December Reflection: Local Lives, Lasting Memories
How To Stick To Your New Year’s Resolution
November 29, 2016
Ethical Travel Report: Elephant Tourism
December 13, 2016
As 2017 draws near, December is the perfect time to reflect upon the current year. The moments. The people. The laughs shared. The tears shed. Hearts adjoined—and in some instances broken…
And the miles traveled.
Every individual walks a certain path. Some take longer to reach that destination than others. For me, a year that began atop The Acropolis, has continued into a journey where I have ascended much grander heights in development as a writer, a traveler, a person and most importantly in my mind.
Ironically, in a year dedicated to the exploration of new and unseen lands…the most important journey that took place was the one within.
Prior to this year, I often traveled blindly. Of course, images were captured and pictures posted, but I often neglected to consider the hearts of individuals indigenous to the places I wandered to.
The Lens of Local Eyes
“The soul of a society can be found on the faces of its inhabitants.”
India
Bath time has come as a young mother chases her son.
He runs, he dances, she scolds him…
But still he moves as if he doesn’t have a care in the world. Despite living in poverty, just outside of the Hauz Khas Complex in South Delhi, this young boy shows that kids will be kids and live life to the fullest—no matter how rich or poor their family may be.
A couple, on a backpacking holiday through India, takes the time to share a moment while lying in the ultimate shadow of love—The Taj Mahal.
Ethiopia
“You want me to pay how much for this!”
The look on her face says it all. Let the bartering begin as this young woman searches for a bargain at a street market in Addis Ababa.
It’s standing room only for the men and boys in the crowd at this local football match in Gondar.
Switzerland
Owner, Michael Amrein, of Gelateria Di Berna gives a demonstration explaining why their use of whole fruit recipes sets them apart from the competition and keeps customers coming back for more.
They take the phrase, “Till the cows come home,” quite literally in Gstaad, Switzerland. In a town with as many cows as residents, the annual Gstaad Züglete is one of the highlights of Autumn. Farmers bring their heavily decorated cows down from their Alpine pastures and the entire community shares in the joy of the event.
Say Cheese!
With December now fully upon us, as you reflect back on the past 12 months—what person or persons impacted your life the most during your travels this year?
28 Comments
What a lovely post! I’ve learnt so much about myself this year, about who I am as a person, who I want to become, what adventures I want to take and who I want share my incredible journey with. I must say I am incredible attracted to Gstaad from your photo – I love that farmers decorate their cows!
Time flies so fast. Great pics and memories, for sure 2017 will be much better for you! Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Very good post. I really enjoyed reading it. beautiful and deep images and quote?
Time flies so fast. great pics and memories
Your post is great and the way you have described each place is fascinating. And I love this quote, “The soul of a society can be found on the faces of its inhabitants.” It is so very true.
Loved your post and quite a different travel perspective indeed! 2016 has been a wonderful year for me and I got to travel many places from east coast to the west coast in the United States. It was an overwhelming experience meeting people from different cultures, experiencing delicious food and learning endless lessons on the road!
Taking a pictures of the people, staying there and look what they do is something special that I do in every my single trip! You did the same like I can say from your stunning pics! Anyway nice words man and strong pictures, thanks for sharing 😀
Lovely post! You captured so many emotions and tumbles of everyday life and travel in your pictures! Reflections keep me going until I can plan the next trip!
Hello from Philippines!
You’ve got great eye in capturing these beautiful images, and rich way to share your travel adventures.
Where is your next destination?
Good question Blair…next up I’ll be heading back to Europe to ring in the New Year and visit a few more Christmas markets! 🙂
Aaah, I enjoyed reading these through. I think that reflections—the art of staring some more—is essential in travel—where fast movements are celebrated. Thanks for this!
Amazing photos! And I love this quote, “The soul of a society can be found on the faces of its inhabitants.” It is so very true. Taking time to reflect is always necessary. It allows you to cherish and be thankful for all that was great, as well as allows you to heal, learn, and grow. Great post!
I had so much fun reading these captions – like bite sized insights into local culture. You should definitely do more of these 😀 Great pictures, even better stories behind them.
Wow, very interesting post. I agree with you, sometimes when we travel we take pictures, we admire landscapes and everything, without seeing for real… It’s strange to write, but still, it’s true!
Beautiful post, not only the pictures but also the writing
This is such a neat look back at your experiences around the world! I will have to follow suit and share my own 🙂 makes me excited to visit these places!
Reflecting back on year-long explorations is an awesome feeling with so many memorable and learning moments. The celebration of bringing cows down from their Alpine pastures is something we missed badly during our stay in Swiss. Hopefully sometime future.
Loved how you captured the essence of local lives.
Very ordinary moments yet valuable in its own way. I wish to visit Gstaad, can’t imagine same number of locals and cows!!!
Yes, it’s a lovely little town. Full of character and friendly faces 🙂
You have been lucky to take so many trips this year to so many continents. For me, the year started with an extraordinary humanitarian lesson in Cuba and almost ended with a unique experience at an Indian wedding, in rural north of India.
Sounds like you’ve been quite lucky as well. I’d love to someday visit Cuba (and also attend a traditional Indian wedding too!)
Nice post to remember and reflect back on what you learnt through the year. Working on one myself. 🙂 Loved the varied set of journeys that you have undertaken. Am sure they are going to be memories for life
I would say all the wonderful people who has helped me on my travels while lost! Everyone in NYC, Montreal, Lisbon, and Orlando were so kind!
You are so right, we often forget to truly open our eyes when traveling. Those pictures all tell an incredible story and your words make them come alive. Awesome post!
What an innovative approach. I haven’t ever come across something like this. You have set a great example and I would love to try something like this.
Powerful words and images. Understanding the people in front of the lens is what I’ll try to do in my next adventurers.
Thanks…for me, it brings so much more out of travel to experience both the sights and the people of a place.
Great post homie!!
Your writing makes it feel like its my birthday and I just got an unexpected gift box. 🙂 You’ve experienced something priceless that can’t be bought with money. The memories and images you capture over the course of a year are worth more than diamonds. You’ve set a good example for people to copy. Just live and keep moving!