About the media. Part 2.

So when I was talking about the article in Pop Photo, I didn't mention the coolest part of the article.

After they finished profiling the three photographers, there was a page called What You Can Do. That page is basically something I took as a sign. On that page of the article, they were talking about the process of volunteering your photography to help out these non-profit organizations with promo shots and just showing exactly what they're doing for the people in various villages they're working in. That page was when things really clicked for me.

I'm a weird tourist. I don't really have much interest in touristy things but I love traveling and exploring new places without any real plan of what I'm going to see and without much knowledge of what I'm getting myself into. That was really evident in my trip around Europe where I was like 'Hmm, this place sounds fun. Let's go check it out.' and next thing you know, I'm on a train there.

I decided a long time ago that I didn't want to go to all the tourist resorts if I ever went to Asia. I wanted to see the real Asian life. Sure, if you're in Tokyo or Hong Kong or anywhere else like that, it'll be very Americanized. But if you go out to Cambodia or Nepal or Mongolia, you're in for a bit of culture shock. And that's what I want. I read an article once about the difference between traveler and tourist and there was a sentence which was something like 'If you're going to another culture, immerse yourself in their culture instead of bringing as much of your own as you can.' And what better way to do that then to go join them in their own villages?

So I decided one of the safest ways to do that was to volunteer with these organizations. They'll send you out to real life in whatever country you sign up for instead of sending you to see the sights all the travel books tell you to check out. That's how I've decided to spend my time in southeast Asia. I'll volunteer somewhere for a few months working with the project, taking pictures to chronicle it all and then head somewhere else to do it again. I can't really come up with a more meaningful way to trek around than that. And on a practical note, my lack of knowledge in foreign languages won't be as much of an issue since the volunteers there can speak English.

This trip is beginning to get more and more exciting by the day. 23 days until I catch my flight to Auckland. And I can't wait to get started.