I'm Kevin Perry, 52 years, grew up in Portland, Oregon, but now living in Seattle. I’ve had the urge to see the world and travel as long as I remember. As a child, we were too poor to do anything more than camping trips to the Oregon coast, but I was determined to get out and about as soon as possible, so when I turned eighteen I took the money I’d been saving for college my entire childhood, and jumped on a Greyhound bus to Miami instead, with the hope of crewing on a sailboat in the Caribbean. That particular dream didn’t work out, but I had an adventurous winter in Miami Beach (working for a mafia-owned hotel, there are stories, but this isn’t the venue), and then spent three months riding a bicycle across the country back to Portland the following summer. I managed several long trips over the next few years as I worked first through college and then with street kids in Seattle, until about 15 years ago when I took a more corporate job. Taking on a 9-5 job could have killed my chances for taking the long trips that I enjoy so much, but I was extremely lucky in that my coworkers and managers have loved to travel vicariously through me. Together we have conspired for me to be able to take 6-7 weeks off every winter for the last 15 years; which is long enough to go pretty much anywhere in the world.
Read MoreSHANGHAI, CHINA BY CHRISTY CAMPBELL
I’m Christy, a girl who loves to tell stories, see new places and experience things first hand. I live in jeans and comfy sweaters and have a thing for wool socks. I’m also a sucker for a good beverage and some local street food. While I’ve lived in various places around Europe and Asia, I’ve recently relocated to Mexico and am learning to don more respectable footwear and differentiate between chilies while learning Spanish and soaking up the colors and cultures of this beautiful country. Shanghai will always be my home-away-from-home, as it’s where I found my “expat” footing and learned how to live abroad. In the last decade I haven’t managed to stay away for longer than ten months and while I hope to be fully present wherever I am, there’s a small piece of me that will always remain in China. I landed in Shanghai back in 2004 as part of a study-abroad group through my university. We came as a whole pack, professor included, so I’d say we had a pretty ‘soft landing’ in some ways; we weren’t left to figure everything out on our own and we had someone to walk us through what we were experiencing. But it was my first experience living overseas and without a doubt, I had a lot of adjustments to make on all levels. I loved it though—the chaos, the sights, sounds and even smells. Noodles for breakfast is my kind of paradise and as someone who’s drawn to vibrancy, the city offered an unlimited supply of it in the way of laundry hung from telephone lines and fresh produce stacked up along the sidewalk.
Read MoreSIMEULUE, INDONESIA BY PARKER HILTON
I’m Parker Hilton, a photographer from the lovely little nook of Sea Bright, New Jersey. At this very moment, I’m in Salinas, Ecuador finishing up a six-month drive from Montana to South America as part of a project called Vanajeros. When on the road, I wrote and photographed along with three of my closest friends. When you factor in all the planning and prep work, that project has been my job for the last year. Travel had always been something that seemed unattainable when I was in college. I never studied abroad or got too far out there because it seemed expensive and—scary. But eventually that fear evolved into curiosity in a pretty organic way. When I graduated in 2012, I started using my camera as a tool to move and to help continue moving: I could document my experiences, but also gain an “in” to otherwise inaccessible experiences. Using a camera respectfully has the power to open certain doors that let you speak with locals and hear their stories. I love that. Back in school, one of my professors and I were talking about traveling with a camera, and he told me to (A) not be stupid and (B) make respect a priority. Traveling with a camera can be a really amazing experience if you respect the people you’re photographing. Learning how to ask for a photo and say “thank you” in their language can go a long way, and Simeulue was no different.
Read MoreTHAILAND BY ZAINAB N.M.
My name is Zainab, and I am a major lover of life, photography and travel. I presently reside in Canada, where I recently graduated University and work at a Childcare Centre. My Nigerian roots constantly shape parts of my life, but I enjoy learning about all types of cultures. Although I love photography, I’m nowhere near a professional photographer with a professional camera. I’m just an amateur photographer that loves to capture images. To me, photographs have an immutable power, immortalizing people, places and moments; which is what I aim to do through my photography. Travel intrigues me because it is simply an opportunity to experience one planet through the eyes of many. My love of travel stemmed from my mother’s love of travel. We often tease her that she has the restless gene, because she always wants to be somewhere, and someplace different. She began to travel later on in her life because during her youth, she worked incredibly hard to build her career. But from a young age, she dreamed of walking the streets of Paris, or simply cruising on a ship on the Mediterranean Sea. She had big travel dreams, and to her, the best way she knew how to travel was with her children.
Read MoreA NORTH AMERICAN ROAD TRIP BY GALE STRAUB
My name is Gale Straub and I’m 28 years old currently on a long term road trip through North America with my boyfriend Jon. We’re in Portsmouth, NH, but I’m not sure where I’ll be tomorrow – though it will definitely be somewhere in New England. Growing up living in New Hampshire, I didn’t have the luxury to travel far distances. My first plane ride was at age 12 to visit relatives in New Orleans, LA for Mardi Gras, where I brought a little plastic camera and snapped photos of the French inspired architecture. The possibility to feel a world away while still in my own country left a lasting impact, and the experience left me inspired by the potential of travel. I took a long term road trip across the Western United States when I was 16 with an adult cousin, my twin sister, and my cousin’s young daughter. It lasted just a month but it was life changing to go from the subtle beauty of New England to the in-your-face beauty of the West. After that experience, I always wanted to go on another one.
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