Travels on Numeric Citizen Blog

Too hot

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:28 -0400

Vacations coming to an end this weekend, expect normal programming resuming by Sunday. It was a great two-week vacation in France but the overwhelming heat wherever we stayed was a challenge that we didn’t expect and was hard at some points to cope with, especially in Paris.

Bye bye Paris

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:42:06 +0200

My last day in Paris. This week flew by. Despite the climate-related challenges, visiting such a wonderful city has been an unforgettable experience. Now, we’re heading south, on a three-hour TGV ride, for a relaxing week on the seaside. Don’t expect too many check-ins. I’m taking a break. I hoped you enjoyed this photo-centric journaling as much as I enjoyed posting.

A slight twist

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:18:33 -0400

Is the worst of this Paris heatwave behind us? Maybe, as we’re only heading for 37°C today instead of 38°C or 39°C 😒🥵. After three mostly sleepless nights, we decided to leave our apartment a day early to stay in a hotel with AC before leaving Paris for good. Other than that, our plans for the day are still up in the (hot) air.

Too hot for photography?

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 03:46:10 -0400

You might think that, by looking at the trail here, I’m taking a lot of photos in visiting Paris, but that’s not the case. One reason is it’s my second time in Paris, but the second reason is the heat. Sadly, It’s not fun to stop on the street for a few minutes, under the sun, for shooting a few photos. And lastly, my iPhone is overheating quickly while taking pictures! Running a beta version of iOS 27 probably doesn’t help either. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’m probably snapping a third of what I would shoot normally.

28C at 9 o’clock!

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 03:23:26 -0400

Starting day #6 in Paris. After a nearly sleepless night with high temperatures in our apartment, no breeze at all, we are facing another record breaking heatwave day. Heading to Notre Dame this morning while outside temperatures are still ok for waiting inline in a queue. Beyond that, we still don’t know. Max temperature is expected to be 38C at 5PM. 🥵🫤😒

Peak heatwave

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 03:37:28 -0400

Good morning from heated Paris! Today might be the worst of all as we enter peak heatwave. Expected temperatures are around 38C. 😳🥵😩 Photowalk is not a possibility today, this heat removes any glimpses of inspiration. Looking for more museums to visit.

Still hot in Paris

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 03:46:40 -0400

Well, at the beginning our third day in Paris and options for visiting air conditioned museums are limited because of high demand. Apparently, we should plan in advance which we rarely do in vacation. 🫤 Probably going to visit around Le Louvre then see La Seine river nearby where I expect somewhat colder air. Temperatures are expected to be around 35C this afternoon. 🥵

Paris is hot!

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:30:14 -0400

First full day in Paris completed. Now starting second day. In case you didn’t know: there is a heat wave affecting most of France. It’s hot 🥵 here in Paris with a temperature of around 26C early morning. Now planning museum visits where temperatures are colder inside.

High Temperatures Expected

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 20:52:33 -0400

The weather in Montreal, Canada, has not been very good this Spring (lots of rain, too few sunny days, colder than usual). If weather forecasts for the next ten days materialize, improvements aren’t expected soon. Paris, France, is quite another story. They have had plenty of sun, and temperatures are abnormally high and expected to remain so in the near future, as they are still going through a heat wave. The expected high in Paris this coming Saturday is 36C! As a reminder: AC in Paris, or Europe in general, is not common. 😅🥵

Anxieties of a Creator

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:21:40 -0400

Now that I have everything I need for a public travel journaling experience, I’m starting to think about the anxiety this might trigger while travelling. I want to take and share great images of places that are significant in my travelling experience. But, blogging shouldn’t be a burden, journaling neither, especially while travelling. But as a creator, creating and sharing goes hand in hand. I hope I’ll keep my anxiety at bay!

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:27:57 -0400

La Sagrada Familia is now complete. When I visited the basilica in 2014, after a few moments inside, I simply cried. So beautiful. I’m happy to see this monumental architectural masterpiece completed.

Traveling to Egypt and Jordan: Some of My Random Travel Notes

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 06:26:10 -0400

One of my favourite things while flying is seeing a plane go in the opposite direction at a distance, ideally close enough to feel the raw speed of the plane added to mine.
I loved Egypt, but the chaos of Cairo can be overwhelming and tiring. I prefer the relative calm of Jordan’s cities. I may be getting too old for some scenery.
WhatsApp is a dominant communication platform worldwide, except in North America. Too bad it is so awkward to navigate and is owned by Meta.
Taking pictures of the scene from my hublot is a good time killer and can produce fascinating images. I have so many of them.
Posted many pictures on my personal and custom-made photo-sharing website, and it worked beautifully. Of course, a selection of my photos was also posted on my Glass page. More to come in the next few weeks.
My personal custom-built RSS web app proved to be super handy when I wanted a quick overview of the news.
These notes were gathered and written using Raycast for iOS before being edited and published. Raycast > Tot, in my opinion.
I encountered several planes equipped with electronically activated polarization shields on the windows, which produce unusual lighting effects both outside and inside the cabin. Some shields do not completely block external light. Additionally, these shields are centrally controlled during flight, which can be frustrating.
Most airports remain and will always be customer-hostile and unfriendly. It seems to be getting worse every year, everywhere, as air travel continues to increase.
I brought my newly acquired Ubiquity Travel Router with me, but it was of no use; all hotel Wi-Fi, including the cruise ship, allowed many devices to connect with a single activation.
Taking a break from the intensity of the digital world is salutary. But I’m glad to be back online now.

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 02:49:03 -0400

Now leaving Jordan to return home. Great vacation overall. More comments coming soon.

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 08:26:17 -0400

Fact: airports aren’t created equal. 😩

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 04:43:48 -0400

Having a great time in Egypt so far. Internet connectivity is spotty which explains why I’m not posting more photos. You will be flooded in due time!

Journaling While Traveling - A Third Option?

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 06:49:39 -0400

Journaling and documenting my experiences while travelling has always been something that I wish I could do effectively, without too much friction. I did it in Italy in 2022 using Craft and again this past summer with Apple Journal. Two different kinds of vacations, totally different solutions. I’m still not satisfied with either of these options. Next time, maybe I should consider using the real deal: Day One?

Fri, 23 May 2025 08:43:38 -0400

Last day. Current stop. 🥲

Wed, 21 May 2025 03:58:52 -0400

Currently in Ibiza for three days which will conclude my two-week vacations. Found this Marshall speaker upon entering the room of our hotel. Great looking design. It goes along the design lines of the hotel. Very good sound. Planning to get one of these after coming back home: a Marshall Acton III Bluetooth speaker, a more recent and improved design for controls.

Mon, 19 May 2025 09:24:56 -0400

Couldn’t make the city walk I had hoped for but managed to get that one done. Not bad. I always liked symmetry that can be found in cathedrals.

Mon, 19 May 2025 06:23:57 -0400

Travel update: I’m currently in Valencia, Spain, still figuring out if we will go off the ship today for a walk in a city that we already visited back in 2017. One idea would be to revisit some places but with this idea of trying different photo takes with more modern photo gear (was using an iPhone 7, Nikon D80 back then if I remember correctly).

Thu, 15 May 2025 07:48:30 -0400

Currently in Catalina, Sicile. Rainy day. Brought my camera with me but got no inspiration to take photos, except that one which is in line with the current weather.

Tue, 13 May 2025 05:42:28 -0400

It’s 2025 and I’m still fascinated by the lack of efficiency of barcode or QRcode reading equipments at airports or train stations which greatly reduce the flow of people trying to catch their flight or train.

Tue, 13 May 2025 03:19:01 -0400

I love those courtyards which are everywhere in Europe, especially in bigger and denser cities like Rome. Always something interesting or intriguing to see and catch.

Sun, 11 May 2025 12:53:16 -0400

Back on the train after a day in Pompeii, Italy 🇮🇹 . We can see the Vesuvius volcano in the backdrop. What a beautiful and fascinating place. If you go there, spend the whole day. Don’t miss a pizza at the Pizzeria de la gare. 😋

Sat, 10 May 2025 10:26:51 -0400

Finally made it to Rome Italy 🇮🇹 . The first day is always the hardest one, thanks to the jet lag 😵😵‍💫🥱. But I always try to keep my photography eye on alert.

Fri, 09 May 2025 07:32:57 -0400

Last day of work before a two-weeks vacation where I’ll spend some time visiting Rome, Pompeii, Ibiza, Valencia, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Taormina, Valletta and Palma; places that I’m eagerly waiting to visit! 😀

Bring What Device on My Next Trip?

Fri, 02 May 2025 12:41:13 -0400

I’m going for a trip in southern Europe at the end of next week for two weeks. I’ll visit Italy and Spain from a cruise ship and the many stops that are planned. I’m still undecided as to what device should I bring: my iPad or my MacBook Air? The former is highly portable and much lighter, but the latter would allow me to spend more time learning Elements during flight time. I may be overestimating how much free time I’ll have to use these things… 🥴🤷🏻‍♂️

Wed, 29 Jan 2025 07:37:00 -0400

I’d love to be there right now instead of enduring winter.

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 15:43:39 -0400

It’s winter here and getting really cold outside, so let’s go back in time, and travel to Morocco. Circa June 2023.

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 10:16:33 -0400

I was standing on an upper level deck on a cruise boat in Rio de Janeiro, on December 31, 2022. This is what I could see on port side. Again, I love contrasts. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #architecture #graffiti

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 09:21:18 -0400

In a taxi to the airport, on a rainy day, somewhere in São Paulo. I love the mood of that one. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #graffiti

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:07:15 -0400

Somewhere in New York, circa November 2024. Ephemeral whispers of the sky meet mankind’s steadfast monuments. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #architecture

Sun, 17 Nov 2024 10:56:24 -0400

At Fort Lauderdale Airport: I was really impressed by the scanner they use at the security gates. The operator uses a big screen similar to a big iPad and uses touch gestures to tilt and rotate luggage in 3D, uses a slider to see slices of the bag’s internal content. Really cool.

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 17:22:45 -0400

Leaving Haiti. 😍

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 12:36:39 -0400

Great use of Apple offline Maps in Miami. Works wonderfully well.

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 16:54:07 -0400

Dealing with Airline companies is not my favorite thing in the world. Flight got cancelled. Booked another one. Barely made it to the gate. 😅

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 12:17:24 -0400

In a few hours, I’m flying from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Interesting fact: Florida is one of the states who most massively voted for Trump. Thankfully, I’m staying there less than 24 hours.

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 21:39:32 -0400

Walked 20KM, 28000 steps. Feeling exhausted. 😓 But I still love NY, 9 years since my previous trip in June, 2015.

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 13:20:50 -0400

Perfect day for a long road trip. I’m going to a music show close to New York City: Sting.

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 09:40:33 -0400

Playing with Spectre on the road while heading to New York. That was a 5 sec exposure.

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 10:36:01 -0400

My current view: in-flight infotainment screen where we can see the flight timeline. Easily spot when meals are served. First time that I’m seeing this. I find this really cool and probably helps answer many questions from people. Side note: I’d love to see Apple build a FlightPlay user experience (CarPlay equivalent).

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 06:07:50 -0400

Brought a book with me for vacation. Didn’t read it as I always find better things to do. Typical me. 🤷🏻‍♂️🙄

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 01:52:25 -0400

It’s time for me to return home, sadly. This vacation has been one of the best at many levels. I feel rejuvenated mentally and physically. I’ll use flight time (ten hours) to reflect on my time here in Croatia and to look forward to resume my blogging and creative activities.

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 05:35:33 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Our last notorious stop in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 04:39:26 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Kotar, Montenegro. Nice place, lots of tourists. Hot 🥵

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 05:58:58 -0400

Another heavy and sweaty day in Dubrovnik! We walked the city walls earlier in the morning and yet it was already too hot. 🥵

Tue, 09 Jul 2024 06:55:15 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — It is sooooo hot in here! Many tourists too! Dubrovnik, Croatia!

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 15:18:37 -0400

Our current view in Dubrovnik port, Croatia. That’s the moon that I love! 😍

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 01:19:11 -0400

Slowly but surely heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia, by the sea. 🤗 what a wonderful morning, isn’t?

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 12:51:59 -0400

A summer taste of Croatia. 🤗

Sun, 07 Jul 2024 11:16:56 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Lovely village. Korcula, Croatia.

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 15:55:50 -0400

We met a couple in their thirties, from Dallas Texas, this evening at the cruise opening diner. Eventually, near the end of the diner, politics came up in the discussions. Nowadays, it’s a tricky subject and we don’t force it outselves. We quickly discovered that they were anti-Trump and very caution about the Democrats too. It’s refreshing to meet people coming from those areas of the US that shares some of our views about the US, politics and general values. I’m French Canadian, mind you.

Travel update #13: Bye Bye Split, Let’s Do Another Cruise to Dubrovnik!

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 15:50:24 -0400

Today was our last day in Split, Croatia. We strolled through the streets of Split once again and had breakfast at the “Bepa” restaurant, which is accessible from one of the public squares. Once again, we ate very well. However, the prices for food are even higher than we expected. We’re coming to the conclusion that traveling in Croatia is almost as expensive as traveling in countries like Italy!

Today also marks the beginning of a short cruise that will allow us to visit the islands of Korčula and Mljet before arriving in Dubrovnik, our last stop before returning to Canada. We still have many beautiful things to discover, fortunately. I don’t know if it’s a good sign or not, but the early experiences from the beginning of our trip already feel distant.

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 10:43:18 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Leaving tomorrow morning for the Korcula island, Croatia. Now shilling on the boat! 🤗

Travel update #12: Visiting Hvar, Bisevo, Vis Islands, Croatia

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 11:56:30 -0400

Once again, with a bit of delay, I’m sharing a new update on my trip to Croatia. Yesterday, the day was primarily spent on the waters in front of the city of Split. We took a small speedboat cruise to visit three beautiful large islands. The tour lasted more than ten hours. We also passed through the popular Blue Lagoon and visited a cave located on the island of Bisevo, where the turquoise water offers a surreal setting. It was absolutely magnificent. We had a mini lunch in Hvar and spent two lovely hours there, strolling and enjoying this beautiful place. A fishing village welcomed us. Fishing is still practiced there, but tourism is by far the largest economic activity. The architecture of the buildings is similar to what is found throughout the Croatian coast, with light stone buildings and terracotta-tiled roofs in shades of orange. This is also similar to what you find in Italy, by the way. We had a quite bumpy return to the coast as the sea was much more agitated than in early morning. It was quite an experience. Thankfully, the boat operator was experimented.

Regarding food, restaurant offerings mostly consist of grilled dishes, mainly fish and meat. Tuna salads, Niçoise, and Greek salads are also on the menu. Some restaurants feature typical Croatian dishes like goulashes. The sale of ice cream and gelato is very common in southern villages, where it’s warmer. I succumbed a few times, actually. The brightness on clear days here is absolutely perfect, just like everywhere on the Côte d’Azur.

We are halfway through our stay in this beautiful country. Tomorrow, we will embark on a small cruise for a few days to visit other islands, ultimately leading us to our final destination: Dubrovnik, where we will spend a few days. I’m really looking forward to it.

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 05:08:40 -0400

Smoking is still a big thing in Croatia apparently. 😖😖☹️

Travel update #11: From Sibenik to Split, Croatia

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 12:45:07 -0400

Yesterday, I didn’t have time to write the daily update because it was a transition day by car to our next destination: Split in Croatia. Of course, we took advantage of our route to stop in Trogir to visit and have lunch there. It was our last stop by car as we had to leave it at the airport in the suburbs of Trogir. From now on, we will take a boat. More details to come on that.

Our journey continued to Split, taking a taxi via Uber. The trip took a little over half an hour. Once there, we went to drop off our luggage at our apartment and took some time to explore the surroundings. What a strange but beautiful urban environment. Our apartment is located inside the old palace of Split. Accessing it is not easy as there are winding corridors and numerous stairs to climb. We felt like we were living within the walls of a medina like those found in Morocco. It’s lovely.

I took advantage of the late afternoon light to take some photos. What a beautiful city. I already know that I won’t have enough time to see everything and try to capture photos that are off the beaten path. I’ll do my best, and it will serve as an excuse to wish to return someday.

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 06:29:13 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Quick stop to visit Trogir, Croatia.

Travel update #10: Sibenik Take #2, Croatia

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 13:12:13 -0400

Once again, what a beautiful day we had in Sibenik. The main objective today was to visit the three forts of the city, which offer a splendid view of the town and the islands off the coast. The weather was magnificent even though storm cells were threatening the region. Fortunately, we were spared from rain and lightning!

We visited the three forts, which were overall interesting but are mainly worth visiting for the views they offer. We took advantage of the occasion to have a picnic at lunchtime while the wind was blowing moderately across the area. It was pleasant to hear the wind rustling through the trees, mostly mature pines.

After visiting the forts, we descended back into the city, this time making sure to choose a parking spot on the west side of town so we could walk along the long promenade by the docks. We ended up in the old part of the city to revisit and complete our tour from yesterday, which was merely a preview. This time, I had the good camera in hand, and I took the opportunity to capture new perspectives different from those taken yesterday.

We were back at the apartment around 6:30 PM to freshen up before heading out to a small neighboring village of Vodice, i.e., Tribunj. I can’t wait to see this little village.

I can’t wait to share some of my best pictures.

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 08:21:18 -0400

My next trip to the US is to see a Sting show in New York in October. After that, I’m not planning to visit the US for at least five years. I refuse to visit totalitarian states. Fuck #Trump. Fuck those who supports this buffoon and clown.

On My Writing Style As a Traveler

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 02:46:15 -0400

As you probably know, I’ve been writing and sharing my travel notes since the beginning of my trip to Croatia. I’m proud of maintaining the regularity to post each day, but not as proud of my writing itself. I can’t quite describe the quality of my writing, but when I read it back, it feels rather superficial. Why do I feel this way?

Well, my writing tends to list the places I visited and whether I liked them. But I almost always fail to explain why I loved visiting them. Take yesterday’s travel update, for example: I wrote that I fell in love with Sibenik and shared a photo of banners adorned with children’s drawings. What exactly resonated with me in this place? What were my emotions when I entered the narrow streets of the village and first saw the banners everywhere? It was surprising—the children’s drawings added a contrast to the old buildings’ walls, giving the city a sense of humanity. And you know what? It was the children’s festival! It’s a great way to celebrate humanity.

Part of my problem is that I’m not a native English speaker, but a French speaker. I don’t have the same level of vocabulary to describe feelings or physical places. I’m wondering if I could first write a version of my travel update in French and then ask ChatGPT to translate it into English. For today’s travel update, that’s what I’m going to do. We’ll see how it comes out this time. Let me know if you notice a difference.

Disclaimer: this text was first written in English (yes, in English!) and I asked ChatGPT to improve to the writing. It made a big difference, trust me, but I still have this feeling of owning the ideas and the final results.

Travel update #9: Krka National Park & Sibenik, Croatia

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 16:05:51 -0400

It’s been a day with ups and downs. We left the apartment at around 10:30 AM in direction of the Krka National Park, 45-minute drive to see some other waterfalls and translucide lakes. The first part of the visit was really nice because it was like a repeat of the other visit to the national park that we visited earlier in the week with great waterfalls and gorgeous lakes with transparent blue water. Unlike the first national park, this time, it was much more crowded to a point of being unpleasant at some point because we had to wait for people to finish their selfies. 🤨

We left to see another part of the park where a bigger waterfall was expected and was located further in the park, but we couldn’t locate it and wasted our time waiting for the bus to get us back to the parking lot. The last stop was to visit a secluded church rather hard to locate on the maps. We eventually ended up at the entrance and couldn’t buy any tickets to visit the area but a priest did let us anyway visit the monastery and the areas with a little smile on his face. It was a welcomed gesture.

Next up, we had to return to the apartment to exchange my pair of glasses otherwise I would have been enable to drive at night when coming back to the apartment. For dinner, we decided to go to Sibenik, a great little village near Vodice. Oh boy I instantly fell in love with it. I didn’t have my main camera so I was left with my iPhone to take as many pictures as I could. We decided to come back tomorrow and this time, I’ll bring my other big camera. I can’t wait for this.

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 05:34:59 -0400

Croatian national park entrance fees are kind of steep but I appreciate the quality of the installations and general maintenance of the parks something that cannot be said of every national parks. 👌🏻

Travel update #8: Kornati Islands, Croatia

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 13:33:17 -0400

Here’s today’s travel update. What a wonderful day we had, thanks to this day-cruise around the Kornati Islands, starting from Vodice’s port at 9 AM. We had lunch at around 11:30 AM, right before a 3-hour stop at one of the island (can’t remember the name!) where we could spend some time swimming at the beach or in a very salty small interior lake. I decided to go for the trail around the lake instead, a 2.2KM quick trekking. While the temperature at the village was expected to reach 33C during the day, weather on the sea was cooler and very nice, with very little wind, except in the trail where the temperature probably reached more than 30C with partially shaded trail sections, thanks to tall pine trees. A bit scary discovery: while walking the trail in the forest, I encountered many big spider nets at about fifteen feet high each with a gigantic spider standing right in the middle, waiting for the next prey. It was a bit scary and disgusting, not my favourite thing to see. Overall, it was a great day.

I took my telephoto lens with me this time around and it was a judicious decision. I started editing my travel photos and I must say that without Adobe Lightroom’s built in catalog, it’s a bit cumbersome. I often get this error in Photomator as seen below. It’s a bit frustrating. I think it’s more of an iPadOS instabilities than a problem with Photomator.

Travel update #7: Vodice’s Beaches, Croatia

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 13:08:30 -0400

We didn’t do much today: taking our time early in the morning when preparing and having breakfast and then spending time on the beach and relaxing. I did some writing too, from my iPhone while sitting on my sunbathing chair. It’s far from being ideal for writing longer posts but it is what it is. I had some thoughts to share about AI, generative AI more specifically (like this thought, this one and that one).

We came back to the apartment after having a drink at a beach club nearby. Then, again, we were quietly spending time online before getting ready to prepare the meal for dinner. Our plans for the rest of the day is to return in the village’s center to feel the village’s night life. It’s only a ten-minute walk from where we stay. It’s very convenient.

Thanks for reading.

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 06:38:04 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Enjoying the beach. 🤗

Travel update #6: Zadar + Vodice, Croatia

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 12:17:43 -0400

Today we left for Zadar and Vodice where we will stay for five days in a small apartment. We arrived at noon in Zadar and had a nice picnic in a small park, under the shade of big trees. It was a quiet place and we wondered about how few tourists seem to be present since we arrived in Croatia. It might not be peak season just yet. We spent nearly three hours in Zadar, a great coastal city of Croatia, to walk in the city’s small streets behind the fortified perimeter. It felt a bit hot even for a coastal city, yet the weather was splendid. We saw (and heard) the sea organ and we were pleased by the sound of it.

We left Zadar for Vodice at 3PM, a one-hour drive on a coastal road. As we drove away from Zadar we saw the surroundings slowly change in appearance. Vodice is a small village where we can find great places to have dinner and visit the marina surrounded by typical summer houses and beach clubs. Tomorrow I should have more to say about this small village.

Thanks for reading my short travel updates!

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 11:07:47 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Five-day stop right here. Can wait to walk around and discover.

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 07:18:27 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — What a great city! Zadar, Croatia!

Travel update #5: Rastoke, Croatia

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 11:54:00 -0400

Earlier this morning, the weather was better than yesterday, so we decided to revisit Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The improved lighting allowed us to better appreciate the lake’s renowned blue and green hues, and there were fewer tourists. However, we didn’t stay as long as our previous visit because we wanted to explore a small village called Rastoke. This village, known for its charming houses and numerous waterfalls, was highly recommended by our host. We enjoyed a picnic there before exploring, and we were not disappointed; the place was delightful.

On our way back, we stopped to see the river’s source near the road. To our surprise, we found several old, barely standing buildings, which made for great photography. However, a thunderstorm was forming nearby, forcing us to cut our visit short. After checking the local radar, we realized we had just enough time to escape and return to our car.

And we were back at our B&B at four fifty. It’s another great day in Croatia. Now loading up a new batch of photos into my iPad.

Travel update #4: Plitvicka Jezera Nation Park, Croatia

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 12:02:49 -0400

We left Zagreb today to go visit the Plitvicka Jezera national park. it was a two hour drive from Zagreb. After a nice and smooth ride we arrived at around 11:15 AM in the park ready to tackle the 4-6 hour circuit. Boy this place is wonderful! It took us about four hours. We had a rain shower or two but each time we were lucky to be at the right place either on the boat or in the forest so we didn’t get wet! Lucky me because I wasn’t ready for rain with my unprotected photo equipment. Speaking of photography, I don’t know how many shots I did but I’m pretty sure there are a few quite impressive with such natural surroundings. I can’t wait to process those images.

Tonight, we’re going to have dinner at a house near our B&B in Grabovac, a very small village be close to the national park. They served grilled fish and meat. It supposed to be really good. We’ll see, but I trust the Croatians so far!

Travel update #3: Zagreb, Croatia

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:49:23 -0400

We went for another walking session in Zagreb after the rain finally went on pause in the second half of the afternoon. We visited another portion of the city before ending up near the restaurant where we planned to have dinner, a Sri Lanka restaurant called “Curry Bowl” which again was rated five stars. It was absolutely delicious. But just before going for the dinner we stopped at a little bar because the rain started again. It was “apéro time”. All in all we enjoyed Zagreb: a nice, relativelyely quiet European city where we always felt in safe.

Tomorrow heading off to Plitvice Lakes National Park for two days. It will be quite a different environment.

Travel update #2: Zagreb, Croatia

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 10:08:44 -0400

I’m currently writing this from our room as there are some heavy showers outside. We had a chance to walk a lot since morning in Zagreb and had a great lunch at the restaurant called “Heritage” which is close to our B&B. It’s a very small place where only maybe ten people can have lunch at the same timee (counting those 3 tables outside!). They make absolutely great sandwiches with Croatian ingredients (ham, truffle spread, local cheese, etc.). We also all a great walnuts salad and a drink. Eating is our great pleasure when visiting a place like Zagreb. This place has five stars and is not that expansive.

Back to our room, I’m writing this post after I imported my first batch of images (62 in all) and started to tag which one I would process. All this is done on my iPad, Files and Photomator. Works great so far. The only thing is that I forgot to change the time zone so my pictures got the wrong time stamp. Not that big of a deal. If the internet speed was better, I would have included an image to this post, but that’s not the case. Too bad.

Travel update #1: Zagreb, Croatia

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 03:31:28 -0400

First full day in Croatia. It is the morning here in Zagreb. Yesterday, we arrived and spent the first few hours wandering in the city center where all the night life is happening. It was the time to spot the places that we were to revisit later (today). We were tired following our two flights by night.

There was a soccer match at 9PM and people were quite excited and were looking forward to it. It ended end up in a tie 1-1 Croatia against Italia. I don’t care too much about soccer but Croatian do quite a lot!

I didn’t take my camera with me as I felt my iPhone would be enough. It was a good call anyway because it was rather late in the evening. We had dinner at a restaurant and had goulash and beer. It was a typical plate for Croatian apparently. We came back to the B&B exhausted by our air travelling. I do feel the jet lag this morning but I expect thing to improve in the next two to three days.

This blog post was a writing exercise to practice my daily journaling while traveling abroad.

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 17:15:12 -0400

I decided to use Day One for my travel journaling instead of Apple’s Journal. Reason being very simple: Day One is available on all my devices. Most of my text probably won’t be shared, but if I decide to publish someone, I’ll use the Day One export feature.

Update: sadly, images aren’t exported while exporting in Markdown format. Not surprising, but it’s a nearly a dealbreaker.

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 11:33:02 -0400

Flights outlook for the day. I love Flighty.

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 11:28:30 -0400

Last minutes adjustments before traveling: revisited the “on vacation” focus mode on my iPhone to make sure to receive notifications from certains apps¹, updated the home screen and lock screen wallpapers to be more in line with traveling mode. I also bought and installed my eSIM from Airalo². Decided not to renew Halide subscription but will I’ll try to use it anyway over Apple’s camera app³.

I’m excluding all work-related apps, of couse. ↩︎
They offer a great buying experience and usually flawless when I travel abroad. ↩︎
Photomator can easily open and edit images from Halide camera. ↩︎

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 17:24:49 -0400

Fun fact about me: I rarely visit websites and search for photos of my travel destinations before leaving my country. I prefer the full surprise. Zagreb, wait for me!

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 11:33:33 -0400

Anyone using a VPN client when they travel abroad? Why? Which one? I considering using this when I’ll be in Croatia and it must be compatible with iOS and iPadOS. Thanks.

Pondering

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 17:18:04 -0400

In a week, I’ll be preparing to fly to Croatia for a three-week vacation with my wife. I’m still considering several aspects of the trip. How much blogging should I do during this time? Should I stay quiet and focus entirely on my vacation and photography? What camera equipment should I bring? Should I bring my MacBook Air in addition to my iPad Pro?

I need to decide the right balance between being present in the moment and documenting the journey through my blog. While I enjoy sharing my experiences, I also want to fully immerse myself in the trip without the constant pressure of content creation. As for the camera gear, I’ll need to carefully assess what I’ll actually use versus what I might pack just in case. The MacBook Air could be helpful for editing photos on the go, but the iPad Pro is a more compact and convenient option. Ultimately, I want to travel light and focus on making the most of this vacation with my wife.

I still have a week to figure this out.

Tue, 07 May 2024 06:06:32 -0400

I rarely do and share selfies! But here’s one. Walking on the “Promenade des anglais” in Nice, France.

Feeling Undecided — Thinking Out Loud

Sun, 07 Apr 2024 21:20:00 -0400

Believe it or not, I’m still undecided about what to use for my summer travel journal. My options are 1) A new dedicated blog with Micro.blog, 2) Scribbles, 3) Pixelfed, 4) None of the above. I’m also undecided about how much effort I want to put into this. Micro.blog’s image handling concerns me¹. Scribbles is in a similar position². This leaves me with Pixelfed. Yet, this question is fundamental to my decision: it is more about images or words. It’s the former. I might end up with Pixelfed. Or with a bit of everything³. Decision. Decision. Decision.

This is highly dependent on my visual theme selection. ↩︎
Posting on Scribbles is limited to a browser. Preparing posts offline is a must here. ↩︎
Isn’t the case right now, anyway? ↩︎

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 13:57:50 -0400

Gearing up for our next trip to the United States of America[^1] on October, 2024: going to New York for a long weekend. Right before the elections. And you know what? It will take a long time before I back in the US if this dangerous clown ever gets elected[^2].

[^1] I prefer the long version. [^2] That will happen my friends. Mark my words.

Mon, 04 Mar 2024 14:02:03 -0400

What would be the best or the most suitable Micro.blog visual theme for a travel journal type of blog? Outpost? I find it drab. Maybe Typewriter? Currently testing the latter on numericcitizen-test.micro.blog.

Sun, 07 Jan 2024 18:04:04 -0400

I’m happy to announce my next trip: Croatia in June-July. First time over there! I plan to bring my big camera (Nikon D750); I’m not just ready to leave it behind yet. I would be frustrated if I missed photo opportunities because I had “only” the iPhone.

Sat, 09 Sep 2023 08:40:13 -0400

Feeling sad this morning 😥 about the consequences of the earthquake in Morroco. I’m trying to get news from our guide to see if he is ok. 🙏🏻

Sun, 27 Aug 2023 20:45:47 -0400

I played with Apple’s Maps Places feature, as shown in the following video. It’s nice, but it’s not exactly intuitive. There are many missing features, like setting a path between places and adding photos to a place within the guide, from the Photos.app for example to name a few. Also, it’s not clear if a shared guide gets updated if new places are added, or places are removed.

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 09:50:12 -0400

Two used, two more to go. I accidentally dropped my Apple Pencil on the floor while getting my iPad in a security tray at the airport. Just like for toasts, they always fall on the wrong side. 😩

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 08:19:08 -0400

Back home. 😀 I have so many things to work on. It’s a typical return from vacation mood.

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 05:34:45 -0400

There is a lot to say about this new terminal A. Chairs with integrated cup holders, accessible charging ports (USB-A, USB-C, std power outlet), big information display panels with clear directions, easy to ear speakers, etc. I love this place! Remaining problem: too low temperature everywhere we go in the US. They are crazy to set temperature at 70-72F. It is fucking too cold!!! And not environmentally friendly.

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 05:02:29 -0400

Just went through the security at Newark Airport’s new terminal A. Boy the scanners are so cool. The personal see our bags in 3D and can swipe the thing on a big screen! Impressive. Very efficient but technology has limits and that might explain why the guy wanted to open my bag for further inspection. 🤨😱🕵🏻

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 17:21:50 -0400

I want to stay in my holiday bubble and live a life of sun, sea sand and little to no worries. Source: Greg Morris - Back To Work

I return to work, tomorrow at noon. I can relate to what Greg was feeling.

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 16:46:32 -0400

Spending the rest of the day at a hotel near the Newark airport. Hotels like this one are dull x 1000.😞 Our next flight is very early tomorrow morning, leaving no time to go to Manhattan for dinner, sadly.😒 UberEat for lunch tonight, Indian food, which we love a lot! 😊 Should be arriving home in the middle of Monday morning. A quick shower and hop go to work!

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 05:12:59 -0400

Each passage in an airport is a reminder how bad signs design and positioning can be. Is there any airport designer on earth?

Sun, 06 Aug 2023 04:24:12 -0400

Each passage in an airport is a reminder of how useful Flighty can be.

Sat, 05 Aug 2023 14:26:38 -0400

It is with sadness that I’m spending the last few hours of my full day in Tenerife. It was a great nine days trip to a country that I knew nothing about. Over the course of my stay, I managed to complete the full circle of the island. The south shore is much warmer and more humid than the north shore. Tenerife is a Spain territory and it’s a good thing! I love Spain food so much!

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 05:40:03 -0400

Surprisingly useful during travel. This is Series 8 with watchOS 10 beta 4.

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 05:32:58 -0400

If all goes well today, I should be able to make it to a site with many abandoned buildings. this could be a great photo opportunity. This would be the first site outside Canada where I practice urban exploration (aka “urbex”). Feeling excited. 😀

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 08:43:56 -0400

Thought of the day: Tenerife beauties and greatness make me feel humbled as a living species.

Thu, 03 Aug 2023 05:24:19 -0400

Tenerife, in many ways, reminds me of Hawaii. Vegetation, volcano, photography opportunities and the weather, all contribute to this feeling. I would say that it’s the European-style version of Hawaii.

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 06:01:53 -0400

Today’s plan: going to the beach and then visit Santa Cruz. I’m not a “beach boy” but I’ll spend the time exploring the beach surroundings and do some photography while they relax under the sun.

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:30:44 -0400

Killing some time while waiting for diner time by processing and posting my photos on Pixelfed. Too bad they don’t seem to show up in my timeline here on Micrp.blog. Doing all this from my aging 2018 iPad Pro. That’s my traveling device, leaving the MacBook Air behind. Speaking of which, I ordered my 15-inch MBA yesterday and it should be ready just in time when I’m back home! 😎

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 04:06:12 -0400

Oh nice, we missed our connection flight to Tenerife🫤. We will have to spend the night in London. At the hotel. 😕

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 16:27:53 -0400

Woah. Bad weather northern US causes inbound flight postponed. We won’t make it to the next flight. Rebooked everything. Going to London instead of Newark. Then to Tenerife. All good now. 😅

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:53:13 -0400

If you take more than two flights per year, Flighty becomes a must-have, IMO. What a great app. So many things could be said about it. Not cheap, though. Quality and craftsmanship have a price.

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 07:47:08 -0400

Seems a good time to fly! 😀

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 13:24:05 -0400

I’m super excited about this upcoming trip to the Canary Islands. First time over there, for nine days. The weather is expected to be “perfect”. Once again, I’ll use Day One to document my trip, as needed. I’ll take a bunch of photos too! I’ve been West Africa a month ago, in Morocco. The islands are close! But I couldn’t combine those two trips, unfortunately.

Wed, 19 Jul 2023 07:19:08 -0400

I’m excited and upbeat about the upcoming weeks/months. I’ll have a bunch of images to process (from my trips to Morocco & Canary Islands). Plus the migration out of Smugmug to Pixelfed will keep me busy. Finally, the upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro Max(Ultra?) will be an occasion for a few photowalk sessions. All contribute to a more photography-intensive fall. 🏞️🏙️📷

I wrote that for myself. I always like comments! 😊

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 10:47:35 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Final step before being back home. Some news from home: forests fires still rage and my fridge is broken. Lost some food along the way, I guess. Oh well.

Sat, 01 Jul 2023 07:17:24 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — First step in returning home. What a wonderful trip that was. 😍

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 07:24:50 -0400

The time for a wrap up to this trip to Morocco is coming soon. Here’s one quick fact: I took 2 times more pictures with my iPhone than my Nikon. This ratio keeps increasing with each year. 🤨

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 07:36:06 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Last stop. Chilling.

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 13:49:49 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Essaouira. 😍

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 10:05:12 -0400

I’m trying out “Weather on the way” (App Store link) for today’s road. Interesting take on weather forecasts. Carrot Weather should add this feature! We’re leaving Marrakesh one day earlier because of 🥵🥵🥵

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 05:18:41 -0400

We are staying at La Maison Arabe, a well-known Riad in Marrakesh. This hotel is full of corridors, stairs and interior jardins forming a complex maze where we can get lost pretty easily. It’s like Fes’s médina. Beautiful place, really.

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 15:36:24 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Finally. Visiting tomorrow with 45C temp. 🥵

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 15:09:35 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Magnificent place. Photos soon. I swear!

Sat, 24 Jun 2023 07:26:37 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Time for a quick lunch before continuing our road!

Long Day Spent Visiting The Big Medina of Fez

Wed, 21 Jun 2023 13:13:05 -0400

Date:	June 21, 2023 at 5:54:55 PM GMT+1
Weather:	29°C Mostly Clear
Location:	Derb Salaj, Fes, Fès-Meknès, Morocco

What a strange, busy, surprising place. Strangely, I didn’t take as many pictures as I could. I guess I was too busy looking around me, up, down, everywhere. 🤯

Visiting this Medina was like reliving the past, like going back in 800. Our guide told us that not that many things has changed since the early years. But man, everything is so coupled with the Islamic religion. I’m not used to that.

The Medina is a city in a city. You’ll find everything from food, clothes, and fake Apple gear (a lot). Oh, and, the young generation of sellers are all tied to their smartphone, all the time. I’m not sure this helps do good business. 🤔

Oh and boy we eat too much in Morocco.

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:58:58 -0400

When staying at a five star hotel equipped with a slow internet, you want to… 😡 sync your stuff, share photos but it takes like fovever.. 🤬 well, never mind. I shouldn’t complain. 🤦🏻‍♂️ But don’t expect any photos soon. Sorry. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 10:58:37 -0400

Location check in 🗺 — Tanger!!

Leaving Rabat

Sun, 18 Jun 2023 02:37:20 -0400

Date:	June 18, 2023 at 7:28:55 AM GMT+1
Weather:	22°C Mostly Cloudy
Location:	Rue Jamaa Mourino, Rabat, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco

Great city. Many photo opportunities. Like this wall and door. Unprocessed image.

I’m really looking forward for this trip...

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 20:11:41 -0400

Date:	June 16, 2023 at 8:05:30 PM EDT
Weather:	20°C Rain
Location:	Aéroport International de Montréal-Trudeau, Dorval, QC, Canada

From a photography experience perspective… My backpack 🎒 is so heavy with this camera and “only” two lenses. My hope is to use my big camera as much as my iPhone, so that I don’t think that I brought this with me for nothing. 😜

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 16:52:32 -0400

Charging all my devices. Installing app updates. Getting my bags ready. This two-weeks vacation is really welcome.

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 12:55:39 -0400

Just finished configuring my WhatsApp account on my iPhone. What a weird user experience. I couldn’t get my verification code to be sent by SMS after many tries. Finally asked to be called. WhatsApp asked me if I wanted to restore data from a non-existent iCloud backup. My account is configured with my current phone number which I’m pretty sure won’t work once I’m in Morocco. I bet that changing this phone number will require me to access my SMS on my primary line, which won’t be possible because I’ll depend on an eSIM. I’m not sure what is my “WhatsApp handle” either if such a thing exists. What is I prefer to use my email address so people can find me? I should probably spend an hour googling to sort this out.

And WhatsApp is the de-facto standard in most parts of the world, except North America.

I’m Testing Day One for My Travel Journal Experiment

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 18:11:04 -0400

Date:	June 9, 2023 at 5:25:24 PM EDT
Weather:	18°C Mostly Cloudy
Location:	Montréal, QC, Canada

I’ll be going to Morocco a week from now. I plan to use Day One to document my trip there. It will be the first time since I’m a Day One user. I don’t know how I could not think of this before. I’ve been a big fan of Day One forever. It’s such a rich journaling app for the Mac, the iPad and the iPhone. I can wait to use it on my iPhone to create rich journal entries as my vacation progresses.

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 13:51:49 -0400

Suddenly, while I’m working on my iPad Pro in a coffee shop, I’m starting to wonder if having only my iPad Pro will be enough for my trip to Morocco. I need to travel « light », but… 🤔

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 08:28:20 -0400

As much as I’m invested in Craft Docs, I’m not sure I’ll use it for my travel notes this time around. It’s not very good when working offline. Maybe Apple Notes? Why not Day One? 🤔 The latter could be a fun experiment, and it’s easy to export journal entries into Markdown for reuse elsewhere!

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 07:50:25 -0400

There is one thing that I’m really looking forward to on our trip to Morocco🇲🇦. For the first time ever, we will have a private guide for the whole trip. I’m usually the main driver when going on such a vacation. Now, I’ll be quietly sitting in the van and be free to take pictures while on the move. 📷

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 06:37:46 -0400

One week from now, it’s vacation time! I’m too busy at work, so this seems far away; I’m not in the vacation mood yet. This week-end, I really need to kick my butt and put myself in “get in the mood, get ready” mode! One way to achieve that, update my iPhone wallpaper. One step at a time.

Reflecting on My Photo Processing Strategy

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 16:43:30 -0400

For my next trip, I will bring my Nikon D750 and my iPhone 13 Pro (of course!), and my 2018 11-inch iPad Pro. How am I going to process my images? Will I continue using Lightroom for images from my Nikon? I usually use the iPad to import my photos into the Lightroom catalogue. What about pictures on my iPhone, which should be mostly in RAW format and shot with Halide? I like Photomator a lot; it is nicer than Lr and more approachable too. However, using Photomator to process images from my Nikon poses a challenge in file management. I’ll need to import the .NEF files from my SD card into my iPad in an iCloud Drive folder so I can work on imported files from any device (iPad, MacBook Air or iPhone). I prefer using iCloud Photos Library instead of managing files manually. I guess this will be this combo: Photomator + Halide for my “shot on iPhone” images!

Just writing this blog post made things a little bit less fuzzy. I’ll take any suggestions!

Sun, 04 Jun 2023 13:14:24 -0400

Getting ready for my trip to north west Africa. Halide FTW!

Mon, 22 May 2023 12:18:28 -0400

Last year, I went to Italy for my three-week summer vacation. What a trip it was. I built this travel journal with Craft to test Craft’s limitations. I concluded that Craft is great for building beautiful documents (and small websites), but for serious photography work: it’s far from perfect and needs big improvements. Can you imagine that nine months later, after so many releases, no single Craft release addressed any of my feedback? None!!! I’m going to Morocco in June. I guess I’ll look elsewhere for sharing a travel journal.

Mon, 22 May 2023 11:27:28 -0400

Time for another blog post category: Travels. Vacations are getting closer by the day.

Sun, 21 May 2023 17:05:30 -0400

I’m looking for travel advice. I’m going to Morocco in June. I’m considering buying an eSIM for the first time for use in my iPhone 13 Pro. Any recommendations for me? When to buy? When to activate? What is it like when using an eSim on top of the physical SIM card? Thanks to all who will take the time to give me valuable insights!