Now that I am getting to know my camera a little better I am also accumulating more equipment that I want to take with me on our trips and I really need a better solution that padded sleeves buried in my purse.

Like Mrs. Limestone of the blog Brooklyn Limestone I’m on the hunt for a camera bag. I share some of her criteria in that I want something for travel, protection of camera and maybe 1 extra lens and I want it to work as a bag for other things if I don’t want to carry my camera. However, I also want my husband to be able to use it, or schlep it, when I’m not. This limits my aesthetic options to the decidedly non-purse category.

I want to be able to carry the stuff I wouldn’t leave in my hotel room:

• Canon T2i DSLR w/50mm lens
• Extra 18-135mm kit lens
• extra battery
• iPad
• guidebook
• cell phone
• map

The iPad seems to be the limiting feature as a lot of bags have great dividers for padding cameras, but don’t necessarily have an extra slot, pouch, area the whole width of the bag that an iPad would fit in. I don’t want a behemoth of a bag the size of a carry-on, but my criteria seem to be pushing me into large messenger bags suitable for 3-4 lenses and beyond what I actually need. I’m not in love with any of these options, but they are the best I have found so far:

$89 from manfrotto, Italian maker of tripods, this one has top access and a spot for a tripod and laptop so I can use it for ipad or laptop for more flexibility

$69.95 from Tamrac, but appealing because it is smaller sized than the Manfrotto one, only holds iPad not laptop, but more pedestrian looking and decidedly laptop bag looking. Hubby would hold it, but really I may just get him his own bag before schlepping this around with me.

Also considering:

At $199 it seems like a lot to pay for a bag that isn’t real leather and hubby still thinks it looks purse like. I think its cute and checks all my boxes, but is a bit large for what I need.

Help?

No I didn’t fall off the face of the planet. After 6 months of study, poring over my books 3 hrs a day, I passed my Professional Engineering exam! Woot, I’m now a licensed engineer and can dedicate my free bandwidth to far more interesting things, like travel and blogging.

Thankfully I’m taking a digital photography class so at a minimum I should be forced by the class to process some of my photos into decent shape. Hoping for the best here. I’m optimistic.

Stuck in the European airport snow? Lonely planet is sympathising by making thirteen of their Lonely Planet European City Guide iPhone apps are absolutely free right now.

I’m doing my geeky happy dance and downloading them all for later.

Here’s the list—complete with links to iTunes—so that you can grab them all:

• Amsterdam
• Berlin
• Copenhagen
• Dublin
• London
• Moscow
• Munich
• Paris
• Prague
• St. Petersburg
• Stockholm
• Vienna
• Warsaw

The apps will be free until 1:00 pm on December 23, 2010.

These gingerbread tea cup houses are so adorable. I’ll be making some for my Christmas party.

Go to Not Martha for instructions on how to build your own.

Hawaiian Quilt at Bishop Museum – Honolulu, Hawaii

Ok, we did leave Rouen, France, that was only the 1st day. I’m just slow at posting. After driving through Rouen we arrived and spent our first night in Bayeux, France. Its famous for its tapestry which is basically a 70-yard political cartoon which tells the story of William the Conqueror’s rise from duke of Normandy to king of England, and shows his victory over Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. It also is a convenient town to sleep in before exploring the Normandy WWII historical areas.

My WWII history knowledge comes from talking to my Grandfather about his WWII experiences. Grandpop only tells humorous stories as if the whole war was about joking around, pranks and cruising around (he was in the Navy). I know he just doesn’t want to deal with telling me the sad or harsh stories, but that’s ok. We decided to do a full-day Normandy WWII tour with BattleBus. This is a French company who specializes in D-Day and Battle of Normandy tours, but their guides are mostly native English speaking expats for whom D-Day is a lifelong obsession and hobby. Our guide didn’t have a memorized schtick, but a genuine passion for history. And our bus had 6 people in it, not the 40+ people of the Grayhound buses that we were passing on the road.

Sainte-Mère-Église was the first stop of the day. If you have watched the movie The Longest Day you might remember the famous scene where a paratrooper was caught on the Church by their parachute. The scene is based on an actual person John Steele who returned to the town year after year for D-Day celebrations and along with many vets was quite beloved by the locals.

The other sight beyond the Church in Sainte-Mère-Église is the Airborne Museum. While it was included in our BattleBus tour, I wouldn’t pay the 14E to get in if I was DIY my own tour. The reason I say this isn’t because the museum is bad, it is just too small to be worth the price tag.

Don’t forget to look inside the chapel. Visit the chapel early in the morning before the tourist buses ruin the moment would be well worth it. Inside you will find that they have redone the stained-glass which was blown out in the war with new commemorative glass which features the paratrooper who liberated the village. People from Normandy have a great affinity, even to this day for the US military. A Norman child places a flag on every allied grave every year on D-Day. What the allies did for Normandy is taught in schools. As an American it is strange to travel and have people like you these days, while I’ve never encountered hostility there is a lot of confusion on how and why America does what it does in the world. I’ve never felt the need to impersonate a Canadian because I think these discussions are important means of spreading good will and understanding. None of this was necessary in Normandy. My husband is in the Army so he has the short hair of an Army officer, sometimes this causes problems, but in Normandy we felt nothing but extreme warmth, very un-French, but very nice. That accompanied by the wonderful Norman cider and mussels had us wishing to stay longer.

Big name blogger Leo Babuta has waves of followers who appreciate his getting things done advice, but he’s also an avowed minimalist. I like his: 5 Ways To Travel More With Less post. I need to take to heart tip #1: Start Local. I sometimes fall into the trap of  thinking: “Oh, its Alaska, its cold, there is nothing to do.”

Next time we get couch surfers we’ll have a things to do list with maps ready to go.

I really love what Chris Guillebeau is trying to do. He now has a small army of unconventional lifestyle followers. That’s cool. I have even downloaded his book via Kindle. But the number one reason I read Chris’ blog is for travel hacking advice and vicarious insight into the places he has been on his quest to visit every country in the world.

So this Link Love goes out to his old post on Developing Your Own Philosophy of Travel.

The Times of London says gadgets are travel experience killers. They say: “It’s time to go cold turkey, ditch the electricals and use the most underused gadget of all – our brain.” I want to say here here, but then I look over lovingly at my Android and iPad, they are so small, they don’t take up too much space, and I don’t use them soooo much. Hmmm… I’m an addict.

A loose leaf tea, so much cosier than bags.