1 Country 1 Picture

1 Country, 1 Picture

WANDERLUST: An irresistible impulse to travel the planet and discover oneself in the process.

I debated whether or not I should include this section, because there are some countries I've visited for just a few days and others I've lived in for months. In a way, it doesn't seem fair to just choose one photograph from Ecuador, as pictures from Ecuador might make up one third of my all time favorite 100 pictures. Then again, this is a good exercise. Although these photos cannot capture the entirety of diverse experiences, I envision this page as a glimpse into my camera lens throughout the years.

The Stories

KENYA:
I interviewed this Samburu woman during my three month internship in Kenya in 2019. I was working with an environmental organization called IMPACT, partially as a way of doing MA research for my Political Science degree at McGill. This woman told me about how her community has changed throughout the years, debating the good and bad about globalization and cultural shifts. My favorite part of the photograph is her forehead, on which the lines appear as a maze of experiences.

BOLIVIA:
I took this photo in Copacabana, Bolivia in 2016 after spending a few nights on the islands of Lake Titicaca. There happened to be a parade of some sort when my sister and I arrived here. We sat on the patio of some seafood restaurant to watch, drinking cold lemonade in the hot sun. I'm still not quite sure what the event was, but the festivities lasted into the night. These women were twirling their dresses proudly. I liked watching the strings move in the wind as they moved, all following each other in step. After spending time in Copacabana, we continued to La Paz where we did "The World's Most Dangerous Bike Ride," which also happened to be the most beautiful bike ride I've ever done.

SOUTH KOREA:
I was only in South Korea exploring Seoul for about six hours during a layover to Southeast Asia... BUT as my first experience out of North America or Europe at the age of 15, the city awed me at once. This was in a buddhist temple in the center of the city after we walked around and ate kimchi. I was surprised at the presence these three statues imposed. They weren't just statues, but had some kind of spiritual power I hadn't necessarily felt before. Later somebody told me I wasn't allowed to take a picture here but I couldn't bring myself to delete this one. Fingers crossed I don't get caught! Picture from 2013.

CAMBODIA:
This is on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. The boy with the snake around his head, pictured here, is asking for $2. We sped off too quickly so I threw him the change I had in my pocket. I still don't know how much I gave him. After I snapped the picture I felt helpless to do anything meaningful. There are actually 4 people onboard, namely the boy, his sister, his mother, and a baby in the tiny hammock right behind him. After spending time in Southeast Asia, I came back home with a reverse culture shock that led to a fairly severe depression for months. I wish I had taken a class before this trip which had explained structural inequalities on a global scale to prevent me from feeling so personally guilty for having clean water at home. I was 15 at the time.

LAOS:
The best part about going to Laos was going with Dr. Bouaketh Sayarath, a teacher from my high school who was orphaned in a Laotian village. He snuck away during the American war (when the U.S.A dropped more bombs on Laos than on Vietnam and Germany combined). He eventually graduated Harvard medical school, became a science teacher at my old high school, and now lives up the road from my parents. Like what? Anyway, this photo was taken in the north of the country in a small village nestled in the jungle. We hiked an hour to get there. This woman taught me that it is possible to communicate without language. With gestures, I asked her if I could take her picture and she nodded. I thanked her with a piece of fruit.

THAILAND:
Everyone says Thailand is THE place to go adventuring. Unfortunately I only spent a few days in Thailand on a return layover from Laos before heading home, but during that time I was lucky enough to visit Pattaya beach and go ziplining in this forest. One of the most memorable moments of my short time in Thailand was when I had my feet washed by hundreds of fish in Pattaya. It was weird to have itty bitty fish clean my feet, and tickled, but felt like quite the spa treatment on those busy streets. I ate alligator in Thailand and it was chewy.

FRANCE:
Mont Blanc was hands down one of the most breathtaking places I've ever been. Chamonix, at the base of the mountain, is the most picturesque village in the Alps you could ever imagine. When you're on this massive mountain, you're both in complete awe and also have an acute sense of feeling so incredibly small. Or, at least, that's how I felt. I lived in the Rhone Alps to finish my undergrad and then went to Trebeurden to be an au pair. This was the fun trip in between. One day maybe I'll actually hike it.

ITALY:
I'm lucky enough to have gone to Italy a few times with my family, from Florence to Rome to Turin. I like this picture because it's not what people normally associate with Italy, and also because I identify with the person in the yellow kayak. Perhaps it's because I've sometimes felt isolated while traveling, or perhaps it's because I take pride in being so independent. I remember taking the picture, when I was 16, and wondering what this person's life was like. Were they a local? I'll never know and it's almost better that way.

ECUADOR:
If there's one country in the world that changed my life, it's Ecuador in all its glory. I can't talk about Ecuador enough. I lived in the country for about a year total, and could easily see myself moving back. Some of my best friends and fondest memories are there. This is a man in Guaranda during Carnaval. I went with a bunch of local friends I made during my time during my study abroad year in 2016, and it was one of the best weekends of all my time there.

MEXICO:
This sea turtle is one of the many I ogled on Isla Mujeres near Cancún. Although I've also seen turtles in other places, these ones had magnificent shells that glittered in the sunlight. This day was a fun one. Usually I'm not big on the touristy stuff, and prefer to really dig into the rich cultural aspects of travel, but I enjoyed the day renting out a golf cart and checking out the artwork at Punta Sur. Also, I think the mixed drinks just taste better in tropical places than anywhere else. Am I right?

PORTUGAL:
This photograph depicts some of the archaeological splendors in Portugal. The archway is in Lisbon, in the bustling downtown region near a big square by the water. I ate natas pastries and stayed in a hostel where I met people from Jordan. I took this picture after spending a few days in fairytale Sintra, the castle capital of Portugal that feels like a storybook. Although this photograph was taken in Lisbon, I have to be honest and admit that I preferred Porto to Lisbon because I like quaint cities that feel small.

SPAIN:
During the Fall of 2017 when I was au-pairing in France, I had two weeks off, so I went to Spain and Portugal to visit my friend Charlotte. She lived in Ponte Vedra and was teaching English for the year. When she was working one day, I went to Santiago de Compostela on the train to go visit the scenic city. This is one of those black and white photographs that best represents my time there, at least from the culinary point of view. Maybe I'll return to Santiago de Compostela to do the hike along the coast.

PERU:
I could have chosen any of the photos from Machu Picchu to represent Peru, because perhaps those are overall more aesthetically relevant. However, I chose this one because of how phenomenal this day was. I went to Lake Titicaca and visited the floating villages. These people live on these floating structures, in their floating homes, and get their food from the water around them. Their shelters are made entirely from reeds you can see growing in the back, which eventually turns to the mud you see piled up there near the woman. Everyone learns to weave the reeds early, because the community must constantly replace the top layer as the bottom layer decomposes. The picture shows the resilience of people living everywhere across the globe, not just here.

INDIA:
I was 17 years old when I went to India with my high school. We spent a lot of time in Kodaikanal working with an organization called Help-Kids-India. I quickly realized the person "volunteering" to paint a school gets more out of the trip than the ones actually attending the school. Bottom line: voluntourism can be cringy. That being said, I don't know if I would have pursued International Development Studies in my undergrad had I not learned about the "untouchable" caste, or questioned my place in twisted power dynamics that govern the world, which only came to my attention during my time there. I saw this beautiful temple by the ocean and loved the colors.

AUSTRIA:
This was another one of those phenomenal family trips. I'm glad my mom and dad showed my two sisters and I the value of travel from a young age. After all, experiences are more valuable than fancy new electronics. I took this photograph in the summer of 2014 (I think?) during a scenic walk in a small town in Austria. I'll try to track down exactly where it was taken and update this eventually.

ZANZIBAR:
I was supposed to stay in Zanzibar for about a week in the summer of 2019 after living in Kenya for three months, but ended up staying less than 12 hours because my dad got sick (he's okay now!) and we had to fly out earlier than planned. It was an incredible glimpse into the island nonetheless.

ICELAND:
The natural beauty in Iceland is enough to speak for itself, which is why I chose this non-nature photograph to represent my awe with Iceland. This is the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavik. There are a lot of things that made me laugh about Iceland. First of all, people believe in elves and I love that more than anything. Second, the elementary school kids can read ancient Viking text because the language hasn't changed that much. Third, there's a government app that people check to make sure they're not third cousins before they date.

CARIBBEAN:
When people think United States, they usually see New York City or the Grand Canyon. I chose this picture to bring attention to the fact there are many places considered part of the United States that are far from the mainland. I realize the Caribbean isn't a country, but it deserves its own category for being a unique geographical region. This picture was taken in Saint John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. I've never seen a crab scurry so fast, and I had to lay on the ground waiting for this guy to stay still!

SWEDEN:
I spent a few weeks in the summer of 2018 in Stockholm, and it was enough to make me love the city. It's almost too perfect. The sidewalks are clean, people are good looking, and dads have parental leave to take care of their children. I took this picture in Gamla Stan, the historical part of the city, while eating lunch at a cute cafe and watching people walk by. I only snapped the picture from the back, but if you had seen the ice cream on this kid's face, you'd easily understand why the memories tied to this photograph make it worthy of my number one.

USA:
My parents live in Vermont, a gem-sized state in the Northeast of the United States. Going hiking is one of my favorite activities. Foliage season is my favorite time of the year, and these leaves look like they're floating lanterns in the sunshine of an early October afternoon. For more photos of foliage, check out the country profile or my blog post about Vermont foliage.

GERMANY:
BAHAMAS:
TANZANIA:
MONACO:
DENMARK:
LUXEMBOURG:
CANADA: