I love to travel and I love to take pictures so naturally I take tons of photos on my vacations. In trying to improve my photography skills in the past I looked up some articles online for advice.
A lot of what I read was geared toward someone who was an aspiring professional photographer or someone who was traveling for the purpose of taking pictures so it wasn't really practical for me. Tips like avoiding taking pictures in the middle of the day and using a tripod just weren't realistic.
Would I have better pictures if I followed these guidelines? Of course I would but photography is something fun I do while I am on my trip, not the purpose of it. I'm not willing to do anything that would significantly change my travel experience for the sake of taking pictures. I like to travel light and a tripod would slow me down. The middle of the day is prime time for sightseeing and I am not going to forgo taking photos then just because the light is harsh. I needed an approach that fit in with my style of traveling and over the next few weeks I am planning some posts with practical tips for taking travel photos that can work for everyday people like me.
The primary purpose of this post is to introduce this series but I thought I would also share my number one travel photography tip: If it means something to you, always take the photo. It's so simple and obvious but also easy to lose track of sometimes if you get too caught up in trying for perfection. 
When I was in Peru in the Fall of 2007 there was a guy in our hiking group on the Inca Trail that was carrying a fancy camera with several lenses and a heavy duty tripod on the four day trek. After we headed off I thought it was a little strange that he hadn't bothered to take a picture all day despite talking about his equipment at length. I asked him about it and he explained all sorts of reasons why the light wasn't any good because of the time of day and the direction of the sun. Although everything he said was technically true, the one reason to still take pictures that trumps all of that is that you will never have a chance to take those photos again.
Professional photographers or people on photo vacations can wait for good conditions or take lots of time to set up perfect shots. For the rest of us we take a brief pause to snap a picture and then move on to enjoy our travels. If you don't take the picture in the moment you won't have it. I've never regretted taking a picture, even when it was a terrible shot, but I have definitely regretted not photographing something. Even when I was broke in grad school using a film camera I always left money in my budget for plenty of film developing. Nowadays with digital cameras there is no reason not to shoot now and delete later. That doesn't mean to go crazy and not be judicious but it does mean to err on the side of too many rather than too few photos.
Plenty of pictures that I have taken are objectively not that great, but that is not the point for me. If I see a really cool building that requires me to shoot into the sun to capture it I am still going to take the picture because I want to remember it. My travel pictures are a visual record of my memories on my trip, and while I want them to be the best I can make them I am not going to leave something out just because I can't make into an amazing shot. In my judgment all that it takes for a picture to be worthwhile is that it means something to me.
When you are traveling, keep in mind why you are taking pictures in the first place, give yourself permission to be okay if things aren't perfect and press the shutter button. You'll enjoy your vacation more and probably end up with photos that are more meaningful and representative of your experience.
Notes: The photo of me was taken by the fabulous Miss Trisha in Saipan, December 2008. Yes, it is true, I am indeed wearing sunglasses while taking a picture. We were on a fast moving boat and I didn't want to lose the shot so I just quickly grabbed my camera and snapped away.