Adobe Iceland Adventure: Practical Lesson #1

Ulefoss, Norway: In just a couple days, on July 28th, the Adobe Lightroom/Photoshop Iceland adventure officially begins. But I've already learned my first lesson and it cost me a pretty penny. Hopefully you'll learn from my mistake!

I'm writing from Europe. I came out early, leaving San Francisco and flying here to Norway to the family house with my wife and two daughters. I packed everything I could in my carry-on--two laptops (hey, computers are critical when you are testing beta software), and most of my cameras and lenses, but not all. As I approached what felt like several hundred ponds of carry-on baggage I decided to pack some of my lenses into a bag I planned to check in.

I recalled a big sign at the airport warning against locking check in bags. Homeland security, you know. So no locks for me. Just blind faith. Well, turns out that wasn't enough.

We stopped in Iceland, but one of my two checked bags never appeared. Yep, you guessed it. The one carrying my extra lenses. There is nothing worse than watching people walk away with their bags while you stand there waiting for yours. I spent the next two days in Iceland setting up the hotels, restaurants, transportation, parties, etc. for the Adobe Lightroom Iceland adventure. At the end, still no bag, no extra lenses.

Finally, a few days after we arrived in Oslo, the bag was located and returned to me. I felt something was wrong before I opened it. A vib thing. Sure enough, my Nikkor AF-S VR 24-120 lens was missing from its box. I immediately informed the airline and quickly got an apologetic email back. "We are so sorry for your loss," the email read, "However, we are not liable...check with your insurance company." Sure, I have camera insurance, but with a $500 deductible. So there you go...money down the drain.

When I told Derrick Story, another one of the Adobe Iceland Adventure team, about my loss he was sympathetic, but then he said gently, "You know you could have locked the bag."

Huh? I felt pretty stupid. "Yeah," Derrick said, "There are TSA-approved luggage locks that have both combination and key access. According to National Geographic - where I bought mine - only TSA personnel have the keys to the locks. If the locks are opened by TSA, it is indicated on the lock by a red dot. You can learn more about these here."

Thanks Derrick! Next time...

Stay tuned for more lessons from the adventure...