Right now i’m sitting in a room in a converted farmhouse on the plains behind Munich Airport in a place called “Joe’s Polo Ranch” after just returning to the West from a succesful trip through the Czech Republic. I’ve been away for more than two weeks now, but reliable internet has been very hard to find and so I haven’t been able to upload my first travel photos until now.
I’m planning to be away for three months, with about four weeks in Europe, a week in Colorado, and 8 weeks in Lake Tahoe. Take a look at my first two photos and see what “packing light” means for me. This was cutting down to pretty much the bare essentials of snow gear. But after a visit to my friends down at Dragon HQ in Torquay, I had to make sure to include the new schwag in the board bag. And if you ever wondered what sort of camera gear you might need for an extensive overseas snowboard trip, this basically covers nearly all situations – except for when a high-powered remote flash might be needed to capture distant action…but the Elinchrom Ranger I have is just too bulky and heavy to be carrying ’round solo for all the adventures I have planned. Then of course there is all the clothes an extra bits and pieces you need for 3 months away from home…
I had a pretty long first leg, from Melbourne, via Hong Kong to London Heathrow, thence a short flight to Zurich – it was about 30 hours after checking in at Tullamarine that I was standing on the platform at Zurich’s main train station while snow swirled around in the dark night sky, and rugged-up locals dashed across wet streets in front of revving taxis and squeeling trams. I felt like a bit like I was in a Jason Bourne film…if only I had a cute German girl to drive me in her VW Golf through the Alps instead of the 3 hour train ride, followed by taxi, to my accommodation in St Anton! But it was all worth it to wake up on the Friday morning to see the enormity of the Alberg mountains all around.
Take a look at these photos (click on them to enlarge) and stay tuned for more overseas adventure updates.
RadMania 