I realize it’s been a while since I’ve written about any actual locations we’ve visited.  I have plenty of excuses, among them:

• A few trips to the ER (nothing serious, gladly)
• All four of my children’s birthdays are in the next 7 weeks
• Three of the past six school days have resulted in either an early-out due to weather or a snow day
• Planning a winter getaway for the family (so much fun, but also time-consuming) to try to escape winter for a wee bit
• Making backup plans in case Carnival Splendor isn’t back to sailing by February when my husband and I are scheduled to board
• The fact that something has managed to take over nearly all of my “free” mornings twice a week when all my children are in school

But you’re not here to read excuses, are you?  You all have busy lives of your own.  So I’ll just apologize and leave you with a few tidbits for today, and a promise that I’ll try to get back to writing more regularly very, very soon.

• Tidbit #1:  A New Camera

  While planning our upcoming cruise, I realized that I didn’t want to take my SLR camera, but that I’d like something with a better zoom than my little pocket camera.  Did you know that there are cameras out there now that have 26x zoom, which is something like the equivalent of 800mm?  Playing with them in the camera store was like having a camera stuck to the end of some pretty powerful binoculars.In the end, two things kept me away from the super-super-zooms:  1) they were bigger than I wanted, and 2) they didn’t have GPS.  Yes, there are a handful of cameras available now that have built-in GPS.  “Why would you want GPS?” asked one electronics-store salesperson.  “To geotag!” I replied.  The built-in GPS marks the spot where each photo is taken.  If you take most of your photos at home, this may not be of particular interest, but to road-trippers like me, it’s a distinct advantage to be able to remember where each shot was taken, and to have it automatically tagged in Flickr or other photo-sharing sites.

  So, in the end, the winner for me was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7, at 12MP with 12X zoom and GPS, along with 720p HD video.  In the few weeks I’ve had it, I’ve been very happy with the photos I’ve taken, from macros to video to pictures of our farm from a mile and a half away.  If you’re in the market for a new camera and are considering this model, leave questions in the comments field below and I’ll try to answer them.

• Tidbit #2:  Passports with Purpose

  Do you want to help out a good cause, and get a chance at winning some pretty cool prizes while doing so?  Check out Passports with Purpose, a project of the travel-blogging community for the past several years.  By donating to build a community in India, you can choose to throw your name in the hat for a number of interesting prizes.  PwP is 90% of the way to its goal of $50,000 with a week left to go.There’s a wide variety of prizes available, including a five-night stay at any of the Paradise by Marriott resorts that is being sponsored by Best Family Travel Advice, where you can ask your family-travel related questions and seasoned travel bloggers (yours truly included) will provide advice.

  Passports with Purpose runs through December 13.

Do you have any plans for holiday travel this year?  We’re going to try exploring Missouri this winter.  Hopefully we won’t have to outrun any snowstorms as in the past couple of years.  Safe travels to you, wherever you go.

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