A year ago I started a little project. I set out to take one picture a day for an entire year. The year happened to be a leap year, so my final product would result in 366 photos. On January 30th, 2012 I began this endeavor with a picture of a street near my home in Independence, Oregon where I was living with three friends and worked part time in a daycare. On January 29th, 2013 I took my 366th photo at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia while on vacation from teaching English in Thailand.
It’s crazy to see how far you can go in just one year. A year ago I had no idea that the following year I would be in Cambodia. It wasn’t even on my radar. In fact, if someone had told me I’d end this photo journey in Cambodia and I was in Southeast Asia because I was a teacher there, I would have outwardly laughed at them and been sure they’d confused me for a more adventurous individual. But that’s where I’ve ended up.
And in between I documented so many other unpredictable moments: Chelsea and I road-tripped to Idaho to see Kelly Clarkson in concert (shortly before I followed Chels to the other side of the world), I traveled to Scotland & Ireland with my dear friend Wendy, I contracted the stomach flu from my daycare children multiple times, I witnessed three beautiful weddings, I captured the beginning moments of blossoming love, I celebrated life of those passed on as well as life brought into this world, I saw Mumford & Sons in one of the best concerts of my life, I completed two organized races (despite considering myself to not be a runner), I drank & documented more cups of coffee than can be healthy for any one person, I said goodbye to old friends before greeting new ones, I moved home before moving across the globe, I became a teacher...in Thailand, I have traveled more than I ever thought I would, and I’ve experience more unique moments than I could have ever dreamt. And I must admit, I’m not sure I would’ve remembered or cherished all these moments had it not been for this photo a day project.
With that said, I encourage everyone to pick up a camera (or your iphone-- shout out to the 4s camera as 75% of my photos were taken on it) and discipline yourself into taking one photo a day for an entire year. You’d be surprised at how much life can occur in 365 (or 366) days.
P.s. while this is the end of my picture journey, it is not the end of this blog. I shall attempt to keep posting about my real Thai world, so no need to panic you faithful few readers.
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