Planning a holiday can be extremely frustrating for almost everyone. This is especially true for people who love traveling but aren’t very good at planning everything from the itinerary to booking the hotels and flights.
Travel Smart & Save Money Last March, I landed in Bangkok with $47 in my checking account. Not ideal. Especially when I had a three-month shoot scheduled across Southeast Asia. But here’s the thing—I’d been here before. Years of traveling for film projects taught me something most travel blogs won’t tell you: the expensive mistakes … Read more
The Night I Almost Lost Everything in Prague Three years ago, I was shooting B-roll for a travel documentary in Prague’s Old Town. My camera bag sat next to me at an outdoor café—right next to me—while I reviewed footage on my laptop. I looked down for maybe thirty seconds to adjust a color grade. … Read more
The Terminal C Panic That Taught Me Everything Toronto Airport. 5:47 a.m. I’m speed-walking through Terminal 1 with two Pelican 1510 cases—one stuffed with $22,000 in camera bodies and lenses, the other packed with batteries, monitors, and hard drives containing the only existing footage from our “Going Home” shoot. Gate closes in 11 minutes. My … Read more
Introduction: Seattle Filmmaker’s Walking Tour Look, I’ll be honest with you. As someone who’s made the trek from Victoria to Seattle more times than I can count (thank you, Mariners, Seahawks, and Kraken for draining my wallet), I’ve learned that this city is an absolute goldmine for content creators and filmmakers. Whether you’re vlogging your … Read more
Intro: Pack Light & Never Check a Bag: A Filmmaker’s Guide I stood at the baggage carousel in Prague at 2 AM, watching everyone else’s luggage circle past while mine was… somewhere. Probably Vienna. The airline had no idea. That was the last time I ever checked a bag. Since then, I’ve shot films in … Read more
The 4 AM Wake-Up Call I’m standing in a freezing parking lot in rural British Columbia at 4 AM, loading gear into a rental car for a 12-hour documentary shoot. My back already hurts just looking at the pile of equipment. Camera body, lenses, tripod, audio gear, batteries, lights—the list goes on. By hour six, … Read more
Travel Videography Mistakes That Kill Your Footage (And How I Learned to Fix Them) I was three days into filming in Iceland when my main camera died. No warning. Just… dead. And because I’d convinced myself that “real filmmakers travel light,” I had no backup body. I spent the next four days shooting everything on … Read more
Why This Guide Is Different: Tested by a Hotel Pro, Filmmaker, and Globe-Trotter I’ve seen travel disasters from three perspectives—and that’s what makes this guide unique: Hotel Insider Perspective: As a four-star hotel doorman, I’ve handled guests arriving at 3 AM with broken luggage, dead phones, or misplaced passports. I know what fails—and what actually … Read more
Why One-Bag Filmmaking Matters Dragging two rolling Pelican cases through an airport is a quick way to lose both your back muscles and your sanity. I’ve done it. The cases don’t fit overhead, gate agents glare at you like you’re smuggling a rocket launcher, and every connection feels like a race you’re losing. By the … Read more
Introduction: The ULTIMATE Portable LED Lighting Kit for Travel (Under $150!) Why do so many incredible travel shots fall flat? Often, it’s a lack of good lighting. As a travel filmmaker, I’ve been there – trying to shoot a crucial interview in a dimly lit hotel room, or capturing a vibrant night market only to … Read more