The Plan

So as you all know big changes will be coming over the next year. I will be undergoing weight loss surgery, the result of which will be an unusual diet for the foreseeable future. Another side effect will be increased energy and the ability to save money to do new and exciting things. The one thing that I want to do is have a vacation.

What is a vacation, is it traveling to some place that you have never seen taking a bunch of pictures and posting them on Facebook. Is that what we do to recharge our batteries? I think that when we go someplace we should disconnect from our lives in a meaningful way. The result is that my vacation plans have now become slightly elaborate.

First, I need a new telescope for deep sky astrophotography, hence the posts I have been making. If you want to see the current setup I have created a pin board for it here.  This setup is optimized for wide field deep sky objects. It utilizes a digital rebel modified to allow the full visual spectrum to be recorded by the chip. It can still be used as a photographic camera, thus multiple batteries may be needed.

Second some upgrades to my computer for processing large raw images, a bigger monitor and some more ram. Also a Macbook air, for capturing images at a remote site. With these things acquired we move on to the question of where to go.

Third, we need camping supplies. I have compiled another board on Pinterest here.

Once all three components are acquired there will be a local shakedown, learning how to assemble components in a useful way. Not everyone will be required to attend the shakedown events, just be willing to be told what to do when we arrive at our expedition end points.

Initially I thought the north rim of the grand canyon would be a good place to go, but unfortunately there are few clearings. The optimal place would be someplace dry and flat. Hence, the ultimate goal would be a winter trip to Death Valley, but before that we need a few expeditions to fine tune our approach. Our initial expedition would be to the Grand Canyon Star Party on the South Rim in early to mid June for 5-6 days. With a trip to the north rim to see which sight is better. Eventually however we will move to Alamo State Park for our first solo astrophotography expedition (AE1). The date for this expedition is to be determined, probably in the spring of 2014. Finally in the fall of 2014 we will try for another location, possibly in the Coronado National Forest (AE2).

Finally some time in the winter of 2014 we will attempt our expedition to Death Valley. (AE3) The solo expeditions will allow us more freedom to shoot the shit while engaging in behaviors that are frowned upon at some star parties. I would like 3-4 guests to join me for these expeditions, hopefully they will be enjoyable.

My motivation for this type of vacationing is simple. I sometimes wish to disconnect from the modern world and do something purely for enjoyment (or frustration) and this type of vacation seems to do the trick for me in my head.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.