World Travel with teh Guru

After many months of deliberation, I'm about 99% sure that the decision has been made. Teh Guru will be leaving the states on a world domination tour. The plan is to take my photography to another level - www.jaymarroquin.com

The ball is in motion and within the next month or so I'll be selling most of my goods and leaving my job of the past 5 years. I'll be taking some money I've stashed away to support me abroad for a year or so without the need for additional income.

I'll be taking my camera gear, small laptop, backpack and some comfy shoes. I'm going to start off in Morocco and Africa and go from there... Guess I need all my travel shots while I still have insurance and talking about insurance, I'll have to get some for all my gear and make sure it's covered abroad.

I'll be documenting my travels on my blog (which I built but have yet to use) - www.jaymarroquin.com/b​log

Planned stops so far (some are simply arrival destinations, then off by foot, bus, donkey or camel):

Casablanca, MOROCCO
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
Kilimanjaro, TANZANIA
Dubai, UAE
Delhi, INDIA
Bangkok, THAILAND
Hanoi, VIETNAM
Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Singapore, SINGAPORE
Jakarta, INDONESIA
Manila, PHILIPPINES
Hong Kong, CHINA
Guangzhou, CHINA
Hunan, CHINA
Zhang Jia Jie, CHINA
Shanghai, CHINA
Beijing, CHINA
Yokahoma, JAPAN
Fukuoka, JAPAN
Tokyo, JAPAN
Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN
Kiev, UKRAINE
Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC
Milan, ITALY
Maranello, ITALY
Milan, ITALY
Paris, FRANCE
Bordeaux, FRANCE
Barcelona, SPAIN
London, UK

Congratulations. Takes a lot of courage to do this.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10878300
Congratulations. Takes a lot of courage to do this.

Definitely lots of thinking I've done something like this before for my racing career but I was a lot younger and there was less on the table to risk.

30 views, 1 response...weaksauce.

Step 1 - Resigning from job of 5 years - COMPLETED 9/13/2010

Hotrodguru wrote in post #10899496
Step 1 - Resigning from job of 5 years - COMPLETED 9/13/2010

Congrats! This is my dream as well.

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AxxisPhoto wrote in post #10899547
Congrats! This is my dream as well.

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Might be homeless in a few months but f it.

So a bit of a dilemma now.

It's regarding the payout of my vacation time. I've been here at my current job 5 years. Throughout the year you basically accrued vacation time or what we call PTO (paid time off). So you have accrued and banked. The accrued PTO goes into the bank every first of the year (January 1st).

You guys still with me... So when you quit your job or leave the organization, you can only cash out the PTO you have in your bank. So basically if I leave on Oct 8th, I get around $2400 which is the amount I have banked. If I stay till January 2nd or 3rd, I get the additional $3650.

Accrued xxx.xx hrs = $3650
Banked xx.xx hrs = $2400

I do know that I need days off the week of Oct 10th - 15th off to shoot Houston Fashion Week. I could theoretically take about 40 hours of vacation time for that then stay till the first of the year.

I'm also working on some sponsorship deals for part of this trip. Guess if that pans out soon I'll quit for sure. If not, I should probably really consider staying here till the beginning of the year. Would allow a bit more time for sponsorships and to save some cash in general.

Ah, decisions, decisions... So...what do you guys/gals think?

Id hold out til the first of the year

What will the 40 hours of time you take for the Houston trip reduce the accrued time by? Still seems reasonable to stay through the first of the year, celebrate the holidays here and then take off, but I dont know your agenda, and when you want to be at each location.

Alright, it's a done deal.

My last day of employment will now officially be Jan 3, 2011. No reason to leave money on the table and the extra time will allow for more planning, etc...

have you organized insurance yet ?

i'm leaving on a 6+ month getaway with camera gear and i'm finding a hard get good cover for 5D and lenses

going to

Fiji
LA
Mexico
New York
Iceland
UK
Egypt
India
Nepal
Vietnam
Thailand
Indonesia

lerroy wrote in post #11556556
have you organized insurance yet ?

i'm leaving on a 6+ month getaway with camera gear and i'm finding a hard get good cover for 5D and lenses

going to

Fiji
LA
Mexico
New York
Iceland
UK
Egypt
India
Nepal
Vietnam
Thailand
Indonesia

Actually, today's my last day at work and haven't had time to look into it. I did talk to my automotive insurance provider (Nationwide) who said this wouldn't be a problem. I'm going to follow up with them this week to see what's up.

Also a quick Google search for "Camera Gear Insurance" provided these links:

http://www.packagechoi​ce.com …Lz54raynqYCFaRd​7AodPnm_nw
http://photo.net/learn​/insurance
http://www.sportsshoot​er.com …ge_display.html​?tid=20388

friend of mine was filming in Morocco and thought he had made friends with some Bedouin only to wake up one morning and they had left camp and taken all his gear with them......could happen anywhere, not least London but just a warning not to drop your guard.

im going to get a travel insurance package and add on my camera as i need other insurance not just camera plus my gear is only about 6000k

probably go with Travel insurance direct they get a good wrap

but thanks for the links ill do some reading