Travelogue Update

I had the fortunate luck to take another travel trip with work. Unfortunately, this one included a significant amount of work (training all day followed by dinners/work all evening). Not one to miss a chance to learn while on travel though, I wanted to provide an update to my previous Travelogue post.

Depending on how much you travel, there are some items to which you must specifically consider. I had the pleasure to get selected to pass through airport security with the pre-screened travelers (TSA Pre) . This is an amazing experience and one that allows you to travel without stripping, without removing your electronics, and without removing your liquids. So what does this mean, well speed obviously, but more importantly you can pack your paints securely and not have any concerns of one popping open to spill out onto your deodorant. This is great if you are planning on packing up your +BattleFoam Pack M.I.N.I as I had laid out in my previous Travelogue.

For both of these trips, I've stayed at the Springhill Suites by Marriott in Columbus, OH. There are some very nice features to this hotel. The first is the set-up of the suite. As you enter there is a little seating area with mini-fridge, microwave and coffee maker. This means you can make a quick trip to the grocery or gas station to stock up on sodas/water, etc. and be pretty functional for an evening of painting. Dividing the space between the "living" space and the bed(s) is the desk and the LED television.
The TV is on a swivel and has good viewing angles from all spaces, except you have to turn to see the television while at the desk. The desk has three LED lights mounted directly above the desk surface with an adjustment knob to allow you to adjust the brightness. I couldn't figure out how to get photos of the brightness, but lucky me; I'll be back there in a month to try again. There are also ample plugs available on the desk to support any number of electronics and of course wired or wireless internet connectivity. I'll take more photos on the next trip, but I typically have my laptop up to access Google+, Facebook, any number of blogs and other images from specific searches to help guide my painting with the lights on full blast so I can see. These three lights are bright enough to clearly see the details on the +reapermini bones for painting.

Now to the set-up that I had experienced and didn't discuss previously. First, you can't effectively travel with everything you need. You could include a palette inside your suitcase, but just as effective; snag a Styrofoam plate from the breakfast buffet. Use the disposable coffee cup from the coffee bar or in your room to create your brush wash. Though I wouldn't drink out of the glasses in the room because they aren't really washed; for the same reason, I don't recommend using those to wash brushes. You will also need to grab some napkins from somewhere so you can clean out your brushes. You will have to make a decision as to how well you are able to protect your sable brushes, though traveling with additional brush cleaner takes up more of your quart sized bag of liquids. If you lay out your plan, you could get away with using older brushes depending on your scope and intent.