Favorite Website: SmugMug
Pictures are one of the most important things on my journeys; they are my eyes, and heart; often showing the emotions of my journey that words cannot show. While traveling around the world I took about 50,000 pictures and reduced that down to about 11,000 worth keeping on my laptop. I traveled through India, Africa, remote areas of China, and I crossed bodies of water in boats; all leaving me a bit on edge as I hoped and prayed that my laptop (mainly my photography) was safe and secure.
Considering I was traveling into remote, developing countries I wasn’t always in the most secure environments. We all hear of those travel stories where someone’s camera is stolen or they dropped their disk down a crevice and lost all of those trip photos and I was just waiting for my time to come.
[singlepic=53,150,,,right]I needed to come up with a solution for photo storage while on the road. Sure, I had them on my laptop which I religiously backed up and of course separated the backup from the laptop, but I still felt that my memories were at risk of a hostel or hotel thief. In addition to storage, I needed a way to share my photos with my friends and family who wanted to follow along on my journey. I researched a number of options out there for online photo storage, but few offer true protection and unlimited storage. Even on Flickr or Kodak anyone can simply right click and copy/save (aka - steal) your photography. Therefore I had the challenge of finding an online site where I could professionally display/share my photos, have unlimited upload space, have ‘right click’ protection and potentially sell my photos to anyone in the world.
I found it – SmugMug. For a year membership you can get unlimited photo storage, right click protection, ability to share your photos on your own url, a photographic community to converse with, and no ads to clutter your art and memories. Plus, if you have grand ideas of selling your photography and photography related merchandise while setting your own prices, you can accomplish that too with various membership options.
I have been utilizing SmugMug now for 2 years and I love it. I even customized my site so that it didn’t look vanilla and put my own style into it. I have all of my travel memories nicely categorized and displayed for the whole world to see…and purchase!
If you are preparing to head out on a journey, consider SmugMug as your photo storage and protection solution – you can even Start your FREE Trial... and see the benefits for yourself!
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1 Response to “Favorite Website: SmugMug”
Other comments
9 Comments on "A Year in Paris"-
Leah on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:12 am
I really enjoyed reading your post. I am thirty-two soon and have itchy feet that are ready to try out foreign soils.
It is a fear of leaving the security of the day to day grind of paying the bills and living a safe and non-challenging way of life that has put me on hold for some time.
I hope (as it has I) your post will inspire others to go and follow their bliss – Leah 🙂 -
Patricia GW on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 8:54 am
Travel and experiencing a new culture really has put it into perspective, and filled that void with purpose (and joy).
In three weeks I’ll be moving to Paris myself for one month. I have the same feeling – the incredible surreal realization that I’m going to be living there…. it’s thrilling!!
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Abby on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 2:11 pm
Oh, Jenny! Escargot isn’t palatable — it’s delicious! I love your writing style; it’s so fun and energetic. Can you believe how far we’ve come? Everyone, Jenny and I were in the exact same industry and have known each other online and via work emails for years and years. But we’ve only met once, many, many years ago. And one of those jobs she was sleeping next to her BlackBerry for was one I’d just left. And now she’s 33 and living abroad, just like I was last year. Kindred spirits. Jenny, you’re a true inspiration — I can’t wait to see how your adventure unfolds!
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Debbie Beardsley on Mon, 6th Jun 2011 3:22 pm
Your life in Paris sounds ideal. It is nice to read about people who follow their dreams instead of wishing they had! Enjoy the rest of your journey.
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Terriaw on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 1:40 pm
Wow, fabulous and well said! I love your new outlook on like. After experiencing career burnout and feeling a little lost and purposeless lately, you have encouraged me. I look forward to seeing Paris someday!
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Jenny on Tue, 7th Jun 2011 6:50 pm
merci for all the sweet comments! @abby we are soooo kindred spirits! well except when it comes to our differing feelings on escargot…;) and congrats patricia on the move! thrilling indeed!
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shawna on Thu, 9th Jun 2011 1:32 am
you’ve reawakened my travel bug. must. return. to. france. (someday.) eat a croissant for me!
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Weekly Travel Blog Links — LandingStanding on Mon, 13th Jun 2011 6:16 am
[…] how badly I want to go to Paris… If only we could afford living there for an extended period of time during our travels! Any […]
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G. Michael Schneider on Sun, 19th Jun 2011 3:36 pm
I am a firm believer in living and working overseas, just as you described. However, many of us actually like our jobs and our homes and are simply looking to renew and refresh our lives, not change it. However, you can have the same type of cultural experience without having to reach into your own wallet and without having to quit your day job–by taking what I call a “working vacation.” My wife and I have done this 15 separate times, from Australia to Zimbabwe, Turket to Tibet, Mauritius to Mongolia. I describe how to do it in my blog otherguysdime.wordpress.com and via Twitter at @otherguysdime. Learn how to have fun without having to have burn any of your bridges behind you.
2009-07-27 12:48
We completely agree with Sherry. We have our SmugMug account activated and our currently in the process of customizing the page to align with our main blog site from a design perspective. We will also be utilizing the video component of SmugMug.