Langkawi, here we come ...

Well, the last few weeks have just flown by, and all of a sudden here we are packing for our destination wedding in Langkawi! As the wind picks up in the UK and the the rain starts to fall sideways, my thoughts turn to luggage. (OK, I lied - my thoughts turn to sun, sand and beautiful beaches, but luggage does come first!)

For some, the headache now may be, "Which clothes to pack?" I am not sure Regan has the problem, given that I have noticed a pile of beachy-looking-clothes in the spare room, steadily increasing in height over the last week or so.

No, for me the clothes will be the last thing I think about - Sunday, probably, as I start to fill my suitcase. The biggest issue I have is trying to work out just how on earth to transport all the photography gear. When we went on a Photographic Safari to Africa a couple of years back, the camera gear alone weighed in at 20Kg. Given that the internal flights allowed us a combined weight (hand luggage & hold luggage) of just 15Kg, it was a miracle we made it there and back without any complications.

As I write this, I am awaiting delivery of a Think Tank Airport International 2.0 carry-on camera bag, which should do the trick. After much research and a long chat with Helen at Snapper Stuff, she agreed to loan me the bag for a real life field test, in return for some "bag in action" shots throughout the trip. I am sure the gear will all fit, it's more a problem of how heavy the bag will be once full. With the wild variation in luggage allowances (read "restrictions") from airport to airport and airline to airline, planning this trip has been a challenge. Whilst Heathrow Airport allows 2 items of hand luggage through security, Malaysia Airlines restricts you to one piece only, and that must not weigh more than 5Kg ! The bag alone weighs more than that ... thankfully, we're travelling in a party of 22 people - "Hi, pleased to meeet you, we're photographing the wedding ... er, can you carry this for me please ?"
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Well, isn't it a small world ? I recently discovered that Debbie, a good friend of mine who runs a wonderful luxury travel / honeymoon company Travel By Design, actually knows Jamie, the General Manager of the Datai. It seems that Jamie is one of the most friendly hotel managers around, so I am sure he'll be able to point out the best spots for some promotional shots of the hotel and surrounding locations, which Debbie hopes to use to promote the venue back here in the UK.
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This will probably be the last post until we get to Langkawi on Tuesday morning, so please keep your fingers crossed that our party of 22 get there safe and sound, and with all our baggage too! Thankfully we're flying Malaysian Airlines from Terminal 3 and not BA from Terminal 5! Can you imagine ... no, actually, let's not even go there ...

Shot of the day
I'd like to try and make sure that every post has a photograph, so whilst the rain hammers the window panes and makes you feel like staying indoors all day long, take a step back and see the art :