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Thursday, July 28, 2011

How I almost spent $320

This weekend I’m going to Panama. Last weekend I met a girl who had a waterproof camera. It was super handy when we went parasailing. So today I went to the mall with a girl I met on the trip to Puerto Viejo to look for a water proof camera. I wanted to buy one—if it was affordable—because part of this weekend’s itinerary is snorkeling and swimming with dolphins. Now that is an awesome experience I would love to document forever!

We took a taxi to the mall. In the whole 3 story expansive mall (it reminds me of Lloyd Center in Portland minus the department stores... and the ice skating rink), there was only one store that sold cameras. And you could hardly call it a store because it was more like the cell phone kiosks we have in US malls, but for Olympus cameras. They only had two waterproof models, one for c160.000 and the other for c228.000. I saw the prices and was a bit in shock so I told the clerk I didn’t have enough money. That wasn’t true, but I really doubted that I wanted to spend $320 on a digital camera. My friend and I continued walking around the mall. We got ice cream but before we left I wanted to go back to the store and contemplate spending a very significant chunk of money. Because part of me feels like documenting my amazing experiences doesn’t really have a price. However, the logical side of me balked at spending that much money on one item—especially when my friend from last weekend spent about $50 at Walmart. I refuse to shop there but I figured that I could find something similar for a lot cheaper that what that store was asking. In the end, I did not buy the camera. I’m hoping I wont regret it—but my logical side just wouldn’t budge. There were more cons than pros:
  • A lot of money
  • Takes greatly away from my ability to buy other things or go on other trips
  • Really would only use it for one occasion, and although I could use it for future vacations, I already have a camera that I would use in everyday situations. I would only use a waterproof camera while in or near water.
  • Maybe I won’t be able to take photos worth $320
I’m hoping that I’ll have a really great time and I’ll just have to rely on my memory and perhaps a new friend’s waterproof camera. But I think I want to add a waterproof camera to my wishlist for the next time I have some extra cash.

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