Travel
THEY SAY that travel broadens the mind. It certainly tries your patience and if someone added up all the time spent waiting in airport lounges and immigration and customs queues, I'm sure that I would qualify for a place in the Guinness Book of Records. Having said that, thankfully, it is not so much the bad aspects of travel that we remember as the good times. The places we see, the new faces and personalities, the atmospheres, the sounds and the smells linger, possibly for a lifetime. As a photographer one also remembers the places and countries where the light is favourable . One such place is Turkey (I am destined to return), another is Thailand and professionals frequently travel to Morocco (I've yet to go) for the same reason. The light is fantastic!
My first trip overseas was whilst at school when the class went to Luxembourg and Belgium on a walking holiday. I still remember the taste of the paté and the ginger cake in Bruges. As much of my travelling has been work related, I am lucky enough to have had the opportunity to visit many countries but there are still many more places that have not had the benefit of my company! I've not been to China (apart from Hong Kong whilst still under British rule) nor Eastern Europe, Africa, Russia, Japan or Morocco, all places I'd like to see but wherever I go, I try and capture as many photographic memories as possible. One of my more enjoyable visits was to Vancouver, Canada to video a family wedding but for some reason, the happy couple did not get to see the finished video until their 10th anniversary. Least enjoyable was 3 days spent mostly in a New York Hotel room on Lexington Avenue in the early 70's on a visit to select printing equipment for a newspaper project in Antigua. I was young and found the USA quite intimidating. After being based in the Middle East for 19 years, I took it easier and moved to France where I lived in an old farmhouse on a hill and took paying guests and also a non-paying dog, cat, chickens and ducks. I am now semi-retired and spend most of my time back in the UK where I grew up, on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. Time to re-visit old haunts and old friends but my suitcase is ready, my passport is up to date and my travelling days are not quite over, that is for sure. |
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