Digital Image Storage

Back in the "old days" I used a PHD specifically for storing photos. Worked great. Now, I use a laptop. With a laptop you can check email, store and edit your pictures and movies, use Skype to see and stay in touch with family and friends.

First of all, I have sufficient SD cards - I prefer 4GB. I never erase the cards - at least not until I get home. When my card gets full, or I finish a leg where I have taken photos that are particularly important to me, I walk into a photoshop and get a copy of the photos burned onto a DVD (10 euros seems to be the going rate...). I also copy the photos to my netbook and upload a few of the better ones to an online album. BTW, I copy to the netbook BEFORE I take the card in. I assume that loss is inevitable, through accident or theft, so I prefer multiple ways of keeping my photos until I am safely home. I keep the DVDs in my suitcase with my clothes and only have them in my carry-on when flying. Unfortunately, I had to lose a lot of precious memories before I decided that redundancy was the best way to spread the risk...

Bob, I used to travel with a small PHD, but recently have been packing a Netbook along on trips, as it provides not only a greater storage capacity but also a much greater degree of versatility (E-mail, Blogging, etc.). As mentioned in the previous reply, I also don't erase Memory Cards unless absolutely necessary. I tend to pack along enough card capacity (typically 48 GB+) so that I don't have to erase cards. If I'm going to be out touring without my dSLR, I remove the Memory Card and store it in my Money Belt. If the Camera gets "lifted", at least I'll still have my photos. Happy travels!

Something like a netbook, iPad or MacBook Air is one option. Another option is a wolverine or Hyperdrive (google these if you are interested).
I would think spending time copying to DVD is a waste of precious travel time unless you need to do other things at an internet center. It is best to have multiple copies in multiple locations (one copy on you, the other in the hotel) to be sure all is safe.

In my experience stopping at a camera store to burn a DVD takes very little time. But wait until you are doing shopping or City browsing to do it

I don't know if you are using a point and shoot or a DSLR. DSLR's obviously take up a lot more memory. If you bring a laptop or netbook you can transfer the photos onto the computer or burn them on DVDs daily. Otherwise you can bring multiple (and larger) memory cards. If you have a DSLR a 4gb won't do much for you, but I used a 16gb over 4 weeks in Italy and did not run out of room.

I am a professional photographer who also likes to travel light. If I am taking my laptop (not light) at the end of each day I download my images to my computer, then immediately burn a DVD of that days images, and for my own filing system I call it Day 1- France . I then keep the DVD in my suitcase, not my camera bag. I do clear my cards because I don't want to carry that many, but its a third backup if you don't mind keeping track of all those cards. If I am traveling with my Acer (2lbs) I use a Passport external harddrive and save my images there as well as in the computer...also keep in suitcase. It is about the size of a passport (Best Buy) and has lots of storage space. I have never uploaded to another site, but if you have the time it is another backup. I tend to run out of time and barely get my images downloaded. Plus, you do need internet access to do that. Again, I label mine by Day 1, Day 2, etc. as one of the most confusing things is keeping track of the tons of images. With digital I tend to overshoot. I also don't typically use the largest cards available. If one fails I do not want to lose numerous days of images, that is another reason I download every day if I can.
Have a wonderful time!

I use a 4 gig in my Nikon and unless I am shooting in Raw, which I find unnecessary on vacation, I use jpeg fine and get about 300 or more images per card. Again, I do not like having too many images on one card, in case of card failure.

On my last trip I brought a memory card reader and CDs and uploaded my images from the memory card onto a computer, then burned them to CDs for backup. But I was able to do this because I stayed with friends for almost the whole trip and used their computers. I'm not sure if computers in Internet cafes allow access to USB drives and CD/DVD drives.

I have found it very easy to find a photo shop or internet cafe that will burn a DVD for me. It's usually a 10 min. process. I have also left the card and gone back an hour or two later, without any problems at all. It's never "taken away" any vacation time for me.

I would also recommend portable hard drives. I work with the Epson Multimedia Storage Viewers. The current model is the P-7000. I can certainly say that after several lengthy trips, these have proven to be very reliable (which, through reviews, doesn't seem to be the case for several other models). These are also great because you can view your photos at any time if you wish. However, nowadays these products have become ridiculously expensive! And I mean ridiculous! If you can find a great deal/sale going then you might be able to splurge (still!) to get one. But when getting up to these prices you may just as well get a small computer or netbook. There are, I'm sure, a handful of other portable hard drives which are reliable, if you still want to go a little smaller. You'll just have to check out product reviews to make sure it's the product you are looking for. But enjoy your travels!

We travel regularly to photograph in Europe and he takes his laptop and burns his own DVD's as some one else has mentioned. One of the problems with portable hard drives is that they can fail- even the best ones. Several years age we were in France when the very expensive German portable unit we had used for years failed.He lost 2000 photos. They just disappeared. Then we had to get more cards because we were afraid. to put more on. When we got home we were able to have people retrieve them, but it was expensive. Very expensive. It didn't make for a very nice end to our trip either as he was upset the whole time wondering if he could get them back.

If your portable hard drive fails that is why you need to have images in 2 places....if I put them on the hard drive I also leave them in the computer, and I do the same if I burn dvd's.