Travel Diary: Siem Reap and the Temples of Angkor

Recently, I had the opportunity to hop over to Siem Reap to revisit the temples of Angkor for the first time in 9 years. My previous visit was my first to Cambodia and within 6 months of moving back to Southeast Asia. Needless to say, it was an incredible trip to an absolutely magical place. The temples of Angkor are out of a storybook to say the least. It was a lesson in very early rises to avoid the crowds and to see the temples at their very best. Moments of stillness as the sun peaked through the jungle burned some truly unforgettable memories into my mind. So, when the time came to take a weekender, I was quick to jump at the chance. I wondered how Siem Reap, the city just a few kilometers outside of the temple complex, had changed over the last decade. Had it fallen victim to overdevelopment and lost its charm? Had it survived the pandemic? Would the magic I experienced exploring the temples still be there years later? I had so many questions. One way to find out, right?

I opted to fly into Siem Reap this time and was greeted by a slick, shiny airport. You can tell tourist dollars have been put into it to support this Unesco World Heritage destination. Apparently a new airport is being built now, so I’m curious to see how this one will compare. Siem Reap seems to have weathered the storm of the pandemic with tourists already back, albeit not at pre ‘Rona numbers. Honestly, it feels like a happy medium right now as it felt completely unsustainable the last time I was here. Tour busses clogged the roads, temples felt like ant hills crawling with tour groups - it felt hectic. Not exactly what I envisioned when 1000 year-old sacred temples came to mind. In any event, while tourists are back and the economy has seemed to have rebounded, it didn’t feel like navigating a stampede within the temple complex. Quiet moments were abundant, yet the town didn’t feel like a ghost town like so many other destinations following the last two years. It was a nice balance. I hope the reopening of the world won’t cause this to devolve into the roving hoard of zombies it was pre-pandemic. Here’s to wishful thinking…

As far as photography goes, I made the call to leave the Sony kit at home in favor of traveling fast and light with my Fuji X100S. I picked this little guy up in a trade this year and have been playing around with it around Saigon. While it’s so fun to have a lightweight camera around my neck all the time, I’m not gonna lie, leaving the “proper camera” at home was giving me anxiety. That said, I felt like I needed to rip the band-aid off and jump into the deep end. Immediately, it changed the way I shot and travelled. A small point and shoot is certainly lower profile and almost went unnoticed in the quiet, intimate moments. My back also thanked me as I wasn’t hauling around a few lenses and a heavier camera body. Travel flowed and it felt a bit more free in my movements. The equivalent of a 35mm lens is a perfect walk around focal length and allowed me to focus on the moments in front of me rather than thinking about which lens was the best option for each situation. Liberating, really. Although portraits weren’t in the cards with this setup, I was more interested in street and travel photography so not a big loss there. This camera was more than capable for what I was after and the files were great in the edit. I’d be more than happy printing these in bigger formats. I’m couldn’t recommend giving this a try more.

As always, have a look at my IG and give a follow over there for more images like this. And now on to some of my favourite frames.

Travel Diary : ¡Viva Mexico!

In previous musings, I mentioned the 8 hour layover in Japan on the way to Mexico. If you haven’t checked that one out, have a gander. In any event, the warmer winds of Mexico were a wonderful reprise from the cold and rainy Tokyo. While a bit chilly at night, the crisp air in the morning followed by the midday heat is right up my alley. Sayulita and San Pancho lie just a short drive north of the perennial tourist outpost of Puerto Vallarta. Both surfer hangouts, Sayulita has grown into a fiesta filled destination with quiet beaches just short little jaunts from the center of town. Getting back to Mexico was incredible and how i’ve missed Latin culture. Music, food, fiery blood… give it to me. Here are a few of my favourite frames from what was far too short a stay. A return is definitely high on the list of travel priorities for the foreseeable future. And as always go give me a follow over on IG if you like these types of images.

Travel Diary : 8 hours in Japan

During the Tet holiday, countless city dwellers flock to their hometowns to reunite with their families to bring in the Lunar New Year. As an expat, it gives an opportunity to have a nice little break to regroup after the hectic holiday season. This year Mexico was on the docket for sand, waves and all the tacos. On the way, I had a 10 hour layover in Tokyo, so I had to take advantage and go wander through one of my favorite cities on the planet. I wasn’t quite prepared for the weather as the beach was on the agenda for the rest of the trip, but I bundled up and ventured out for Ramen, a few highballs, and of course shooting lots of street photography. While the weather was a bit drizzly and cold, I can’t get enough of Japan, so there wasn’t much that could dampen my spirits. The energy of Tokyo is incredible and I could wander that city in whatever weather mother nature could throw at me. Here are a few of my favorite images from this quick stop and be on the look out for all the Mexico images coming next week. As always, head over to my Instagram for more.

Travel Diary: America Part 2 - El Paso, Texas

Growing up, stories of El Paso were often the topics of road trips as my father drove us from Georgia to Texas to visit my family in Dallas/Forth Worth. My father attended the University of Texas, El Paso for a time, so stories of Juarez, the desert, and the big skies of west Texas were spoken fondly of as I sat and listened in childlike awe of a place I had never seen until much later on in life. Perhaps some of the details of life in a border town during the 70’s were omitted, but I can just imagine the shenanigans he got into. I wish I could go back and speak to him as an adult (RIP Pops) and hear the more mature versions of these stories. Hell, maybe they’d be the same stories and I’ve had this idea of what it could have been like in my head and it’s nothing more than that. Maybe it was far wilder than I imagine it was. Either way, the lure of El Paso has been in my head from a very young age despite not ever really spending much time there.

Walking through the city hearing stories of El Segundo Barrio, the Chicano movement and seeing the crossroads of American and Mexican culture, it’s easy to feel the deep sense of history and the melding of the two cultures. While many other cities across the states have fallen into the pitfalls of homogenization, El Paso, at least to an outsider, still retains many of its charm through small independent businesses and preservation of historical buildings and neighborhoods despite some pushes towards gentrification. Hand painted signs, small businesses, and local eateries give El Paso its own special feel. Popping in for menudo in a restaurant that has been in business since 1927, strolling through neighborhoods with deep Hispanic roots, the ties to the past are still obvious. All the while, new little stores and businesses have popped up showing modernity without falling victim to the big box plague that has turned so many cities into carbon copies of themselves. This isn’t to say that isn’t around because it is, but it hasn’t permeated every block of the city like many other places I’ve been. Here are just a few images that spoke to me about this place that has danced in my head since childhood.

Travel Diary: America Part 1 - Georgia

Scheduled to head back home in March 2020, for obvious reasons I didn’t get to take that trip. After 6 years, I made the trip back to the States to visit friends and family. That feeling of a mixture of familiarity and, contrastingly, feeling like an outsider at the same time is a strange dichotomy I forgot about and was instantly greeted as the wheels hit the runway. Living overseas obviously changes you, but in ways that I’m not sure I ever anticipated. It’s like watching a movie you’ve seen before. You’re not a part of it, but it’s all so familiar…. Until those things pop up that you’ve not experienced since you left. The sudden overwhelming sense of comprehension of everyone’s small talk, social cues, and nuance…. It’s a lot. But on the other side of that coin, not knowing how to carry yourself because of the sensory overload. Shifts in social interactions, world views, etc…It’s a mental obstacle course.

That all being said, it was incredible seeing friends and family and catching up with so many amazing people, seeing the old stomping grounds, and being absolutely shocked at the development Atlanta has gone through in the last decade. It’s astounding. I lost count of how many times I didn’t recognize places that were once intimately familiar and frequented on a nearly daily basis. I’m not sure how i feel about it, but progress is progress and it’s here regardless of how I feel. Anyways, enough waxing on poetically about all that shenanigans. I can already hear the “oh brother, shut up and show us your photos” and the see the eye rolls. So it goes. Anyways, on to the photos!

Atlanta

Augusta

Travel Diary : Indonesia

One of my favorite places on earth, Indonesia lures me back constantly with its beaches, rugged landscapes, underwater wonderlands, and general laid back lifestyle. This trip took me to Nusa Penida and Amed in Bali and the Derawan Islands in Indonesian Borneo. From temples to island life, it has me already eager to get back. This selection could hardly do it justice, but these are some of my favorite frames. Hop over to my instagram to see more travel images and be sure to give it a follow for regular updates!

Nusa Penida, Bali

Derawan Islands, Borneo

Amed, Bali

Travel Diary: Sydney

After two long years of not being able to travel internationally, I finally got a chance to hop on a plane, use the passport and revisit our home from before Saigon. Sydney holds so many memories, friends and, as we found out on this trip, new corners and neighbourhoods to explore. Staying with friends, I got to explore the neighbourhoods of Bondi Beach and Manly where in the past they were merely weekend beach destinations. Always looking at the watch to make sure I got the last bus or ferry back in order to catch the train back to the Inner West, evenings were few and far between. Having the time to slow down and wander the streets gave me a new appreciation of Bondi and Manly’s cafes, lesser known haunts, and general every day vibe. I revisited old familiar blocks and gave all the hugs and made new memories. I tried to shoot previously visits places with new eyes and capture every day life as well as some famous locations for some tourist action. All in all it was incredible be back in the Oz and has me longing to get back as soon as possible!

Prints will be available of these, so please get in touch before these limited editions are gone!

Travel Diary : Hoi An, Vietnam

As most of you know, I help run tours in Central Vietnam with Pics of Asia with one of my good friends, Etienne Bossot. Also, unless you’ve been living under a rock under another rock buried next to Jimmy Hoffa, you’d also know travel has been sketchy and inaccessible in Vietnam the past year or so. So, when I got a chance to finally get back to Hoi An, I told Etienne we had to go shoot one morning. I left it up to him and we ended up going back to where it all began for me with Pics of Asia at the fishing village south of Hoi An. Neither one of us had been here in months and months due to the pandemic, and it was incredible seeing old faces, catching up with the fishermen and vendors and having a homecoming of sorts.

I also got a chance to meander around the old town and capture a few frames from one of the most charming places in Vietnam. Rumour has that we’ll be running a 5 day tour this summer, so check out Pics of Asia for a chance to explore some of my favourite places in Central Vietnam!