As a photographer, I often travel as my job requires. Sometimes I leave home for as little as a few days, and sometimes for as long as a couple of months. Obviously, I leave the house empty with no one to take care of my valuables, so I have to make arrangements with an overseer to check on my properties and do some cleaning every day. However, this did not spare me from losing some important personal stuff like fashion magazines or fancy mugs — these things may appear ordinary, but it bothered me. This is one of the two major issues I have to address every time I leave home.

The other issue is that even though I am not a super health-conscious person, I prefer to eat the freshest fruits and veggies possible. So I would buy food like herbs, apples, and bananas in bigger packages, and store them in the fridge so that I can easily feed myself whenever I am in a hurry to leave, or when I come home in the wee hours famished. However, sometimes my supposedly fresh and green basil and chives were already rotten by the time I came home to consume them. So sad!

To unburden myself of these worries over the safety of my personal belongings and the freshness of my food when leaving home, I looked for the best options to resolve these issues.

To ensure the safety of my valuables at home, I stopped taking in a house nanny and instead opted to book a storage unit for my valuables, like my two other DSLRs, EOS Rebel T5 and Canon EOS 5D MARK IV. This is way more convenient as I can easily book available units even without a deposit.  

Now for the problem I have with my fruits and veggies, I first researched the storage process and this what I learned.

Farmers have a process for fresh produce called “putting the apples to sleep” – keeping the fruit sitting in a warehouse for almost a year in sealed rooms where the levels of oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, as well as temperature and humidity, are regulated. This keeps the apples looking fresh and juicy. Bananas are shipped via refrigerated craft 36 hours after harvesting, which suspends the ripening process. The fruits are again stored in sealed and heated rooms to ripen.

Learning this, I decided to not buy fruits and veggies in bulk and store them in the fridge for months anymore. Instead, I did some adjustments on my travel routine, like dropping by some stores on my way to where I am heading or when I come home, and just buying enough fruits, veggies and other food to consume for the days that I will be staying home.

Also, I bought herbs in small pots: basil, chives, coriander, dill, fennel, and mint and I now  grow them in my kitchen window. Having some greens in the kitchen lessens the lingering smell of cooked food and makes the house look fresh all the time.

Now I can travel worry-free. My next trip: covering the upcoming Rainforest World Music Festival, in Malaysia in July!