5. TAKE GREAT VACATION PICTURES

Think of a vacation as a chance to tell a story with pictures. Shooting in chronological order, you could include images of picking up the tickets at the travel agent, packing, waiting at the airport, arriving at the hotel, seeing the sites, having dinner out, ruining priceless cultural artifacts, being arrested by local authorities, laughing for joy when the extradition papers finally come through, and arriving back at home at last.

First and foremost, try not to take those standard pictures with your fellow travelers standing in the center, looking at the camera with some building or vista in the background. This is boring, and doesn't make for good pictures. Try something a little different, like having a person closer to the camera looking out at the significant tourist thingy, so that the eye follows their gaze to the subject. Or just take the thingy without someone standing in front of it… your friends will still believe you were there even though you're not standing in front of it.

From an equipment point of view, remember to bring lots of film, and don't let it go through the x-ray machine - it could destroy your film. Another thing that can be fun is to buy some disposable "specialty" cameras, like a panoramic camera if you were going to Egypt and wanted to take sweeping shots of the pyramids, sunsets, and desert, or an underwater camera if you were going to the Caribbean. This allows you to throw some variety into the usual mix of photographs you take, and have some fun in the process.