My trips in 2023 and how i plan them - PART 1
I like to plan ahead, so normally i dont travel spontanously. So in November 2022 i already knew which locations i wanted to visit in 2023 and for the most parts i already booked my hotels and flights, if possible. Here are some key aspects and tips, i always keep in mind and can highly recommend.
1) I avoid the summer months June, July and August. This is pretty obvious for several reasons. If you can avoid the summer months, do it! Everyone is on summer break, all families with kids in school must travel in these months. So every location in the world, has more tourists in these months than in any other timeframe. That also means there is a significantly higher demand for hotels, AirBNs and flights so the prices for accomondation and transport are higher. There is also the photography-perspective, the prime shooting hours during sunrise and sunset are very early and very late in the summer months, so you have to get up extremely early and stay up late to profit from the golden hours. Additionally the summer months are very hot in southern countries, in some place to a point where it is almost impossible to be active all day log with a bagpack full of gear. Thats why i favorize the spring and the fall, especially the shoulder season between March - Early May and September - Early November, I think with May and September you get the best compromise of weather, warmth, shooting time and price.
2) Commit Early! The Corona-Pandemic followed by the Ukranian War and Energy Crisis took a huge toll on the worldwide Travelindustry. Prices for flights and hotels even local camping went up, sometimes dramatically. So waiting for a good deal isn’t always the best option. Yes, you can score some good last minute deals but only if you really have the nerves to wait to the last minute and can live with the risk that the trip you imagined, eventually will not happen. If you are sure, you want to take a specific trip, especially if its a city trip, commit early. If you reserve a hotel six months or more ahead and avoid the high-travel months of the summer, you really can get some good deals, even in expensive cities and locations like a hotel in Midtown, New York City. The bonus is, with portals like booking.com, you don’t have to pay right away, you can just reserve the hotel. The same is true with flights or train travel, if you are willing to commit to a specific date six months into the future, but with transport you have to pay in advance.
3) Location. Location. Location. (For short-term Citytrips) Photography is like Real-Estate. Location is everything. You need to be on locatiion at the right time to get the best shot and to make the most of your photographic opportunities. If you only have a couple of days in a specific city, the location of your hotel or AirBNB becomes really critical. Getting the cheaper appartment or hotel in the outskirts of a city, far away from the classic shots you desire, is not the best option. You only have so many hours during your trip and spending hours of commute per train, rental car or bus every day, is time wasted and can be additionally really taxing mentally and physcially. If you have the means,, get a hotel or AirBnB in the city centre. To have several of your top photo locations in walking distance would be the optimum, nothing is better for your experience and photography than exploring any location by foot. Of course accomondations in the centre are way more expensive than in the outskirts of any city. I prefer and would recommend to get a less nice hotel. Keep in mind, you are only several days in this location and you use your room almost exclusively for sleep. So getting a very small hotel room or something less fancy shouldn’t be a big deal, if you gain the better location, even if the hotel in the outskirts has a better quality. The time you save, is more precius than a nice room.
4) Plan your shots. (For short-term Trips) I like to plan my shooting days and shooting locations, I will write a special blog post about how i plan my days, how i research the locations and which tools i use to create shooting plans, so stay tuned for a more in-depth-look. But in short, you only have a few days on your travel location and only a few days with golden hour or blue hour. The perfect blue hour photography-moment normally only lasts a couple of minutes, so it is really important to know beforehand what you want to photograph where and when. Research your location, research the way to get to your location, so you are not too late. Of course this is far less important if you stay for a longer duration, like more than two weeks, here you will get more opportunities if you miss one. For a european city like Rome, Venice, Prague etc. i normally stay 3-4 nights because most of the time everything is really compacted in the city centre. But with such few days, planning ahead is very important.
So which did trips did i choose for 2023 and what can you expect in the coming months? :)
In Early Spring, i start with Prague, one of the most beautiful and picturesque cities in all of europe.
This will be followed with New York City before the summer. I haven’t been to New York in 22 years and i plan to make the most of it photograhic-wise, so i have a packed program.
In June (Yes, i know a summer month) i will go to Hamburg for a few days. A friend of mine is participating in the Iron Man 2023 contest and i will accompany him, photographing his efforts and also the city.
After the summer, i will travel to London. A classic with so much photo-locations it will be hard to decide.
For the end of fall, there is also the possibilty of a trip to Florence, but this is not final yet.
So 2023 has a lot of trips and adventures in queue and i can’t wait to explore these locations and of course show you the photos!