Grand Opening!

It’s been a long time coming, but at last I have opened up an online shop to sell my photos!  Check it out: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnOutOfTheWayPlace

The banner for my new shop!

I’ve always sold my photography to anyone who would ask, but I know modern shopping is all about convenience and I hope having an Etsy shop will encourage you all to buy your favorite photo!

As listing items for sale costs money, I’ve decided to start my shop off small.  I’ve always received positive feedback on my mountain photos so for the initial offering I’ve put up eight of my favorite images of mountains captured from around the globe.  That said if there’s an image you love and want to buy just drop me a note and I can set up a custom Etsy listing or sell to you directly.

One of the eight photos I chose for my grand opening!

That said go and shop!  I’ve opened just in time for Christmas and hope you’ll all find an image you love.  Thanks again for all the support over the years.  This shop is just one of several improvements that you should see over the next few months so keep an eye out!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/AnOutOfTheWayPlace

Portugal: Sun, Sea and Sand

The persistent clouds and high prices of Paris were beginning to wear on me.  As spectacular as my time in Paris had been, my own loneliness was combining with the grey Parisian days to form a toxic combination.  Rather than turn to antidepressants, I decided to turn to the natural cure for melancholy and go in search of sun, sea and sand (and perhaps some human warmth as well).

Lagos is a small city with big sunsets.

All of these desires led me to Portugal.  It’s not a country I know well actually and if western Europe has

Loneliness

Wow, now there’s an unhappy title for a post, but fear not dear readers, this is not some self-pitying cry for attention.  I’ve never wanted to add to the impressive pile of negative information generally known as the news and have no intention of starting now.  That said, I’m often asked what is the greatest challenge a life constantly on the road presents.  For me the answer is simple: loneliness.

Views like this were made to be shared.

That’s not to say there haven’t been other challenges, some of the physical challenges were very intense, a couple

Nuit Blanche

Paris, the city of lights! Who would of thought it could be such a quiet place?  I’m not saying it’s quiet compared to a Swiss mountain village, but for a large metropolis the nights in Paris are surprisingly calm.  I’m currently living in the Parisian equivalent of Soho, known as le Marias, but even here the busy streets begin to empty around 11 and by 2 in the morning there’s hardly a whisper.

This is all a bit of a shock to my New York system, so I was relieved last weekend when I found out that I was in Paris for the Nuit Blanche or White Night.  On this night, which happens only once a year, the city comes alive for the entire night with artists and galleries displaying some of their finest works throughout the city.

My neighborhood cathedral dressed for the Nuit Blanche.

It’s a shame the event only lasted one night, because the truth is there is no way to take in anything but a small sample of all the night has to offer.  Even wandering the city till 4am, I only had a small taste of the art exhibitions that filled everything from ancient churches to city plazas.  There were films, paintings and installations that are frankly hard to even describe.  To get a more rounded picture of this amazing evening check out some of the highlights online here.

Paris remains something of a mystery to me.  Unlike New York, Vienna or Rome, it’s people and streets remain somewhat alien and I feel very much a stranger in a strange land here.  Even so, as with a new romance, there’s a thrill in the chase, in finding out new secrets and in seeing just how far the relationship will go.

One more side of Paris…

Mine was the twilight and the morning.

Mine was a world of rooftops and love songs.

 ― Roman Payne, “Rooftop Soliloquy”

A New Season Begins

At last it’s time for the next season of An Out of the Way Place’s travel to begin!  Sorry to have the last season of posts end so abruptly, but alas yours truly had the false belief that not only could he balance the demands of interstate travel with writing, but also the demands of long absent friends and family.  As my long break from writing should make perfectly clear, that was not the case.

A small taste of American culture.

The good news is that not only have I returned to international travel, but