In a couple of weeks, I'll be going to China for the first time in my life with my dad and a buddy of his.  I visited Hong Kong when I was about 4 years old, but this will be my first time on the mainland.  Acquiring a Chinese visa was somewhat adventurous.  I have my most recent United States passport, but the person who was handling our visa applications also requested my most recently expired passport to ensure that I have not been a Chinese citizen in the past.  That in itself was rather odd.  Luckily, my dad kept copies of my other expired passports through the years ever since I was a toddler.  

I spent the better part of this week getting vaccinations and finding out about travel clinics and insurance billing and health coverage.  A lot to take in within a very short period of time.  It's been exciting.  As far as destinations go, we've been kind of playing it by ear.  We have several destinations in mind and we'll probably do some light exploring and use each of those destinations as a base from which we travel.  Works for me because that's the way my wife and I love to travel.  

Questions abound as to what kind of gear I should be packing for a travel photography trip and so, I've bene reading up a lot on aspects of travel photography that I may not have considered.