Travel: What It Means

Travel.

Over the past few years my travels have defined me in ways I could never expect.

I've begun to see my trips as markers along my path purely because of how much each trip has taught me -- how I changed after I studied abroad, how my perspective on solitude changed during my first real solo trip. It's taught me a different kind of self confidence, how to interact with strangers, how to be satisfied with solitude, how to be flexible, the list goes on. 

It's also taught me how to appreciate "home."

2015 was filled with Australia, Jordan, National Parks, and 17 European cities. To say the least, it was a whirlwind. When I came back, though, I made a different kind of New Years Resolution: "to grow deeper roots."

To me, that meant spending more time in New York City & deepening my roots in my faith, my relationships, my job, and my community.

It has been a beautiful year of exactly that: growing roots deep. After 8 months of limiting myself to a few domestic trips here and there, in 3 short days I embark on my first international trip of the year: Iceland. I feel that familiar sense of excitement tingling in my stomach, my wanderlust ready to burst out, my eyes already imagining incredible photographic shots, and more.

To add to the excitement even more, this trip is the first time I get to share my love for travel with my wonderful boyfriend, Caleb. We joked at the beginning of our relationship that there were different "versions" of ourselves - Party Caleb, Outdoorsy Caleb, California Amanda, Get Down to Business Amanda, and more. A beautiful part of our relationship has been discovering new sides of each other, and finally, finally...Travel Amanda gets to step into her element. And with that, I get to share an extremely important aspect of my life.

Travel on.

Fall Folliaging At Wright's Farm

I've lived on the East Coast for over 6 years now, but each time a season changes it feels like a new experience over again. What shocks me again and again is how fleeting each season is (except winter, because we all know winter lasts forever...). Last year I organized a group to go apple picking and by the time mid-October rolled around, most of the orchards accessible by Metro North were picked out (thanks, New York City). Determined to get full fall folliaging (yes, I'm making that a verb) and apple picking on this year, my dear friend Jamie & I decided to hop in a car this year and go out to an orchard far away from the reaches of those greedy apple-stealing city folk, which in reality is us too. We drove an hour and a half out to Wright's Farm in Gardiner, NY and found the perfect spot: 450 acres of trees, trees, trees! There was a cute farmer's market with perfectly fresh & doughy apple cider donuts, picnic tables scattered throughout the orchard, and the right amount of people enjoying a Saturday. We brought along a picnic of wine, meat, and cheese (complemented by a few apples, of course) and used a big blanket to keep all four of us warm under the table. We strolled through rows of apple trees at a leisurely place and everybody waited patiently while I snapped a bunch of photos to use for my next TPC project. All in all, it was quite the perfect fall day and a great opportunity to enjoy the fleeting season before winter traps us for the next 6 months. 

More details (as of October 2015):

• $12 / person for entry, comes with an apple picking bag that fits a peck's worth
• Market has a wide variety of pumpkins, squashes, ciders, baked goods, and hot food
• Apple cider donuts were only $0.75 / each and probably the best I've had yet on the East Coast. We did pass a place across the street that had a sign saying it was voted the best apple cider donuts, but we didn't get a chance to try them
• Well maintained & organized grounds although a few more signs on apple type would have helped!
• Not incredibly accessible by public transportation from NYC, but that was a benefit this time around! According to their website, you can take a 30 minute taxi from a train station nearby, though.

Same Sun, Shifting Perspectives: Cru Millennials Retreat

As a Californian, I've taken a lot of things in life for granted. If I could do my high school years all again, I would have marched the few blocks down the street to the beach every single day and soaked in as many blissful moments of sunshine as I could to negate the next 6+ years on the East Coast. One thing that didn't even occur to me, though, was that I would lose something very special: sunsets over the water. Believe it or not, a funny little thing called geography kind of gets in the way of that when you switch coasts. So despite a total lack of sleep during this past weekend's Cru Millennials Retreat, when I got Paul's blast at 1am saying a sunrise viewing on the beach was happening, I decided 4-5 hours of sleep was sufficient.

There are few things in this world that I will wake up early for, but the opportunity to experience a snippet of my old life, just differently, was well worth it. We lucked out with just the right amount of clouds, just the right amount of evolving colors, and just the right amount of awe & wonder to settle into our souls. The thing that I love about sunsets and sunrises is that in the span of less than an hour, you have the same sun, but shifting perspectives. As the minutes go by, the sky changes, your squinting needs to adapt, even how you view people begins to shift. And somehow, that's just the perfect way to encapsulate what the weekend retreat was like. 

Cru Millennials is an incredible ministry that seeks to create a community among young adult Christians in New York City. They have a huge heart for connecting wide and connecting deep, and I was lucky enough to hear about the annual beach retreat to Ocean Grove, NJ this year. With zero expectations beyond the promise of the ocean, I dove straight in, and found such beauty. From the lifting of shame to the necessary reliance on God's strength instead of our own, there were so many verses that were exactly the same, but was now viewed with a different perspective. As we broke out into smaller groups, it continued: seeing these same topics now through the eyes of others, learning from their wisdom, sharing my own. It never ceases to amaze me that even after 10+ years of being a Christian, I'm constantly learning to see through different lenses. But then again, I suppose that's just reflective of the infinite beauty of knowing God. 

Many thanks to all the staff & volunteers of Cru Millennials for making this weekend as beautiful, fun, relaxing, and welcoming as we all needed. And if you'd like to learn more or get connected, don't hesitate to reach out!

30 Snapshots: Kristin & Johnny's Wedding

Over the 4th of July weekend, I had the beautiful opportunity of being a "witness" in Johnny & Kristin's wedding. Throughout the festivities in New York, Kristin asked me if I could take some snapshots behind the scenes - candids to capture the fun spirit, spontaneous moments, and beautiful friendships that were there to celebrate this union. While the professional photography was done by the fantastic duo that is With Love & Embers (check out their engagement session of K&J here), I had so much fun riling up the other witnesses and family members to relax, have fun, and get weird. 

Question for all you photographers out there - what is your best method for digitizing film photography? I've tried taking photographs of the photographs with my DSLR before, but found that cumbersome. This time around, I tried using my HP F4400 scanner. The resolution of the Fujifilm itself is relatively low, but it almost seems that the scanner is making it worse. I welcome any tips or advice!