InsureMyTrip Blog

Ed. Note: Today’s blog post is contributed by our good friend, traveler and writer extraordinaire Sherry Ott of Ottsworld.  We sent Sherry on the road with our new Lytro camera to capture some images of her adventures.  In her first Lytro post, Sherry showed us the wonders of the Istanbul Grand Bazaar.  Today, she’s showing us the culinary delights of Costa Brava, Spain. Thanks again, Sherry, for taking us with you!

Food glorious food – it’s one of the best things about discovering new countries and cultures.  I spent 4 months in Europe this Spring and ate my way through 6 countries – Malta, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, and Spain.  Each had their own specialty foods that are synonymous with their country; however, my 6 weeks in Costa Brava, Spain provided the biggest culinary surprises.

In addition to learning that the world’s best chefs and restaurants hail from Costa Brava, Spain, I also learned that the Lytro camera loves to take food photos.  Insure My Trip kindly loaned me the new Lytro camera to use as I ate my way through Costa Brava and it turned out to be a great way to photograph food.  Food photography requires you to get close – and that’s what the Lytro does best – close up shots.

I took the Lytro with me to an outdoor fisherman’s lunch.   The fishermen in Costa Brava have fishing huts along the coast which have been passed down through generations.  It’s a place they can store their boats and supplies right on the sea for easy access.  Plus – the huts and surrounding area is also a great place to congregate with friends near the sea and have a huge fresh seafood lunch!  Local fisherman and their families hosted me and a few friends at this picture-perfect afternoon lunch.  It started with homemade Aioli (the famous Catalonia garlic mayonnaise)…

…and soon we were digging into plates of fresh gambas (large shrimp), crabs, clams, and various other local dishes and of course cold beer.  After lunch we all hung out and listened to the retired fisherman sing old fishing songs and enjoyed the view!

The Lytro camera also accompanied me to a place where few get to go – Celler de Can Roca – the 2^nd best restaurant in the world, located in Girona.  I was able to go inside the world famous kitchen and see the 30 some chefs at work creating a fusion of science and food.  When I got out the Lytro it seemed as if the well trained and focused chefs got distracted as they started asking me questions about the funny looking little camera!

I shot away enjoying this special behind the scenes look that few get to experience before we sat down for our 4 hour, 17 course lunch.  The food at Celler de Can Roca was like a work of art – which made photographing it and playing around with the ‘live focus’ on the Lytro even that much more fun!

But the best part about photographing and focusing on food in Costa Brava – someone had to eat it of course!

Ed. Note: Today’s blog post is contributed by our good friend, traveler and writer extraordinaire Sherry Ott of Ottsworld.  We sent Sherry on the road with our new Lytro camera to capture some images of her adventures.  Thanks to Sherry for taking us with her to Istanbul!

Photo credit: Sherry Ott

In my recent trip to the Grand Bazaar, I was surprised to discover that the shopkeepers were interested in something I had  – and it wasn’t money.  It was my Lytro Camera I was carrying on behalf of InsureMyTrip.

Crushing Stereotypes

I couldn’t walk past more than 3 shops before a shopkeeper or sometimes even another tourist, or a tour guide would stop me and ask me what was around my wrist.  The conversations went something like this:

“What is that?”

“A new camera.” I replied.

“Is it from Japan?”

“No, it’s from America.” I answered.

This answer normally received some surprised looks.  One shopkeeper even told me that they normally only see new technology from the Asian tourists.  So I was happy to dispel the stereotype a bit.

But they didn’t just ask questions about it – they wanted to use it, touch it, and see how it worked.  I found myself giving demonstrations and trying to line up shots that would be a perfect way to highlight the ‘living picture’ functionality of the Lytro.  People would then want to have pictures taken of themselves and upon seeing it they would ask for more.  There’s one thing I learned while spending 6 weeks in Turkey – the Turks love to have their photo taken!

A Perfect Place For Photography

The Grand Bazaar is full of little gadgets, souvenirs, pushing shop keepers, tea vendors, evil eye charms, leather goods, and jewelry – there’s so many things to photograph it’s as disorienting as the maze of hallways that make up the bazaar.

However I learned after traveling and playing with the Lytro for the past few months that the Lytro is best for really close up shots of objects – so I mainly tried to focus on that while at the bazaar.  This way you can have the most fun playing with the shot afterwards.  By simply clicking on an object in the image it will reset the focus of the shot – making it appear alive in a way!

My Favorite Photo

My favorite photo I took at the bazaar was at a shop selling magnifying glasses.  They had them hanging overhead and I was able to take the shot sort of through the magnifying glass.  If you click on the object behind the magnifying glass they are in focus – but click right in the middle of the magnifying glass and the image is actually refocused on the magnified jewelry creating this weird effect.

I learned that the closer you get to an image the better for the overall focus effect like this one of a ring .

But overall I learned that if you want to make friends and get noticed in the Grand Bazaar,  just bring in hot new technology and flash it around.  All of a sudden you will be invited into every store and be drinking tea with the shopkeepers!    Now the real key is to leverage that new friendship to bargain down your purchases to the lowest price possible!

Check out the whole story through Sherry’s eyes, told in images she shot with the Lytro camera while at the Grand Bazaar.

Bio:  Sherry is a long term traveler, blogger, and photographer with one goal in mind – to make you wish you were somewhere else.  She seeks out unique travel experiences and writes about her around the world adventures on Ottsworld.  She’s also a co-founder of Meet, Plan, Go!, a website and national travel event teaching you how you can take your very own traveling career break or sabbatical on October 16, 2012.

CEO Jim Grace and John DiScala (aka Johnny Jet)

“What a special moment this is for me, to meet all of you.”

I know Jim meant it sincerely.  More than a decade after founding InsureMyTrip, Wednesday night’s Regional Customer Appreciation Dinner in Warwick, RI was the first opportunity he’s ever had to meet more than one or two of our travelers at a time.  It was also very likely the first opportunity he’s had to share a meal with them and listen to a phenomenal talk by superstar travel blogger Johnny Jet, who graciously accepted the invitation to join the party as the keynote speaker.

In the company of a room full of InsureMyTrip customers, Jim, along with many staff members from several departments, had the pleasure of learning about the people who keep our business alive and thriving.  Discovering the passion our customers have for travel was a renewed revelation for us; who would have thought that the majority of the people attending the dinner would have racked up at least 30 countries visited on their journeys?  Even more thrilling: one couple we spoke to was able to proudly proclaim that they had been to more than 70 countries in the world.  Seventy!  That’s more than Johnny Jet himself can claim (although I’m sure Johnny’s working on increasing his tally, probably daily).

Here’s the funny thing: We dreamed up this event because we wanted to give a little something back to all of you.  We wanted to recognize the loyalty of our customers and show even just a small number of you that we truly appreciate you.  It gave us all great pleasure to host a dinner for you, to introduce you to our friend Johnny Jet, and to present our prize winners, Mr. Sunder Kaveri and his lovely wife Kusum, with two round-trip tickets from Qatar Airways.  (We hope your trip to India is fabulous, Mr. and Mrs. Kaveri!)  But even though we thought it would be an evening about giving back to you, we were the ones who walked away feeling as though we’d gained something.

Sometimes, in the day-to-day routine, it’s easy to forget why we do what we do.  We come to work, we answer phones, we work on site features or IT support or communications efforts, we attend meetings and make presentations and check off our to-do lists.  As we’re going about the work that keeps InsureMyTrip running, we don’t always have the chance to stop and think about what’s behind each and every click on our site and every ringing phone in our Customer Care center.  What’s behind those calls and clicks are stories — the excited planning for your summer vacations, your honeymoons, your family reunions, your once-in-a-lifetime tours of Europe.  And by meeting some of you in person and sharing an evening with you, we were reminded of those stories and of that excitement, that passion for travel.  Your spark helped to reignite ours.

So thank you, travelers, for being a part of our community.  Thank you for your loyalty, thank you for your business, and now we’re happy to be able to say to at least a few of you: Thank you for your friendship.

Jim Grace and Johnny Jet with our Qatar Airways giveaway winner