Inner Journey, Outer World

Photo by: Ron/ Sacrificing a Cow/ Northern Cambodia/ 2008
Current Location: Midland, Michigan, USA / 43°37′25.0″N 84°13′45.7″W

"People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home."

-Dagobert D. Runes

Sometimes, I forget how lucky I am. The stress of everyday life grinds at your every breath-- and every step you take feels like an eternity in the making. As of late, I've slowly gotten used to this. The comfort of a heated office and three warm meals a day has brought me back to enjoying life in luxury. Just four weeks ago I was living off granola bars and tuna--fear and loathing in a land forgotten by the civilized world. Four weeks seem so long ago...

So today, while making plans for my next foreign assignment, for a brief moment in my life, I had forgotten what it was like to travel, to feel the air caress my face with absolute truth and clarity of what the outside world is really like. For a brief moment, I felt a bit tired and jaded about travelling again. You see, when you're on the road for so long the spark of newness fades, and travel can feel like a long, pointless slog, a detour from loved ones, and from life.

I said, 'for a brief moment.'

Then I started thinking back on all the people I've met, the children I've befriended and the handshakes I've cherished. Some memories made me laugh, some made me wince.

But all of them rang true, and reminded me of why I travel, and why I shoot: to learn and grow, to challenge myself, stretch my limits and foster an appreciation of both the world at large and the office chair waiting for me back home.

So, here I go again. This time I'll be travelling west to San Francisco, California--and from there, I head south to the mountain rain forests of Honduras, Latin America.

The journey continues...