Photos From Various Trips Prior to 2023
So the trip to Greece, Italy, and France in October 2014, the New Mexico Trip in December 2022, the South Llano River State Park camping trip in October 2023, and the trip to Argentina in November 2023 all have their own features on my Gallery page. But that’s an 8-year gap, surely that’s not it, right? Of course not. New Mexico, South Llano River State Park, and Argentina are the most recent trips I have taken, and Europe 2014 was the most important trip in terms of skill development. But I love to travel, and I love photography, so the rest of my trips are featured here.
East Coast Road Trip, October 2016
In July 2016 I lost my job in the medical records department of a mental health facility. In the months between then and starting at the vet clinic where I currently work, I had nothing but time as I searched for a new job. With the support of my parents and a gift of some money from my grandmother to help tide me over until I could get a new job, I decided this was as good a time as any to take a road trip, with the idea of traveling on a budget. Most of the trip, therefore, I couch-surfed. I used the Couch Surfing website to find hosts willing to put me up for a night or two on whatever they had available, whether it was a couch, in a spare bedroom, or a sleeping bag on the floor.
Most of the photos I took on this trip, unfortunately, I no longer have, due to one too many accidental drops of the external hard drive that served as the only location where I had them saved. It was a harsh lesson – save, save, save. Now I am working on uploading the external hard drive I have now to the cloud, and will probably purchase a second hard drive to store back-up copies.
Iceland and London, March 2018
In March of 2018 I took a two-week trip to Iceland. The first part of the trip I spent in a camper van, driving around the southern half of the country. I also took a three-night side trip to London, as flights from London to Reykjavik were less than $125.. And though I don’t regret either trip, looking back I wish I had made each trip a separate, longer trip, as there was more of both that I wish I could have seen and done.
Seattle, August 2018
In August 2018, I took a five-day trip to Seattle, Washington. I explored Pike’s Place Market, the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, the Seattle Center, and a number of other things. I also went to the top of the Space Needle, from which I was hoping to see Mt. Rainier, but unfortunately due to smoke from the wildfires in the Pacific Northwest that summer, it was completely invisible from the city.
Portland, September 2019
A year after my trip to Seattle I took another trip to the Pacific Northwest, this time to Portland, Oregon for my cousin’s wedding. The wedding activities only lasted three days, but I extended my trip by another four to do some additional exploring. I visited a couple of friends who had moved there a year or two earlier with their baby daughter, and also visited the historic Pittock Mansion, the Japanese and Rose Gardens, and Powell’s City of Books, which is the largest independent – in other words, not a chain – bookshop in the world.
Alaska, October 2019
A month after the trip to Portland, Oregon, I took a trip to Alaska. My primary reason for wanting to go to Alaska was a desire to view and photograph the Aurora Borealis, although I was also interested in photographing the Alaskan landscape. I was – mostly – not disappointed. I say mostly because as I learned on the small group aurora tour, often the aurora is too weak to see with the naked eye, but can be seen with a digital camera, which is capable of capturing far more light than human eyes can.
2020
In 2020 there were no trips. Just a month after my trip to Alaska, the SARS-CoV-2 virus appeared on a small scale in Wuhan, China. It caused a serious respiratory disease people were calling COVID-19. By March 2020 it had spread to multiple countries, including the USA, leading to a global pandemic. No-one was traveling for a long while, not without stringent restrictions and mask ordinances. My family didn’t go anywhere in 2020.
Not only were we unable to travel due to the pandemic, but my maternal grandmother was also living with us for a time. Her health was declining and needed more attention than the staff at her independent living facility was able to give her. Since we weren’t able to visit her there due to the pandemic, she came to live with us. Her health continued to decline throughout the year after at least two strokes put her in the hospital, and after a while we had to move her into a nursing home when her needs became more than we could handle at home. As her health continued to decline, the decision was made to bring her into hospice care at home. She passed away that November.
South Texas Birding, April 2021
My interest in bird photography and bird-watching really took off after a bird photography workshop I attended in 2019. That was when I learned how important of an area the Texas coast is for migrating birds. Among other things, I learned of several great birding locations around the Houston area. And as I explored these places and met other birders, I learned of even more great birding spots. That was how I learned about South Texas and its importance as a gateway for birds migrating from South and Central America into the US. So I started planning my first multi-day out-of-town birding trip.
Colorado, July 2021
In July 2021, I took a road trip to Colorado. The main purpose for the trip was a family reunion to scatter my grandmother’s ashes after she had passed away the preceding November. I decided to make a longer trip of it and chose to drive while everyone else flew. I enjoy road trips and wanted to explore more on my own. So I left a couple days earlier than everyone else and stayed two nights in Amarillo. I spent my 32nd birthday exploring the historic Route 66 and the nearby Palo Duro Canyon State Park, which offered both a spectacular sunset and a spectacular full moonrise. I joined the rest of the family in Mount Crested Butte, and we scattered my grandmother’s ashes among the wildflowers in the local cemetery. When the reunion was over I drove to another town an hour or so away called Paonia and spent a few days there, just exploring part of the Rocky Mountains.
Palo Duro Canyon State Park, November 2021
Later that same year I went with my family back to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. We rented a camper for the first time, which we had delivered to our campsite and set up for us. We spent 4 days exploring the park’s beautiful hiking trails, and also got to enjoy a jeep tour of the canyon through Palo Duro Creek Ranch. I was particularly intrigued by the contrast in color between the red canyon walls and the deep blue sky.
Vancouver, BC, March 2022
Before the Covid-19 pandemic began, we had purchased plane tickets for the family to fly to Argentina in June 2020. Due to travel restrictions that did not happen. The trip was rescheduled at least a couple times before we were ultimately given vouchers for any flight and told we had to use them by the end of March 2022. So I made plans for a 5-day solo trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, as I had never been to Canada. I explored Stanley Park, visited the Granville Island Public Market and the Museum of Vancouver, visited Lighthouse Park, and walked in the downtown shopping district.
California, May 2022
In May of 2022, another of my cousins had his wedding reception in Moraga, an affluent suburb east of Oakland. A California native, he and his fiancé married the previous October, in a private ceremony attended by only immediate family, during a time when people were still hesitant to travel in close quarters such as on an airplane. So they held the reception for friends and extended family the following May. We flew into San Francisco, and once again I extended my trip a few days to do some exploring. Since May is peak bird migration season in California, and since California has even more species of birds than Texas, I made birding a focus of the trip.
New Orleans, June 2022
The following month, my mother and I drove for a long weekend to New Orleans, Louisiana. It makes for a perfect short trip out of Houston, as it is only a 6-hour drive away. We visited the French Quarter, the botanical garden, the French Market, and the Garden District. And for the first time, we also went to Mardi Gras World. This was an unexpectedly delightful discovery – it’s essentially a museum and warehouse where the floats featured in the Mardi Gras parade are built and stored.
