Advantages and imperfections of arranged journey

In Argentinean highland we met a girl who wanted to go on a trip thru Argentina. Her journey finished in Susques where she recognized that the bus is not driving for few weeks. Her trip finished right away Argentinean border.

But the girl I am talking about is not that one on this picture. This one I surprised in San Pedro de Atacama, but the lack of light caused blurred photo. Still, the picture is worth to keep.

On the photographic side, the weakness of arranged journey is adaptation to a group and worse possibilities for shooting. The majority of tourists won't catch sight on best moments for photography so you can hardly convince the driver or a guide to stop a bus only for few minutes of photographing.

At those moments you are suffering on taking the shots thru window glasses, which is not so bad at all if you are good prepared to this way of photographing. My finest pictures of high Cordilleras are results of shooting thru dirty bus window.

True travel photographer would never think about arranged trip, but I can say I don't know lot of real adventurous photographers. Most of common earthlings will take the trip with an travel agency or will join to organised group. If you have no or few experiences and you want to see a lot of places in short time has this way of voyage lot of benefits. The greatest minus of a group is surely conformation to travel program and habitudes of a group. The dynamics of happenings, of course, depends of the weakest member of the group.

However, the precedence of arranged journey is safety and chance that you will se a lots of curiosities in a really short period of time. In unknown lands it can't be expected that the reservation in hotel will be valid, that a bus to San Montagno will drive at all and the road to Landimandia is transportable.

The least you can trust on is you yourself, especially if you are on trip alone. It can happen that the particular spot will be so absorbing to you that you'll stay there as longer as you should. Every mistake can cause a delay of tour, the loss of connection, but the worse you can meet with is the situation in circumstances you cant managed with. Even if you are best prepared you can be surprised by a snow in the mountains, by blocked road or even with enormous thunderstorm. Even if you are familiar with that kind of situations, the pleasant trip can become painful nightmare which you wish to never learn again. More self-independent you go, more acquainted you should be with your abilities.