Sweet little girl. Dong Van. Northern Vietnam. September 2018
How not to get bored of traveling?
My way? Planning for each travel trip is very important to me. If I plan to be at a place for say 14 days, I would plan on my everyday itinerary together with my backup plan if anything doesn’t go according to my plan.
Flexibility help reduces my anxiety.
I travel to do and see things I can’t at home. I hope to learn more about myself and being flexible allow me to be more open to a new self-experience.
My planning reflects my commitment to creating a unique different moment in each place that I visit. So that I could recall how does that place makes me FEEL years after years later.
Sapa. Northern Vietnam. September 2018
I am glad that I am into photography. Morning light and afternoon light is always my favorite hours. So, I would be up very early in the morning and stayed until the last light, hunting and experiencing local festivals, market crowds, treks the hills to have a peek of the enchanting landscape, walking through a strangers village to have a look at how is life on this other side of the world and so on. The moment of learning and experiencing humanity is always a satisfying moment for me.
Wandering is a lot easier if you have a clear direction on where to go. Sharing some photos during my trip to Northern Vietnam last year. Will share more story during this trip on my next post. In Sha Allah
Ban Gioc waterfall. Northern Vietnam. September 2018
And last question … am I lucky? Yes, I feel lucky therefore I am lucky. Have a good day dear reader. Bye.
Sharing tips on how to capture my favourite subject … our little children in NST BOTS/ click!
On the street or in the studio, these 5 essential tips would definitely help create the cultivating ambience for our little subject for us to capture their growing up moment.
After so many places that I have been to, do I not feel bored?
After a while every place would look the same, she claimed. She travels a lot too. Covering common touristy places that normal tourist would go but yes, I think she has a good point there.
We tend to overdo things.
And when we overdo things, we’ll get numb and bored.
A farmer.Dong Van. Northern Vietnam.September 2018
I call it the “touch and go” kind of traveling … get to your next stop, the Instagram famous spot, then click here click there in 30 minutes run to the bus to the next stop, click here click there in 20 minutes back to the bus again and repeating that for 7 days while covering for 6 continents (I am exaggerating here yah).
After a few trips like this … places will look the same, there is not enough time to FEEL. The reason we travel is to experience the FEEL. Every place offered a different opportunity for us to FEEL but we need more than 30 minutes to explore the new surrounding and experiencing FEEL.
Hmong people. Dong Van. Northern Vietnam. September 2019
How not to get bored while constantly traveling? Create a unique moment for each place that you visited. To do that … you need to do slow traveling.
Take more time at each place. Breath the air. Wander along the street. Explore local markets. Stay at the local’s home. Trek the mountain. Cycle around the town. Hangout at the local restaurant. Join the local festival.
Time for bed. It is 11:25pm on 03.01.2019. Will continue my rant on my next post. Goodnight.
A man from Uttar Pradesh that I met in Kashmir. He works at a brick factory outside Srinagar
I wanted to visit Kashmir. Heard so much about the beauty of this place but I could not find the right time.
I want to visit Kashmir in autumn.
Autumn this year, I was in New Delhi waiting for my connecting flight to Srinagar, Kashmir. I happened to read the local newspaper on the latest news about the current unrest and unsettled situation in Kashmir. The struggle has been going on for years … I heard.
As I landed at Srinagar airport, I have to fill in pages of immigration and security forms. Full armed police and military personnel are seen everywhere in the town. Yes … I mean it, everywhere.
Nomad shepherds preparing their cattle for winter
There has been a fresh attack recently killing a few people from the public. You can feel the tension rising in the air and shops around the Srinagar town choose to remain closed for a few more days.
But despite the unrest situation tourist still continuously flock here, undeterred by the chaos. Just like me and my friends …
A brick factory located outside Srinagar
Kashmiris knows that their main economic source of income comes from the tourist . Rest assure that tourists and travelers are well taken care of despite the unrest situation, my local guide said.
I wonder … why is it so many unrest or chaos places in our world?
I played “the tourist” this time around. Instead of wandering freely around the streets … I hesitantly followed the group leader. Yes, my heart struggled to tame down my curiosity and my feet were itchy to just walk around and explore my surrounding, the way that I always did whenever I am in a strange land. But if you decided to be in a group, it is best to just stick to the group’s tempo.
Me sitting in front of our shikara enjoying the view of Dal Lake
But … honestly, playing “the tourist” sometimes is relaxing, just pure vacation. No waking up early in the morning or staying at secluded location hunting for sunrises or sunsets. No walking aimlessly around villagers hanging around with what they said the ‘unpredictable’ locals.
Food is well served … on time, no hunger, no gastric acid like always, lol. Well pampered accommodation. I even get my own hot water warmer beg, sweet.
Not complaining though … I love it.
View from the peak of Apharwat Mountain (3,950meters)Another side of Dal Lake, SrinagarKashmir applesDashing view of Sonamarg
I am not gonna continue ranting about how beautiful this place is but I would come here again in autumn of whenever years … just to spend more time walking on the streets and wandering around the villages here in Kashmir, enjoying human to human moment … In Sha Allah. I have all sort of plan now in my head on where should I wander and what should I do here.
Just a friendly reminder for photographers who plan to visit Kashmir. Staying light with your camera load is highly recommended as entering and existing Srinagar airport is quite a nuisance due to the tight security check.
I wrote an article about Dal Lake of Srinagar for NST Bots. Sharing it here together with my timelapse video of Kashmir landscape.
keep your head up boys and survive the best way you could
For months I tried to find the excuse to re-visit my childhood hometown. Being born and raised during my teenage life in Tawau, Sabah, this place has a soft spot in my heart. I miss the food … I miss my old childhood friends and I miss talking in the Sabahan dialect too.
This time around, my excuse is … I am re-visiting islands around Semporna for the second time. Had a good deal return ticket from KL to Tawau and spent a few days hanging out in Tawau with my childhood friends while enjoying the weekends at the islands surrounding Semporna, hunting the light with some new friends.
the sea gypsies of islands surrounding Semporna, Sabah
I miss the salty air and the beautiful endless open sky. As we were speeding off to Selakan Island from Semporna jetty, I can’t help reminiscing the old sweet years when I used to spend my weekend doing island hopping with my compact camera. Carefree years … when my camera was just so light and the years where I carried my flippers more than my camera.
I am feeling old … only old people reminiscing their old sweet memories.
My second visit to this beautiful place. The first time in 2015 when I was still fresh in this photography world, at that time everything looked new and exciting to me. Guess what … the second trip is as excited as before, I am born to do this … to wander around my surrounding and just fall deeper into my own world while doing … the THINKING, lol (so much to think about).
gypsy girls swinging carefreely
Timbun Mata, Bodgaya, Maiga, Selakan, Gusungan, Ormadal and a lot more surrounding islands that we can explore. The setting of each island looks damn good during sunset and sunrise. And, I noticed something different this time around with my new travel mates … they play with the drones more than their cameras.
A new way of enjoying our beautiful surrounding which is aerial photography. Now everybody can fly … me? I think I would just stick to my paramotor addiction. Flying with a group of motivated adventurous paramotor pilots and enjoying the raw aerial view with my own eyes, self-satisfaction. I get to feel the fear of the unknown circumstances while flying … while the drone players fear that they would lose their drone signal and later would lose the drone.
a girl drying fish at the beach in Maiga Island
What makes a place interesting?
For me … it’s the people that reside in the place that makes the place compelling. In here the sea gypsies people are well blended with their nature. Life is simple.
But for a thinker … you’ll get worried just by looking at the children paddling here and there aimlessly. I always believe that every child needs to go to school, at least to learn reading, writing, calculating and reading the Quran.
Zainab and her lunch for today
By giving that basic skill to our children we fulfilled at least the very minimal responsibility as a parent to them. Giving them the skills will help them make a better choice in life. It is up to the parents though. I saw a few schools here in some islands. Maybe they just choose not to send their children to school.
Ahh well … enough worrying, at least they are happy with their choice of life. As I said earlier … it’s a simple life, no ruffles.
sunrise in Maiga island
I always want to say this at the end of my writing … that I want to visit the same place again and again. 3 days 2 night is not enough … it was cloudy during the 3 days that we were there and on the second day, we were chased by the storm during sunset at Bodgaya Island. I think a week would be good.
The cloudy stormy sky is the best time to capture time-lapse as the clouds would move rapidly. Sharing my time-lapse video here for y’alls. Amazing moment captured using my small gopro6.
And last but not least, belanja a picture of me under the stormy cloud for my fan out there (perasan … lol am being cynical here) and for those people who are not so my fan, please underestimate me, that’ll be fun. Annyeong …
