Until We Meet Again

Dear Readers,

It has been a long time since I’ve last posted and not without reason.  There are countless blogs which documents the inner workings of their authors, that give you a brief peak inside the soul of another to let you see all the beauty and horror that is a human, but this is not one of those blogs.  I set out to create a blog that would inspire, bringing joy and beauty to those who stumbled upon my little out of the way place.  For that reason I have always spared you that inner turmoil that has been as important an element of my life, as it is a part of nearly every other.

And I will spare you that turmoil here as well!  Let it suffice to say that the last year has been an intense one.  I have both lost and gained much.  Yet for you, my audience, the thing of most relevance is that I have lost the desire to blog.  I thought it might be a temporary thing, some symptom of discontent or malaise that would soon pass.  I know now that it is much more.

No, my travels have not reached their end.  Today I board a plane for East Asia with a one way ticket.  It may be the last stop in my journey, or it may only be the next of many more to follow.  Whatever the case may be, it will be very different for I no longer go out looking for another adventure, but rather to find a place to rest my head and call home.  It will be a different kind of journey and one I have decided I’d rather make privately.

I won’t say I will never return to blogging.  In fact, if I have learned anything of value these last four year it is that I know much less than I previously thought.  I know less than I would like about the world and less than I would like to know about myself.  I am even more woefully unqualified to claim to understand someone else.  Yet, perhaps in this awareness I have at least found a sense of humility.  For this reason, if none other, I can say that perhaps in a month I will return to writing, but perhaps I won’t.

Despite the sadness I feel while writing this, there is still much to be happy for.  I recently received an offer for work as a regular travel writer, perhaps as happy an ending a travel blogger can ever hope to achieve.  I have also recently experienced more success as a photographer.  These two things mean that for the first time I can see a future where I am truly self-sufficient, and while material success is not the bar by which I measure my own or this blog’s success, it is nice to have some outside confirmation that concrete progress has been made.

I thank you all for taking this journey with me and for those of you that wish to do so, I hope you’ll stay in touch.  I like to think of this as a goodbye to my blog, not a goodbye to the many people here I care about.  I would challenge all of you to come find me.  The world still has a lot to offer and I would like nothing more than to discover it together with you.

Tomorrow I will wake up surrounded by new places and new people.  Yet it’s the same world.  A world I still dream about reaching out and changing.  Like most dreams, it may be forever out of reach, but I hope that will never keep me, or any of us, from continuing the chase.

With Love Everlasting,

Jason Nathaniel

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

May our paths cross again someday

Patterns

Maybe it’s just I’m just so uncoordinated I need to always be looking at my feet when I walk, but I always seem to find beautiful things right beneath my feet.   I was out enjoying the frigid cold and impressive wind chill when I noticed these patterns in the snow drifts under my skis.

I walked over this patch of snow right after the photo. This is the only record it was ever there.

My first thoughts of becoming a photographer were

Winter Calm

I mentioned change in my last post and a number of readers have asked if that meant my travels were at an end.  The good news (at least I hope it’s good) is that no, I’m not finished traveling.  Even so, I was serious when I said change was coming…

In the last scene of Pulp Fiction Jules, played by Samuel Jackson, tells Vincent that he’s had enough of being a gangster and wants to go wander the Earth and see the world.  Vincent replies that there’s a word for that already: “It’s called being  bum.”  While I hate to think of myself in those terms, the truth is that I have relied heavily on the generosity of my friends and strangers these last few years.

The first fruit of my winter studies.

While I’ve gained more than I know how to put into words from the experience, I’ve decided it’s time to see if I can’t become a bit more self-reliant.  To that end I’ve taken a little pause from the more extreme world wandering and settled into the hills of upstate New York for the winter.  While the location could hardly be more relaxing, I’m not here for a vacation (after all what could I take a vacation from?) but rather to focus on my photography, writing and the other humble means by which I hope to establish a sustainable living.

While all this may mean a few less stories of my risking my life for a spectacular picture over the next few months, it certainly won’t mean a shortage of photos to share.  I’ve gathered quite the collection over the last four years and it’s essentially a senseless jumble which I’ve slowly begun to wade through.  I’m also taking this time to work on some of the more technical aspects of my art and I hope I’ll have some nice results to share soon.  Finally the local scenery is none to shabby either so I promise to do my best to keep everyone satisfied with the best images I can capture.

I don’t have to go far to find amazing scenery.

Thank you all again for the years of support.  For those of you interested in helping me turn this journey into a career, it’s as easy as sharing my Etsy page with someone who might be interested or purchasing a photo yourself.  If budget is a concern you can always help by following my blog, or forwarding it to someone else who might enjoy it.  An Out of the Way Place is nearing its 1,000th follower and with your help it could happen any day now!

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant:

if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,

prosperity would not be so welcome.”

Anne Bradstreet

Giving Thanks

Every Thanksgiving, in addition to taking stock and feeling a general gratefulness for my life, I try to focus on one particular aspect of my life to be thankful for.  This isn’t always an easy choice to make, because the truth is I live a life full of blessings, even so this year, I feel I have a clear choice.

It was a peaceful walk, but disaster wan’t far away.

A little over a year ago I completed the Tour du Mt. Blanc (here’s the old post) with a close friend of mine.  Midway through the trip

Guest Post: How my life is different when I travel…and why it shouldn’t be

This week we have a very special guest post from one of the most amazing people I’ve had the please to meet in my travels: Elise Wach.  One of those rare individuals who not only travels the world, but makes it a better place as she does so, Elise works with the Institute of Development Studies and focuses on change processes at the policy, organizational, and individual levels.  Enjoy some of her thoughts on traveling!

How my life is different when I travel…and why it shouldn’t be

I travel a lot.  I got the travel bug when I was 18 and I haven’t stopped.  I’ve worked professionally in more than 15 countries, and I don’t even know how many I’ve visited for fun.

All of these impressive photos were take by Elise.

I was recently in Ethiopia and found myself thinking, ‘I really like this place, I could definitely see myself happily living here.’  The people are friendly, it’s safe, the sun shines, the food is amazing and