My last blog post coincided with the start of the 2024 Summer Olympic games and today’s post coincides with the closing ceremonies…these are always a little sad to me - saying goodbye to something we don’t see every day. The feeling is somewhat parallel to the excitement of preparing for travel and the sluggishness of returning from travel.
There’s the inevitable loads of laundry, mail to open, filing of receipts and docs, maybe family and pets to cuddle. Perhaps setting aside a passport, foreign currencies, travel pillow, etc. for the next trip.
And then there is the photo dump.
I am about 3 ½ years behind in my photo editing. You’d think that with Covid-19, my 2021-2022 photo coffers wouldn’t be too full, but an engagement and a wedding can (happily) blow that theory. These photos are set aside for now.
I’ve been a little stressed about all of the photos from 2023 when I was collecting presentation research material. My gut has been telling me that my old system of labeling and filing of photos was no longer serving me. When I was a Travel Guide, it was important to be able to pull up images quickly of a certain port or shore excursion to assist guests. I don’t have that need any more. With clutter clearing and ease of photo retrieval in mind, it was full-speed ahead.
One of the reasons I wanted to update my photo storage is that in a little over four weeks, I am heading on my bucket list trip: 3 ½ weeks in India and Bhutan. Ever since taking paired courses in college - “Religion of India” and “Third World Novels in English - I have wanted to go to India. I suspect the Third World novels course would now have a different name than its 1990s name. I also suspect that I will take a few photos, and so I want to clear up a bit.
7-hours later and 7-GB later (I seemed to have multiple copies sprouting up in various folders), the 6400+ 2023 photos are in very workable organization and storage. About half are presentation related, and about half are personal memories, which will get further editing/reducing. But it begs the question - how often will I look at these?
Last weekend I went to the theatre, and the woman sitting next to me positioned her cell phone to video the performance. She asked me if she thought anyone could see. In response, I mumbled something about not being sure of the laws in this country for recording a play… but I was mortified. As a performer I have always found this extremely disrespectful of all of the creatives involved. At least she didn’t have the phone high enough so the people behind her had to watch the performance through her phone. I have seen this a lot on the ship, and find this also disrespectful of fellow theater goers. I'll get off that pet-peeve high horse now, and hop on another: It begs again the question - how often will she watch this video?
Funny enough, a monthly travel email, Musings From Colin's World, arrived in my inbox recently - the subject of which was “Unplugging: Are We Living Life, or Just Recording It?” Colin beautifully reflects on his question “How much value do we give to just experiencing something directly, in real time, without any intervening medium?”
As I continue my post-travel photo cleanup and pre-travel preparations for India and Bhutan, I am enjoying contemplating this more deeply and further defining my philosophy and art of travel photography.
Wellness Round Up
In terms of nutrition, I am still focusing on eating while I am hungry. Nothing terribly exciting recipe wise - but I did try one that I have been meaning to try for a while:
Salted Matcha Fudge. This is probably not everyone’s cup of tea. And the amount of sugar outweighs the benefit of matcha, but it is a bite-sized treat that gives me a little something sweet without eating a big dessert.
I have also reduced alcohol consumption. Still a glass of wine here or there, but our local grocery store stocks a lovely non-alcoholic Rosé prosecco and there are some decent non-alcoholic gins, whiskeys, etc. out there.
Hydration has improved to a full pitcher almost daily. Sleep still great; stress reduced. Movement is good - although the lower body strength training is still a bugaboo.
End result is that my weight is down 5 lbs. Happy dance.
That's it for now. See you in two weeks. Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit!
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