Weekly Photo Challenge: It’s All In Your Head

This week’s challenge is all about things you admire, so I decided on something a little less..conventional. Do not adjust your set; that is a real human brain, preserved in epoxy and currently on display at the Exploratorium. Take step back and consider all that a human brain does. Controlling your body’s functions, from the senses and sleep to memories and sheer, raw emotion. Keeping you breathing and balanced. Reading this sentence and processing the little squiggles into letters and words, and thus their meaning. A complex organic machine connected via trillions of synapses. For all the dangers out there, it’s allowed us to become the dominant species on the planet. We survive, thrive, create, accomplish, and it’s all because these little clumps of matter are developed just enough to make it happen. Yeah, it’s worth admiration. A larger version is viewable here.

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Weekly Photo Challenge: Makeup Wave

This week’s challenge calls for something abstract, and I remembered something I saw at recently at the Macy’s Flower show. This isn’t just some random flow of colors; it’s a rather cleverly-designed makeup display for Dior. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Montenegro Mirror

This week’s challenge is all about landscapes, which are some of my favorite things to photograph during my travels. This was especially true for the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, which is a serious contender for the most peaceful, serene place I’ve ever visited. Geographically speaking, this was the furthest I’d ever been from home. It’s still unspoiled by heavy tourism, but that’s not going to last once word gets out of how beautiful it is. Just look at that water! A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Above The Alps

This week’s challenge is all about inspiration from stories and lyrics, and I thought of “Learn To Fly” by the Foo Fighters, one of my all-time favorite songs. Particularly this:

Make my way back home when I learn to fly high
Make my way back home when I learn to…
…fly along with me, I can’t quite make it alone
Try to make this life my own

I took this shot during near the end of my flight from Barcelona to Munich, and I’m so glad I was able to get this amazing view. You can just see the curvature of the Earth’s horizon, all the snow-encrusted imperfections in its surface, and the moon looming in the distance. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Bay Of Kotor, Montenegro

This week’s challenge is all about one love, so I thought I’d skip ahead of my writing and share a photo that best portrays my love of travel. This is the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. It’s easily one of the most serene and peaceful places I’ve ever visited; its raw beauty hasn’t been spoiled by tourism yet. In geographical terms, this was the furthest I’ve ever been from home (even more so than Hong Kong), and I loved every moment of it. Exploring the world, learning new things and cultures, seeing faraway shores, finding places that are more beautiful than you thought possible… all with the wind and sun at your back. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Mediterranean Afterglow

This week’s challenge is all about harmony, and I instantly thought of my last day at sea. The cloudy skies, the colors, the chill of the open Mediterranean…it all came together for an unusual – but utterly gorgeous – moment in my adventure. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Renaissance Barcelona Rooftop Terrace

This week’s photo challenge is all about state of mind, so I thought I’d skip way ahead in my travel writing and give you a glimpse of my time in Spain. The Renaissance Barcelona Hotel has a stylish lookout point built into its 8th floor. It’s nice, quiet, and comfortable. If you’ve been walking around the city all day, this is the place to go; you can bring your dinner upstairs, relax on the beds, listen to the chill music (they were playing a remix of Diana Ross’s “Love Hangover” at the time), and get a decent view of downtown. That’s assuming, of course, that you’re a hotel guest; you need a room keycard to access the elevator. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Pompeii Forum

This week’s photo challenge is all about time, and there’s nothing that captures it quite like the city of Pompeii. It was famously destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (seen looming in the background) in 79 AD. It was completely wiped off the map, and it wasn’t until 1599 that traces of it were unearthed. It wasn’t properly rediscovered until 1748, and it’s been a major archaeological site ever since. Its preserved remnants – victims and their culture, forever frozen in time – are both beautiful and tragic. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Arriving At Villefranche

This week’s challenge calls for something vibrant, and I immediately flashed back to the waterfront in Villefranche-sur-Mer. It may not have been the most epic part of the trip, but it was the most colorful. A larger version is viewable here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Sun On Salerno, Italy

This week’s challenge is all about optimism, so I thought I’d skip slightly ahead of my travel log and give you a preview of what’s coming next. This is the city of Salerno, which is part of Italy’s world-famous Amalfi Coast. On the morning I took this, the sky was dull and overcast; I was worried our tour to Pompeii might be canceled due to bad weather, and started planning accordingly. After a little while, however, the sun broke through the clouds and illuminated the city like a spotlight. It grew brighter as the clouds drifted slowly – but inevitably – down the coast. Not all problems can fade away like that, but a little patience goes a long way. A larger version is viewable here.