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One of the major changes that has resulted from increased technology is that we’re all now photo-journalists.

Virtually everyone has a mobile phone and most of them now come with cameras. (I recently renewed my mobile and asked for the smallest, lightest model, so that I could fit it in my pocket. It came equipped with a camera, even though I didn’t particularly want one).

The result is that people who are caught up in major events immediately whip out their phones, record the scene and often sell the footage to the highest bidder. After the London bombings in July, some of the most graphic scenes on the Underground were taken by people with mobile phones.

An increasing number of websites are offering people the chance to put up pictures of their holidays and, in addition, holidaymakers are also creating their own ‘blogs’, a sort of online postcard with pictures of their travels.

The implications for people travelling abroad are significant, as they could unwittingly be snapped by a passer-by with a phone and find their picture has been put up on a major website.

Imagine telling your boss that you’re on an important business trip and then finding a snap of you on the golf course is flying around cyberspace. Even worse, imagine telling your wife you’re on a business trip and discovering a photo of you and your girlfriend is available on a well-known travel site.

Anyone up to no good would be well advised to keep their head down if they are approached by anyone brandishing a mobile phone!

I used to work in a ski resort in Colorado and the mountain photographer would take pictures of people coming down the slopes. Often people would stop and pose for the cameraman. Later that day, the photos would be posted up in the shop at the bottom of the slope for all to see and for skiers to buy. The photographer would often leave the best pictures up on the wall for the season as examples of his work.

One day there was once an almighty ‘domestic’ in his shop when a woman walked in and saw a picture of her husband posing with his girlfriend on a secret trip taken earlier in the season!

What’s your most embarrassing travel story?

Guest Article by Jeremy Skidmore

Friday, September 30th, 2005