The first blog I wanted to write when I got back home was our itinerary. I planned on creating a similar map to the one I made for the Costa Rica itinerary. But let's be honest, my work in Adobe Acrobat isn't that cool. I figured that there has to be some kind of itinerary/map-maker somewhere on the internet... and voila! I stumbled upon Tripline.
Tripline is basically an interactive map. I've only spent about half an hour playing with it but so far, it's awesome. Check out the itinerary I made below. From what I've seen, you can get really creative with this thing: animate your traveling on the map, upload pictures from your trip, import check-ins from your Foursquare, and of course, share your maps with your friends and family.
Once I spend more time exploring Tripline's features, I will probably write another blog on it. For now, here is the itinerary that me and Ignas did while in Peru! The map is not an image! It's a video! Don't forget to PRESS PLAY in the top right corner. :)
If you zoom out on the map below, you'll see that we only got to spend
time in southern Peru. We were sad that we couldn't include any northern destinations, especially Ignas since there's really good
surfing there.
We were debating on including Lake Titicaca or the Amazon but we decided not to do either. We felt that we would lose too much time traveling and we didn't want to exhaust ourselves by constantly moving. Although we really only visited the regions of Arequipa, Cusco, and the Sacred Valley, we were happy that we had as much time as we did. And as always, we also wished we had more time at each place! There was just so much to see and do!
We're back home and I'm sad to report that I'm sick. My invincible boyfriend, on the other hand, is on an extended vacation due to an incoming swell and all of the waves coming with it. So while I stayed home sick today, he went surfing this morning before work! Then again, I just finished making the best congee in the world and I'm uploading pictures from the S95 so I guess things aren't so bad.
Santa Catalina Monastery - Arequipa, Peru
Peru was definitely an experience I will never forget: breathtaking landscapes, delectable cuisine, friendly people, and a culture overflowing with history and pride. Looking back, I'm really happy with the itinerary we choose. I felt that it gave us enough time to see all of the touristy attractions in each region we visited while embracing a bit of the local daily life.
Colca Canyon, Peru
In comparison to Costa Rica, I would say that Peru is NOT relaxing. There's just too much to immerse yourself in. In Peru, I wished that my stomach was bigger so I could eat more of the delicious food. I wished that I had more muscle and stamina to trek through the mountain ranges and valleys. I wished that I paid more attention during my college art classes to have a deeper understanding of the art and architecture. And of course, I wish we had more time. We barely scratched the surface with our 2 weeks.
Machu Picchu, Peru
I hope to upload pictures and blogs as soon as I can. Ignas will too, he promised! (Writing that in here as insurance ;) Thank you Peru for an unforgettable experience!
Short Reckonings has been my must travel-buddy for the past year. Ever since my roommate introduced me to Short Reckonings, I have used it for every trip I've been on.
Short Reckonings is a website and phone app that helps you keep track of shared expenses and IOUs. After inputting the people in your party, who paid for what, and for whom, it calculates a single payment for everyone to pay to make everything even. So even if you go on a trip with several people, each person will only have to make a single payment to one person and BAM, everyone's even!
After creating a sheet, anyone in your party is able to view and add to the expense sheet. Though I've only used it for trips, I can see this being useful for roommate situations, group presents, events, etc.
Short Reckonings has been especially helpful for Ignas and I since we spot each other all the time. The whole "I pay for breakfast, you pay for lunch, I pay for dinner, and you pay for gas, etc" used to work for us but you can imagine the complications. SR is extremely convenient and easy to use and I will continue to use it for all my future trips.
The best part? It's completely free! You don't even have to sign up/register for anything. AWESOME!
I've been on a Vegas high ever since we got back. We had an AMAZING weekend and we got to meet ATB!! Check out the video I just made from our time at Marquee.
Me and Ignas planned a short Vegas trip for 8/11-8/12. I really wanted to go because I wanted Ignas to see Phantom at the Venetian before the show ended. (I've seen it 3 times because I love it that much). Also, Calvin Harris was playing at XS on Saturday night and he is one of my favorite DJs. The night before we left for Vegas, ATB had posted on Facebook that he was on his way to Vegas to play at Tao Nightclub that night and I wondered if he were playing anywhere else in Vegas that weekend. Lo and behold, he was set to play at Marquee Dayclub on August 12, 2012. Not wanting to make Ignas watch 3 shows, I left the decision up to him. When we left for Vegas on Saturday morning, he told me that we were going!
Marquee was probably the most memorable time me and Ignas will ever have at a club. Not only were we in the front row for ATB's whole set, we got to meet him at the end of his awesome show!
Yay! I am finally finished with my video montage of our Costa Rica trip! It was a lot of fun for me to make, as if re-living the trip. I hope you enjoy it!
I've loved making movies ever since I was a kid and I always envision the perfect video/slideshow/montage all the while I'm on a trip. Between the both of us, me and Ignas have 5 cameras:
His Canon PowerShot S95
His GoPro HD Hero 2
His Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital SLR
My iPhone 4S
My GE E1486TW
We always have at least one of these whenever we go anywhere (obviously, my phone is permanently equipped). But when we go on a trip, we bring at least 3 cameras and take tons of photo/video. Back in the day, I edited videos using two VCR's. Luckily, technology's come a little further since then.
For those of you with plenty of footage and little time to tinker with a video editing program, let me introduce you to Magisto. Magisto says that it's a video editor but it's more like a video maker, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Here's how it works.
After signing up for a free account, making a video is extremely easy. All you have to do is select the footage you want Magisto to make a video from, give the movie a title and then add a soundtrack. After your videos are uploaded, Magisto will automatically detect the "good" footage and edit them to make a movie. That's it! And the best part is that it's free!
I've made quite a few videos using Magisto but this one is definitely my favorite. It literally took me 2 minutes to create this video. The footage is from our Hawaii trip in September 2011 and I think the video does well to show how awesome Magisto can be. (Other info: videos were taken with the S95 and the song is called "Sunshine Girl" by J BOOG.)
After watching that amazing video, you may be thinking that Magisto is a dream come true. Unfortunately, there are several limitations.
First of all, you can only upload up to 600 MB or 16 video files, whichever limit you hit first. With footage from an S95 camera, I always hit the 600 MB which is about 4-5 videos. Second, it takes forever and a day to upload your videos to Magisto. The Magisto website says that there are several reasons for this, mainly your own internet connection. But I've used Magisto for both home and work purposes and it's been painfully slow on both connections. So yes, it took me 2 minutes and a few clicks to make the video above but I literally had to wait a few hours for the videos to be uploaded and then processed into a final movie. (I always make Magisto videos right before bed so that I could watch the final movies first thing in the morning.)
There's another limitation to Magisto that I want to point out but this one can actually be fixed with a little extra effort. As I said, you choose the videos Magisto takes footage from but that's the extent of your power. After that, it's out of your hands and let me tell you, Magisto's definition of "good footage" is not always good. One time, I uploaded a relatively long video of Ignas swimming in a river. Somewhere in the middle of this clip, a random photographer guy also gets in the frame as he enters the river. Well, Magisto thought this was award-winning footage and decided to include this stranger for a majority of the final movie. After waiting hours for uploading and processing, I was definitely not happy after seeing the final result.
Fortunately, you can easily avoid this problem by screening your footage and removing the clips that you do not want Magisto to use. Trimming your footage with a simple video editor will ensure that only "good" footage, with "good" being defined by both you and Magisto, is included in your final movie.
In conclusion, I would definitely recommend Magisto for a fun and easy way to make short videos but it will never make the perfect video/slideshow/montage that I always envision during a trip.
P.S. Use the Magisto website and not the iPhone app - the quality is drastically reduced when using the app!
