In late 2019, I embarked on a four month journey around the world.
I returned to the United States in late January just as the pandemic was taking hold. This is a chronicle of that trip. It is a collection of thirty photo essays. Except for the last two, they were all compiled, written, and edited on the road, and reflect my immediate impressions of my experience as I was living it.
My journey began in San Francisco.
In Vietnam, I experienced a country in transition. Along with the prosperity that comes with a growing economy, Vietnam and its people are facing challenges related to economic and environmental justice that are familiar to people in the United States (because we have faced them before) and other countries around the world.
America’s legacy in Vietnam is not confined to Vietnam. The American War, as it is known in southeast Asia, also had lasting impacts in Cambodia and Laos.
Thailand was one of the few countries I visited that did not feel as if it were in the throes of social upheaval, but a year later, young people were taking to the streets, risking arrest, and insisting on reform.
Settling into the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu was a challenge, but by the time I left the country, I was in love with its beauty and its people.
In India, I visited eight different cities in four distinct regions. From a cultural perspective, it was the most challenging country I visited, and by the time I left, I was ready for a return to something closer to the norms of my daily life. But I would encourage anyone to visit and there is no doubt any challenge I faced was worth the effort.
The experience will stay with me forever.
I did not plan the trip this way on paper, but my decision to use Spain as a respite between Asia and South America, turned out to be just what I needed to press on. It gave me a place to recover from the trials of India and prepared me for immersion into the Spanish cultures of Peru, Chile and Argentina.
Peru, Chile and Argentina.
Upon my return home, in January of 2020, I wrote the following two essays to try to capture the major political issues I took note of during my trip, to assemble some of the more memorable moments I experienced in locations familiar to most tourists, and to sum up the lessons I learned along the way.
Iceland + Faroe Islands
In the summer of 2021, as pandemic restrictions were lifting across the globe, I traveled to Iceland for my first foreign trip since 2019.
Although the pandemic is still with us and continues to restrict travel in many countries, I found Iceland to be somewhat isolated from the worst effects of the Covid virus. Iceland has been a growing tourist destination since the 1980s and for those seeking a unique look at a land that is still forming before our eyes - Iceland is the place. You can see and feel the volcanic and seismic nature of the landscape everywhere you look.
North of Scotland and south of Iceland, the Faroe Islands are a small country that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark.
The total population is about 50,000 and you can drive most of the country in a few days. The islands are volcanic in origin making for scenery that rivals Iceland, but covered in lush greens that might remind you of Ireland.
Wyoming + New Mexico
When you live on the east coast of the United States everything is close by and the big view is often blocked.
Several times in my life I have traveled to the western parts of the country simply to experience its wide open spaces and gain a new perspective.
In July of 2022 I visited Wyoming, in part to wander around and in part to cover the re-election campaign of Congresswoman Liz Cheney(R).
There are two photo essays from that trip in this collection.
The next year I went to New Mexico - in March - to travel that state at the edge of winter and spring.
