially, in small towns in the United States, public services stops for the traditions because people won't go out.I live in a small town. I really suffer from this inconvenience.

However, in the urban area, there are some special services. For example in Los Angeles, the days before holidays on Dec. 24 and Dec.31 Will be free ride.

If you travel now in the world, please take care of your plans.

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In fact, now I'm on a travel for my things. I can find a lot of holiday information around the city. If I can take some photos between my things, I'll post the holiday atmosphere.

Next week, we face the end of the Mayan calendar. How do we survive for this? We should think about future world.