Two Alternative Ways to Travel

I've been following two bloggers recently doing two out-of-the-ordinary trips.  The first, Nicolas Rapp, is intent on driving around the world (with a few water crossing enroute).  He's been on the road since November and is current in Costa Rica, having experience several vehicle breakdowns enroute.  His blog could use some spell and grammer checking and his photos are OK, but its still an interesting endeavor he's undertaking and I'll probably keep follow his blog as he travels onward.

Andrew Evans, who left DC on New Years Day, is traveling to Antarctica by bus.  Interesting concept (again, a water crossing or two or three enroute).  He's already made it to Costa Rica and is now onboard a National Geographic cruise ship to Panama.  His blog, naturally, is hosted by NG (he's a contributing editor to NG Traveler).  The writing is crisper and the photos a bit more illustrative and the trip, clearly, a bit faster paced.  Not that I envy days and nights in a row on a Greyhound, let alone a Guatemalan chicken bus.  But, to each his/her own - but I'm always envious of folks on the road.   

http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2009/12/introducing-the-bus2antarctica.html

http://transworldexpedition.com/

Dawn's Changing Light

Its already getting a bit lighter a bit earlier now that the winter solstice has passed and on this morning dawn coincided with my mind-wandering time.  Looking out our upstairs window, the light was pretty amazing.  And, instead of just sitting and staring, I dashed for the camera and starting taking what "I knew would be" wonderful photos.  And then I noticed that there was no memory card in the camera.  The universe speaks in its own way sometimes.  But, also believing that the universe was not telling me never to shoot again, I inserted a memory card, went out on the balcony, and captured the passing moments of changing light.  First the purple lights of dawn across Port Orchard Bay; second, the golden tones of sunrise through a Twilight-inspired forest portraying motion and apprehension; and finally the blues of the sky overhead in an abstract as dawn makes way for day.  All within a ten minute period, all from basically the location, all of the same sky - only different!      

The Traveler's Inner Journey

"Yes, the desire to go traveling is not always about wanting to reach place X or Y.  It's about making a particular change in ourselves.  The journey we really require is inner.  Therefore, it would be good if people in the travel industry gave a little recognition to this."  Alain de Botton, from an interview by Frank Bures on WorldHum. 

This is the sentiment that I convey, though maybe not as eloquently, in my Travel Planning workshops.  Its the "Why" of travel, rather than just the "Where."  Its what makes a trip satisfying and beneficial, what makes us want to keep traveling and willing to put up with the really-in-the-long-run-minor hassles that attempt to discourage us in our travels, but really have no effect on "our journey."  Journey On!   

http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-interviews/interview-with-alain-de-botton-a-week-at-the-airport-20091031/

Taking Photographs that Move You

It was quite clear the moment we arrived at Del Rey Beach that I was in my element.  Midway between Astoria and Seaside along Oregon's northwest coast, Del Rey is a flat, sandy beach fronting the wild Pacific Ocean.  Tillamook Head is visible to the south; fields of golden dunegrass top the sand dunes; and the relentless waves keep coming.  I hadn't taken "non-family" photos in a while, but within moments of arriving, I was doing nothing but.

There is no place closer to heaven and the Spirit than at an ocean beach (IMHO).  The winds blow, the waves come, the sky goes on seemingly forever.  At locations such as Del Rey, there is little human habitation in sight (especially when looking out to sea!).  The power of the waves, breaking off shore and then rolling up the beach in unpredictable ways, is awe-some and mesmorizing.   

Arriving there close to sunset meant an everchanging palette of sea and sky unfolding before me.  By re-framing the shot, I was able to portray the ocean as one of power and might or as a place of seemingly calm solitude.  The colors, too, enforced the themes, with the golden hues connoting royalty and power, while the blue tones denoting solemnity and quietude.

 

Two memory cards later, with the sun down and the sky ever darkening, it was reluntantly time to move on.  I returned to the Pacific the following two days at different times of day and different locales, always driven to photograph yet again.  Sometimes we need a little push to get back in the photographic mode.  When you need that push, going to the place where you can be in "Your Element" is a sure jump-start.  The ocean is one of those places for me.  Find yours. 

Check Out Lightbox Gallery in Astoria (Oregon)

We're down in Astoria for a few days and stumbed across a real live photography gallery. The genre is becoming few and far between these days (the Benham Photo Gallery just closed in Seattle). I had a pleasant chat with Michael, one of the gallery's owners. The gallery is striving to provide a venue for photographic exhibitions, a B+W and color lab for use by gallery members and is moving into the offering of workshops in the near future. Photo prices are most reasonable (the range for framed prints seemed to be from $75 to $400), with the gallery believing that the right price will result in more overall sales. Check it out next time you're visiting the Oregon coast.

http://lightbox-photographic.com/

Travel Planning and Vacation Photography Workshops

I'm please to announce that I will be offering two workshops this winter/spring. The first is an Introduction to Travel Planning - March 13 and 20, 9:30am - 11:30 am at The Traveler on Winslow Way, downtown Bainbridge Island, Washington. The Traveler, a great travel bookstore and travel accessories emporium, is sponsoring the workshop. A hearty thank-you to Susan and Barbara, the co-owners of The Traveler.

The second workshop is on Vacation Photography. It, too, will be at The Traveler, April 17 and 24, 9:00am - noon. Additional workshop details, etc. will be available soon. Please contact me at chuck@chuckkirchner.com to be put on the mailing list for details.

Great Railway Bazaar II

Probably my favorite travel narrative ever is Paul Theroux's Great Railway Bazaar. It captured my imagination and accompanied me on a coach potato journey from Europe to Asia and back. Thirty-three years later (YIKES!), Mr. Theroux undertook a similar journey from London to Singapore to Tokyo to Moscow to London, mostly via train once again. Paul is definitely more acerbic than he was 33 years ago, but perhaps less so than in some of his more recent tomes.

It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was on board the train through Georgia and Azerbaijan, I was once again hooked. Definitely a if-its-Tuesday-it must-be-Bangalore type of narrative, he includes enough encounters of fellow train cabin mates and locals in big and small towns alike to keep you wanting more. His political observations on the ruthlessness of national leaders such as the head of Turkmenistan and Singapore can be a bit ponderous (though right on the mark IMHO), but its what we've come to expect from Mr. Theroux. All in all, I heartily recommend the book and wish I had the guts (and time) to undertake a similar journey. And, since he's older than I, maybe I will!