We traveled. We saw. We photographed.
We have about 15,000 photos from our 13-month backpacking trip, and we always knew we would enlarge and frame some of our favorites. We just didn’t know it would take us so long.
Last August we bought six large IKEA frames and this past weekend we finally assembled our second gallery wall. Huzzah! I’m really thrilled with the results. (I’m also thrilled that we enlarged the photos at Sam’s Club for about $6 each.) It’s a nice contrast—both in frame shape and arrangements—to the more freestyle gallery we have in the living room and has a huge impact when you walk through the front door.
That said, picking the photos was like choosing a favorite child (or dog), and that was really what prolonged the process. We just weren’t ready to commit! In the end, we covered a different country in each—not all of the ones we traveled to, but at least ones that meant a lot to us.
Here’s more info on each:
(Clockwise from top left; all except the selfie taken by Eaman)
Man in Yazd, Iran. The sand-colored city of Yazd is filled with mud-brick houses and narrow, ancient streets, where Eaman met this local man.
Motorbiking in Laos. Laos was my favorite of the 14 countries we visited, thanks in part to our adventurous motorbike trip in the Bolaven Plateau region. That photo is actually a selfie! I’m amazed it turned out so well.
Patagonia. I’m fortunate to have traveled quite a bit, and Patagonia is still the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. This glacier is in Argentina’s famed Los Glaciares National Park in El Calafate.
Peruvian abuela. Our travel blog has the story behind this one. It’s a good one.
Cleaning women in Jaipur. I thought Jaipur, India would be a mind-numbing tourist trap. It turned out to be a beautiful, history-filled city with a magical, colorful charm. This shot was taken at Amber Fort, a mammoth-sized fort in the nearby town of Amber.
Vietnamese rice husking. In Mai Chau, Eaman captured this woman’s fragility and strength. You see her crouched over doing hard manual labor, and at the same time —and upon closer inspection—you see just how frail and vein-ridden her hands from years of farming. The people in that town were some of the friendliest we ever met.
Here’s another look:
