Apparently I'm strange because I don't want to have my picture taken in front of the Washington sights. I tried explaining that as a photographer I found a photo of the Washington Monument and reflecting pool a damn sight more aesthetically pleasing when taken without people in the foreground. Particularly if the gurning moron is me.

My argument was dismissed with a piece of logic that I am yet to get my head around. "If you're not in the picture, why would anyone believe you were there?"

I could have been flippant and mentioned the GPS tracker in my pocket. But instead I smiled and gave a gaelic shrug and silently carried on taking my photographs.

Time to wash a couple of shirts in the hotel sink. The glamourous traveling life I lead.