Travel is Everything – Japan, Korea Edition

Travel is everything.

I still believe this, even after a 24 hour flight and jet lag. Like, serious, not knowing what planet you’re on, kind of jet lag.

A couple of months ago, my man and I ventured to Japan, with a four day sojourn to Korea in the middle.

When I travel, I don’t bother photographing the common stuff. The sights you see on post cards and in the tourist guides are better left to photographers who have no trouble waking up at 4am in order to arrive at the perfect spot before all the tourists show up and get in the way of the shot.

I like to photograph what falls in my path. I seek images that evoke the textures, smells, tastes and sentiments of a place.

The smell of the fish market in the early morning.

The biting taste of ginger tea.

The feel of moss beneath my feet.

How erie it was to look upon the bleak, desolate landscape of North Korea.

That part of the world is special. Old, deeply ingrained traditions bump up against the hyper-modern bustle of some of the most complex cities in the world. Any born and bred westerner is sure to feel like a fish out of water.

But that’s kind of the whole point.