A Relationship with Pain

I have a unique relationship with pain. As someone who is in pain nearly every second of every day, I’ve come to know it quite intimately. For most people, pain is a temporary thing. It’s your brain’s way of alerting you that something is wrong. For me, pain is just an everyday part of life. …

An Overview of Fibromyalgia

“We don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to,” he said gently, after asking me some questions about my health problems. “It's okay,” I answered. “Honestly, I...I kind of like talking about it. I often feel like I can't, like I have to hide it. Being sick all the time is a …

Northern California

If there's one thing I learned after spending 3 months overseas in Europe, it's this: Northern California is exceptionally unique and amazing, in every possible way. Until I started traveling, I didn't realize how wonderfully lucky I was to have grown up in a place like this. Despite the fact that California doesn't feel like …

Weighing the Fish

One of my favorite things about photography is the ability to freeze time.  Capturing just a small fraction of a second turns seemingly ordinary tasks, like weighing fish at a fish hatchery, into a brilliantly dramatic scene. I decided to visit Coleman National Fish Hatchery, and arrived at around 8:30 in the morning. As I …

Tourist vs. Traveler

It can be hard to not feel offended when someone refers to me as a tourist. I generally correct them, kindly and politely, and tell them that I’m not a tourist - I’m a traveler. In my mind, the difference between the two is astronomical. A tourist is a person who has a checklist - …

Back in California

It's now been two weeks since I left the Netherlands and came back to California. Time has been moving so slowly since I arrived back in California. Now it seems that I'm just trying to find ways to pass the time, but the days still seem to slowly drag by. I'm still in contact with …

Falling in Love

Having your heart broken really sucks. But I’ve realized that, even worse than having a broken heart, is having never fallen in love in the first place. When I was living out of my van with my dog, traveling along the Northern California coast, I met a beautiful Dutch man. We met on a trail …

Killing the Ancient Redwoods

This tree was, at the very least, hundreds of years old when it was felled. It’s very possible that it was over a thousand years old - which would only make it a middle-aged Redwood. The oldest redwoods in Northern California have been standing since before the United States was even a thought in our …

The Drunken Dutch Man

This was his favorite, of the photos that I showed him. This morning at about 10am, I put my wallet and my camera in my backpack, and walked to the local market. On my way there I passed by the canal dock where I planned to later stop and photograph some pigeons. I noticed a …

Among the Northern Lights

My flight to Amsterdam had a quick stop in Iceland. From departing California last night, to arrival in Iceland, is about 7.5 hours on a plane. After a little over an hour in Iceland, it was off to Amsterdam. I was worried that my body might not react so well to such a disrupted sleep …