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The Itinerant Photographer

9/25/2015

This is a repost of a blog originally published 10/25/13.

How do you like to travel? Do you pick a destination and then spend every spare minute researching what to do and where to go and what to eat? Sometimes that is the best way to make sure nothing important is missed. A lot of people have one opportunity to get to a location in their lifetime and no one wants to get home to find out they missed the Grand Canyon when they were in Arizona or Mount Rushmore when they drove through South Dakota. The internet has made trip researching and planning easier than ever with the advent of such sites as TripAdvisor and Google. Experiences by other travelers are openly shared on the internet helping to point the compass in the right direction.

I decided to approach my last trip more like a wandering nomad with only a general sense of driving west or east today, north or south tomorrow. It went against every grain of Type A personality planning that I have carried around since birth. This was not easy...at all. I find comfort and security in plans. I know what I'm doing. I don't have to worry about what might happen if... I decided to do it because someone I admire a lot used to travel that way. That person was Ernst Haas. He talked about it in his film documentary "To Dream With Eyes Wide Open":

I was always accused of not knowing where I am going and what I'm doing. This is really true because there is an element of surprise which for me is very, very important.

You're open, you let it happen.

The things going to happen to you which never happen to anybody who has over-researched. He comes like a banker, you know, he has an account somewhere. But if you go without plan, this for me is what we will call chance and in this chance you create your order.

©Ernst Haas and Media Loft, 1980. Videocassette.

Could this really be true, I wondered? Had I been behaving like a banker my whole life and worse yet, on my photography trips? Taking out every ounce of creativity as I marched through my itineraries, checking off my to-do list one by one?

I decided to put my trust in Ernst Haas. Just once. I took comfort knowing that if it didn't work, I wouldn't do it again. I knew where I was sleeping at night and that was it. I let the car do the driving and if something piqued my curiosity I explored it, letting myself be available to any whim that arose. From the very first photo of my trip, it lead me to off the beaten track places like this:

to the very last photo of my trip.

Was it successful? I don't know, but I felt like this method of travel worked out very good for me and I will definitely try it again. On repeated occasions I remember thinking how lucky I was and being grateful for every moment I had and working like crazy before the clock ran out of time.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and I thank you very much for coming by. As you may have noticed I am test driving a new logo. Comments are open so feel free to let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

Reimagining Jimmy's Buffet

9/11/2015

Recently I decided to take care of some refinishing projects that have been building up around the house for the last 8 years or so. It started with one little project that went so well, I decided to do them all. At least that was the plan until I ran into a really tough project. It wasn't this one, this was the easy job that set the ball in motion and got me thinking I was some kind of refinishing expert.

This old side buffet (not entirely sure it was a buffet) was acquired awhile back for about $75 at a yard sale, probably from a guy named Jimmy. At the time, it was bought as a temporary storage piece. Currently, I have been thinking about a room and the furniture that was in it, and a very large empty space that needed to be filled and what to do about it. When I looked at this old piece, I really just wanted to post it on Craig's list or something to see if I could recover the $75 originally paid for it.

The truth was, it wasn't supposed to be permanent and I really didn't want to keep it. It's a pretty solid old piece of furniture though. The legs have some nice detail, and it is made of real wood as opposed to particle board, so I started thinking this still had some life in it and maybe it should get another chance.

I recently bought a couple cans of paint for another redecorating project, so after giving it some thought, decided to paint it one of those colors. Probably not the color I would have chosen if I went to the store and picked one out, but I am trying to use all my resources right now, so this was just going to have to work. It was this color or turquoise and with royal blue walls behind, I preferred the green.

I decided it would also need some new handles. I searched the internet, found these on Amazon and ordered them direct from China.

There were some real nice domestic handblown glass handles available that would have been beautiful, but they were over $50 a pop and I wasn't ready to sink that kind of money into this piece. These 6 handles were less than $30 including shipping. Reviews of similar handles were poor but I am happy with these. They are good enough for this purpose and I think they update the piece nicely.

What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments. Until next time, thanks for stopping by and I hope you are enjoying this time of year.

The Itinerant Photographer

Reimagining Jimmy's Buffet

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