The Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras…..AAAAAAAAHHHHHH (High pitch single tone choir music going on inside my head). I’ve been a fan of Nikon for a while, and due to budget issues, it makes it difficult to be a fan of Nikon if you know what I mean. But this lens is priced right at $109.95.

Pros: Small, Great for Travel Photography doesn’t suck up valuable luggage space. Inexpensive, at least for Nikon, you won’t loose a lot of sleep if you drop it or it gets stolen while traveling. Autofocus, works great in low light situations, all the standard stuff that makes Nikon good is in this camera.

Cons: None that I can find for travel purposes.

BinHog brings us luggage wraps to identify your terminal bag.  Personally, I think the website is outdated and it feels very old lady-like (embroidery is just out), but the bag tags are priced right, and most importantly effective when you’re standing at the carousel.  I’m thinking they should just add some plain solid colours as opposed to corny clipart, then I’d be more interested.

My favorite messenger bag company, Crumpler, redesigned their website. It takes a while to load, even for a fast connection, but it’s unique and definitely is better than their old site. And I do appreciate originality. Crumpler is a bit of a travel trend setter when it comes to messenger bags.

I’m probably not going to be making many new friends with this post, but it’s been on my mind for a while now and I feel I need to unload.

The generation I’m talking about is aged from 21-30 (more or less).  I’m in the back-middle (28) if you need to know.

1.  We romanticize hardcore partying.  Perhaps all generations have fallen into this one, but I believe we’ve maxed it out.  At least I hope.  Here’s what I mean.  Ask yourself what your parents did on a “crazy” night when they were in their early 20′s?  I would venture a guess the MPAA would rate it closer to PG than your “crazy” night.  It probably has to do with the fact that we enjoy story-telling with shock value.  After all, there is no point in telling a boring story right?  We don’t criticize our peers for a night of drunken stupidness and criminal behavior…instead we only tell their stories to our other friends who then repeats one of their own that will be sure to upstage the former.  Why is this bad?  It creates a paradigm of us that our elders constantly use against us, in turn killing any credibility we might have as a generation.

2.  We grew the reality TV scene.  Probably not the inventors, but we were the target market.  Yes…I’m guilty too…but purely from a social experiment state of mind

3.  We tried so hard to be cool, we forgot why we wanted to be cool.  Hence…hipsters.  We didn’t learn from our parents and we are still stuck in a material world.  Damn…and I thought that wearing overly warm unzipped jackets and non-prescription eyeglasses was the solution. But it goes beyond hipsters…we justify and find reasons to be proud of being a redneck, proud of being an asshole, proud of being something that just 15 years ago we would never want to be.

4.  I see no true rebellious activity.  Instead we scrap around our repetitive weekday jobs and bitch about it.  Return home to our shitty apartment or parent’s spare bedroom and do nothing about it.  If there are those out there that have rebelled against this monotonous routine they are stronger than I, and the three I know about are truly happy.  I hope someone stands up and makes their point on a mass scale someday.

There are more reasons, don’t have the ambition (reason #5) to finish anything right now.  I will follow up with this in another post soon.

I would hardly call it a disorder, but it’s enough to give some thought to. We’ve all heard of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), which I’ve never been through, but I have experienced depression before. And that depression was similar to, yet different than a post travel low. A post travel low is interesting, you get back and you’ve seen things that you know your friends haven’t, and therefore they can’t understand. You feel like you’ve changed, and there is no one to relate to, yet you feel you’re stronger and better than before for knowing. But yet ignorance is bliss, and therefore knowledge can bring sadness. I think this could be very similar, yet not nearly as intense as PTSD. Just a thought.

Had to post about “The Best Job in the World”.  Australia’s tourism board has come up with a great schema to get tourists to talk about and more importantly visit the country’s beautiful islands.  The idea is to offer a job to anybody (over the age of 18) who can island sit for 6 months.  The job pays 105,000 and all expenses are covered by the tourism board.  Plus, anybody can apply for the position if they send in a video clip and fill out the application form.  The only responsibility you have is to clean a pool occasionally, and communicate with the mainland as this will draw attention in a reality show type of way to the islands and Australia’s overall tourism.

Flickr now has a photostream for izunotravel.com. And yes, I’m an amateur, but you might still enjoy. I have posted a few pictures from the Dominican Republic, Greece, and Germany among others as of today.

Occupation 101 has an interesting view into the Palestinian world. I’m finding many people are now starting to wake up and see what horrible crimes Israel has done, even though it’s hard to admit because they are technically an ally with the US. Have a look at the video clips, but it’s a mood killer, so don’t watch right away if you’re really happy.

Subway/Metro/Train maps are interesting to me for some reason.  I think it’s the colors and lines that make it into it’s own little piece of art with a purpose.  The first time you look at a map you’re completely confused, then it starts to make sense once you give it some time and then finally you can project a little confidence in understanding how it flows.  That probably sounds really exasperating.  Anyways, a cool travel trends book you can get on Amazon for about $15.

Well this shit obviously didn’t work.  This is not really a new product, but still, a great idea and very cool product.  It’s just like Jerry Seinfeld and a black & white cookie.  LOOK TO THE OIL!  You can purchase a bottle from PeaceOil.org.  And may I say I don’t think there are enough Olive trees in all the lands to solve the problem.  At least today.