And no, before someone assumes I'm an old fool who's not comfortable with digital camera and out of touch with technology in general, let me tell you I'm a 26 year old guy fresh out of grad school, and man I DO love my gadgets. It's just that I believe in fully experiencing the incredible places I go to rather than continuously and excessively seeing them second-hand from behind the lens :)

Nick is correct, as is the article. I spent many years lugging my camera gear on vacations. Besides having to keep up with another piece of luggage, being concerned for the film through x-ray security (as in the early days, we mostly had our film checked outside of the machine for fear of it being exposed), fear of dropping it, and as noted, the time missed from the actual joy of being where ever you are. I finally came to the conclusion that I was spending more time chasing that stupid carmera around, foolling around trying to "frame" the perfect picture (and you know that you might shoot a lot of shots before we get the good one), and all of that was not the reason I was walking down the lane in some exotic place. More than likely I was half burnt out from the daily drudge back home and I have gone on vacation to repair my soul. I realized that I would rather enjoy the moment and relax, I had the perfect picture(s) in my own personal memory-banks to last me forever. If the folks back home would like to see what that place was like, go there themselves and enjoy . . just as I did . . sans camera, and the better for me for leaving it at home. And that's just the tip of that iceberg!!!