Winter 2012

A shrieked expletive immediately alerts eight travelers that something is awry. Miriam stares in disbelief at her ticket, profanity steadily flowing from her lips.

I spent my first night in Dublin wondering if I would make it through alive. A few friends I made on a study abroad program convinced me to stay the weekend in a hostel that they had researched on the Internet.

As a travel photographer, you don’t need just any camera gear—you need the camera gear that will let you scale the highest mountains, dive the deepest oceans, and brave the steepest cliffs and still take great pictures. But bringing all of your photography equipment with you on a trip can be bulky and expensive. Here’s a look at some of the latest and greatest equipment for travel photographers.

Sitting on layers of history dating back to the Neolithic groups that first settled the area, England’s city of York provides visitors with a myriad of activities and sites from modern to ancient. York was officially established by the Romans in 71 CE and has since been host to Angles, Normans, and royal lines of the Stuarts and Tudors. Today, the city’s center is still completely enclosed by the Bar Walls and offers Roman ruins, the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern England, quaint medieval streets, numerous museums, a racetrack, a theatre, a railway station, and an ample shopping district. York is located just a short drive from other exciting cultural sites, making it the perfect weeklong getaway.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks West Palm Beach, Florida

Offering 469 miles of beautiful forests, hills, and gardens, Blue Ridge Parkway is known as “America’s Favorite Drive.” Winding south through the Smoky Mountains, the highway runs from Virginia to North Carolina. Both ends are home to a national park: the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the north end, and the Shenandoah National Park at the south.