For starters this last few weeks have been great, a week in upstate New York visiting the city with my son and his family, a week of work, then last week camping at Crater Lake Oregon with several of our friends.

So here is my dilemma, how would you handle these.

First in New York, the city pace is about 200 mph, driving with my son is like a really good ride at an amusement park, not the best situation to take pictures. There were several times when a perfect shot presented itself, like a great sunset through the towering city for example. It's not like Utah, you can't just stop on the side of the road, set up and take the shot. Although I was able to get some nice shots in the museums and in central park. How do you handle really fast paste environments?

Next, at Crater Lake, I was the only one that is into any type of photography. When I would see something while hiking on a trail for example, I would stop and try to take the time to set up and take pictures from different angles and vantage points. I felt like the group we were hiking with wanted to go at a faster pace than I was allowing, even though most of the time they would just keep on going and I would catch up when i finished. But sometimes they would have to wait for me so that we all made sure we took the same and or correct trail spur. So how would you handle being in a group and being the only one who stops to take these pictures? (however my wife has learned that when she stops with me she actually finds more things to look at that she would have otherwise missed, she likes stopping with me now and is not so worried about the end but is starting to enjoy the trip)

Very true, but salaries in the New York City metropolitan area, which probably encompasses a population of close to 20 million people, are typically much higher as well to compensate for the cost of living. I'm retired now, but my wife's salary in New Jersey would be at least $50, 000 less if we were living in a smaller city in the Midwest. It's the reason that many people in New York and New Jersey and other locations with a similarly inflated cost of living are living in modest looking houses, but can still afford expensive cars. Car prices are pretty much the same anywhere, as are most consumer goods. It's the cost of real estate, taxes, services and food, etc., that drive the cost of living from region to region. All one has to do is drive around the state of New Jersey to see the huge number of Lexus Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Tesla, Jaguar, and Audi motorcars on the roads here.and parked in the driveways of modest homes.