Itching to Travel

I'm itching to travel.

I can't imagine a time when I didn't want to go out and explore this great, big world of ours. Different cultures. Different people. Different languages. All of them were fascinating to me.

England, Wales, and Scotland were where I went on my first overseas trip. While there, I discovered my love for interesting architecture. I discovered my love of photographing those buildings at interesting angles on the same trip.

My first few photos (well, to be honest, first couple hundred) were straight-on pics. Then one day I cocked my head and looked at a building in a different way. That photo wound up being my favorite and most interesting one of the entire trip.

Since then, that's about all I do when I go on trips. I will take one or two shots head-on, just so people can easily recognize what they're looking at (myself included), but most of my camera's disk space is chock full of angled pictures.

So, what does this have to do with me being itchy to travel?

I think it's to do with the sameness of my daily life. Each day I get up, head to work, come home and get ready for the next day's business. I do see some cool things along my route that I'd like to take pictures of, but I'm so caught up in making sure I get to work or home, that I don't stop and take the time to do so. Even when I do think I'd take the moment to capture it, I'm not fully prepared, having left my camera at home.

When I go on trips, however, my camera goes with me everywhere. It's wonderful to have it along, so that I can capture a particular glint of sunlight on a building, or shoot a secretive alleyway that most people would simply pass by. Sometimes it's even as simple as the mood I happen to be in at that moment.

Take the two photos above, for example. The next time I'm in London or Paris, I might not even look at Parliament or La Tour Eiffel (respectively) in the same way. Next time, the photos I take will show a different side of the structure, as well as where my mind is that day.

So I'm itching to get out of my daily routine. Ready to explore sights and sounds that I've yet to discover; even if they're in places I've been many times before. Craig and I will be going to Greece this year for our honeymoon, so that will work.

It just means that I’ve got to wait until then to scratch my itch.