Abroad Again — The Greenest Blue

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Something feels different. In a good, and weird, and uncomfortable way. This summer is shaping up to be a bit different than I would’ve guessed it to be. I just landed in Auckland this morning after spending the last three weeks or so in Iceland working for Smithsonian Student Travel. It was an epic trip, seriously. The beautiful, frigid, sub-Arctic island is loaded with geothermal, volanic, and glacial wonders, enough to delight even the most avid outdoor enthusiast.

I’m writing right now like I’m trying to create a travel brochure. I’ll admit I’ve been feeling off and non-commital in my writing lately. I have little desire to write something coherent. Instead, I show up to my journals and docs like I just want to work vomit and get on with my day. So I decided to, once again, stop putting pressure on myself to create something polished and just throw the spaghetti (writing and photography) at the wall (my blog and social media outlets) without the need to make them sparkle.

I’ll just let them sparkle on their own.

I’m running on weird levels of sleep and I’ve changed time zones four times in the last two days. Fun fact! New Zealand is exaclty 12 hours time difference from Iceland. BUT if you have the option of flying east or west, FLY WEST. I still don’t fully understand it, but going west is the best. I knocked myself out on the plane with a couple glasses of wine and an allergy pill and woke up to a glorious Auckland sunrise, even though had I been in Iceland, I would’ve been winding down for the evening.

Enough of that. I’m going to share some photos from my Iceland trip and just want to say: blogs aren’t dead. Right now I’m pretty content to create art for me and my own joy. So, here are some puffins. I’m selling digital prints on my website now in an effort to up the ante and step into the progessional photography sphere. I’ve invested enough time and energy into my photography equipment, editing skills, and computer programs to warrant this. Step into your worth, people!

My students on the trip asked them if I would give them the photos I was taking with my “nice camera.” I absolutely want them to be able to see what I saw through my lens, but I can’t give these photos away for free. They are now an extension of my creativity and my passion, and if I want to be able to do more of this, I need to charge for these prints. You can obviously still follow me on Instagram if you want to just see the content as it emerges!