I knew there would be numerous wildlife viewing opportunities on my trip to Argentina, so I carefully planned how many rolls I would need. My calculations came up with a whopping 76 rolls. Luckily, rolls were incredibly cheap at Aldi at the time, so I ordered 76 rolls to ensure they were fresh and hadn’t been sitting in the store for too long.
When the films arrived and I went to pay, I nearly dropped my wallet. The bill was considerably higher than expected. It was only on the way home that the horrible truth dawned on me: I had calculated the price per roll, not per box – and each box contained two rolls. So there I was, the slightly bewildered owner of 152 rolls of film. Excellent.
Being the stubborn sort, I decided to take the lot with me to Argentina anyway. And thank goodness I did – wildlife was everywhere, and I snapped away to my heart’s content without a care in the world. Sadly, the same couldn’t be said for my fellow travellers, who quickly discovered that film in Argentina cost a small fortune – about 20 US dollars per roll.
Sensing an opportunity (and possibly a minor mutiny), I offered my spare rolls for the bargain price of 5 dollars each. Everyone was delighted, I made a modest profit of about 3 dollars a roll, and no-one had to remortgage their house just to take a few holiday snaps.
Every now and then, I do wonder whether it was a tad cheeky of me. 🙂 But honestly, it saved the trip for all involved – and very much for me too. Argentina was going through absolute financial bedlam in 2002: banks and money changers were often closed for days, and cash was as rare as hen’s teeth. Thanks to my accidental film business, I made it through without having to sell my camera. Or my shoes.