I’m officially on holiday, which means travel. And unlike Alan, my trip is on like Donkey Kong.

Tomorrow I’m taking a 16 hour bus ride to Le Plagne 1800 high up in the French alps. I got a sweet deal on the trip through the Imperial University Malaysian Club. Yes, I fully expect it to be completely hilarious. I’m there until the Dec. 27.

I’m then taking the train up to Geneva, where I’ll spend a couple of nights before taking train and boat over to Montreux. My friend Aaron, of penguin kiss fame, and his buddy Evan will be picking me up at the casino in Montreux and we’ll head to Grimentz for another week of skiing. We’ll then road trip it to the Netherlands on Jan. 3. I’m flying back to London on Sunday, then right back to the desk the next day.

The toughest choices about this trip have been in packing. I’m taking my laptop. I want to blog this trip so I’ll need the laptop. Also, I know it will be nice to be able to skype with my family during the holidays I would normally be spending with them. Also, I’m taking my SLR, but no surprise there. With all my ski gear this is a fair bit of kit, but I’ve managed to get it into my 44 liter day bag and my camera bag, so I’ll be rockin the 2 backpack look.

Updated: with map!

I’m constantly fretting over whether or not to lug my SLR with me when I travel. My upcoming ski trip is no different. I’d love to get some great pictures from the mountain tops, but I’m nervous about taking my expensive and bulky camera with me. Thankfully, there’s a good thread of advice at Photo.net that has helped me put my fears aside.

Novice skier Andrew Booth didn’t seem to have any problems:

I just came back from my first skiing holiday, and took a camera with me (heavier than yours). I stowed it in some padding in a regular (small) backpack. My enthusiasm for skiing is a lot greater than my skill (since I’ve never done it before), so my holiday involved a number of high speed falls. The camera survived well, but on one occasion the backpack swivelled up and hit me on the back of the head – which wasn’t too good. Get a backpack which you can secure ’round your front (waist strap or something like that)and this won’t happen.

And expert skier David Merfeld seems to recommend the same thing for carrying and SLR, just toss it in a rucksack:

1. Have a point and shoot in a fanny pack, worn in front. No, you do not need to take your gloves off to get a picture. Many a good shot will be lost while you are fumbling with your knapsack, trying to dig out that big camera you have buried. Besides, just try and remove a camera from your pack while riding a lift (look out beloooooow…). For fun, I have timed myself, and can unzip the fanny pack, remove the camera, and compose and take a shot, in under 4 seconds – without stopping and without removing my hands from the pole straps (I know it’s silly).

2. If you want to carry a larger camera, then a knapsack works fine. I usually carry a 645, wrapped in my spare clothing, in a basic knapsack (in addition to the P&S). Don’t bother with fancy gear, just wear one with good shoulder straps and a good waist belt.

I’ve got a good camera backpack, so I’m going to go for it. Hopefully I’ll have some good pictures to put up here when I get back in January.

I have a Canon Rebel XTi, an entry level digital SLR, with which I have been having ever more fun. I especially enjoyed some of the shots that I took on this last trip to Cornwall. Not only can I take higher quality photos than my point and shoot allows, but I can slap on the telephoto and get shots like the one above of St. Michael’s Mount as viewed from Penzance. The problem is that it’s freakin huge.

I like to travel as light as possible. For weekend jaunts I take a bag barely big enough to carry a bicycle helmet. If I take my camera bag, I’m carrying a larger, heavier bag, and there isn’t as much space for the rest of my kit. I suppose this isn’t too different from my dilemma about needed a laptop to blog a trip, except that if I blog late I still blog, but if I don’t take my SLR I’ll never get those good pictures.

I guess I’ll just have to decide on a case by case basis. So…was this post simply an excuse to post another picture from Cornwall? You decide!