Makeshift laundry

Face it.. you have to have done something like this to claim traveler title!

Bar of soap = stain remover
Bathtub = washer
Bath suds = detergent
Spigot = rinse
Towel = spin
Hair dryer = dry
Hanger = clothes line

Weekly Photo Challenge: Thankful

I had a superb Thanksgiving, even though I did not have someone to share it with yesterday. For this theme, I will model Norman Rockwell and his famous Four Freedoms paintings:
– Freedom from Want
– Freedom from Fear
– Freedom of Speech
– Freedom of Worship

Nikon D80, f/7.1, 1/30s

Nikon D80, f5.6, 1/250s

 

Nikon D90, f/4, 1/125s

Yes, I purposely chose photos of children. But, ultimately, it’s the example we set for them to lead and change the future.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Happy

For a country of simple, basic means and, at the time, questionable governance, the children of Myanmar struck me as being extraordinarily happy. Perhaps the irony is that thanks to the isolation of their society, they understood the simple pleasures in life, unencumbered by material pressures.

Nikon D90, f/5.6, 1/125s

Weekly Photo Challenge: Create

Face it. Almost everything is machine made these days. Which is why I have developed a growing passion for food. Any fresh dish has to be made from scratch and no two people make it the same way. That makes every bite an adventure.

Grilled meats in Croatia

stir fry cuttlefish in Myanmar

 

A-Z Archive: N Challenge

N for Novices. Despite the respect their robes earn in a deeply reverent culture, these Burmese boys are still boys, squabbling and arguing like any child their age, regardless of uniform.

Nikon D90, f/4.1, 1/125s

Weekly Photo Challenge: Regret

My submission:

Caption Contest: What would you write?

How would you interpret? (my comments to follow in a later post)

Here are a few to get you started:

I regret not taking the lens cap off.
Dark regrets
I regret sleeping through the event.
I regret missing it.

2011: A Reckoning

Well, folks. We’ve established I am a horrible future predictor. The only reason I went out of a limb to post my plans up is because I am good at following through. I had planned all those trips. I knew when I was going to go, how I was going to go, where I was going to go.

Life has a way of getting in the way. Let’s see what happened, shall we:

Lombok. Oh. Sigh. This one irks me a little. I had an itinerary all planned out. And my work asked me to scrap the plans. I am not angry at my boss.. he did not have a choice anymore than I did. I am disappointed, though, at my fate. Lombok has been a destination on my list long before Bali made it.

Yosemite. This was a conscious elimination on my part. The cross-country road trip didn’t pan out. The moving company messed up my car shipment. I didn’t scrap the idea of a cross-country. I just changed the mode of transportation from a car to the train. A heck lot cheaper than renting a car for the entire trip, I must say. But in choosing the train, I was limited by time and route. While I said I want to go to the Yosemite Park, my heart wanted to go to the Glacier National Park. Anyone who has looked at the Amtrak map will know there are two destinations on the cross-country rail. Pacific Northwest. Or California. Glacier it was.

More on the latter trip in a later post.

I did, however, achieve my dream of going to Myanmar. It was easy and hard. I had already purchased the deeply discounted plane tickets through an advance sale in August 2010. $30, anyone? At that price, it was a gamble that I could afford loosing. But also with an actual plane ticket, it was easier to hold myself to the commitment.

More details of that trip:
Bagan
Mandalay
Nyaungshwe and Inle Lake
Photo slideshow

Fallen plans notwithstanding, I had a lot of plans that did happen. My celebratory year in review, take a look.

Let’s hope I’m better at carrying out my bucket list for 2012. What is it? Well, do I dare share? Maybe. Let me thinking about it. I honestly haven’t really planned that far yet. Any suggestions?