Travel Update - May 2023 Arizona, LA, SF
Hey there.
If we haven’t met, my name is Nick and I’m currently traveling full-time. It’s kinda my thing right now.
Long story short, I have this deep-rooted fear that I’ll die in some freak accident, or the world will end before I get to do all the things I wanted to do. You never get your 20’s back either, ya know? So I decided to stay gone for the rest of the year and beyond.
Now I’m not sure I’ll be able to land in one place again, but that’s a separate conversation.
Anyway, this is travel update #1 featuring stories from Arizona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, plus some thoughts on mindset, productivity, and what drives me/us/you to create art.
Read on, reader.
Who are these for?
I’ve had a lot of really great conversations with some of my other new pals here in LA recently, my friend Hannah Bowers in particular, and it’s felt really good to start thinking more critically about whether it’s healthy to monetize our hobbies and free time like we tend to do.
I’m a photographer, musician, writer, and all sorts of other things too. I most definitely do not earn a living from any of it.
On the other hand, I’m starting to realize there may be more benefits than drawbacks to that. See Hannah’s recent talk on prioritizing experiences over productivity.
With that in mind, these blogs are more for me than for you.
As with much of my work lately, I’m focusing on loving the process and creating for myself.
That said, my intention is to use these as time capsules. What you take from this particular series is up to you, but my objective is very straightforward, and I’m curious to see how these will develop.
Without any further adieux-
Los Angeles
As I’m writing this, I’m much more concerned with the fact I have exactly 4 weeks remaining in LA (halfway through), and that my time here has flown by faster than I thought possible.
I’m doing a lot of bargaining at the moment with:
My bank account
My calendar
My mental well-being/sleep schedule
In an attempt to see everything I still have yet to explore.
I’m also stunned at how much I love this city.
There are drawbacks, and yeah- all the stereotypical ones you’ve heard.
But another thing I’ve been focused on is meeting people/places/things where they’re at. LA won’t stop being LA. No matter how much you hate sitting in traffic on the 405 or paying $25 for a drink.
Letting go of preconceptions- all too often misconceptions- is a very powerful mindset shift. This is something I have categorically proven to myself in the last few years by practicing open-mindedness and flexibility.
Demanding control over situations that will never be in your hands, is tiring and pointless. At best.
“Be like water” - Bruce Lee
So I’m in LA and loving it. More than expected. I’ve made lots of friends here, I love the coast, and I already know I’ll be back before I know it.
Next up- before my time here is done: DTLA, a little more time in Venice & Santa Monica, a quick visit w/ my sister, San Diego, and a couple more beach days. (pretty fucking busy to be honest)
Arizona
I almost forgot Arizona. Not because it wasn’t great or memorable or anything like that. It just feels like it was soooo long ago. I intentionally put it here, out of order, because this is where I remembered that I did in fact spend a week in the desert.
Just so we’re clear on the timeline:
Big move back from NC to Denver > Arizona for a week > LA for a month > San Francisco for a week > and now back in LA for another month
Arizona was great. I had a video concept in mind (that I think turned out really well), to introduce the whole shift from my usual stuff on YouTube to this more free-flowing, documentary/short film, not a vlog/kinda a vlog, storytelling thing.
I wanted to film it in the desert because:
I knew everything was going to be blooming and beautiful.
I knew I’d have a significant amount of downtime in AZ.
It felt right to create a transitional video, in a transitional time in my life where I was switching from ya know, living in a place with all my stuff to living in a stranger’s place out of a suitcase.
So I wanted to get this thing done, and I love how it turned out, but here’s the thing. I filmed that 6 weeks ago. I just finished editing it before writing this thing on May 2. So that’s 6 weeks of sort of piddling around with it half-edited and feeling like I was still falling behind.
Let’s be honest- I’ve had a lot of change this year. That’s uncomfortable and can be difficult to navigate at times. It’s also for sure a contributing factor in my recent lack of productivity alongside the other quandaries that have popped up.
I’m not going to dive into specifics, but let’s just say I’ve been in a tumultuous place. Mostly in the best way possible, but a tumultuous place nonetheless.
Let’s get one other thing straight- I’m as happy as I can remember being right now. And that started with some time in the desert making a piece of content that I’m very proud of and allowing that time to be a turning point, and the start of a new chapter in life.
San Francisco
I kinda feel like I either need to double my time everywhere I go or cut the number of things I plan to do in half. That’s true for LA as well by the way. And I gave myself 2 months here.
So my two big “see stuff” days turned out to be almost 50k steps combined. Not sure how much you trust an iPhone to track your steps, but I find it to be fairly accurate.
I honestly underestimated how big SF is and how much time I’d need to see everything. But that sure didn’t stop me from seeing most of what was on my list.
Maybe a month-ish stint in the Bay is necessary to really get some quality time in, but that’ll have to wait until next year.
Maybe February? March? You tell me.
A Brief Review of San Francisco
The Presidio was way cooler than I thought it’d be. So was the Ferry building. I still have yet to take a street car anywhere- just the regular metro/subway trains which I give a solid B-. Downtown had more to offer in terms of street photography than I expected. The Irish Bank was a great accidental find, and now I think more pubs should have alley seating.
Chinatown & Street Photography Manners
Chinatown was as amazing as I remember it being in 2021, but I felt a little more intrusive this time.
I’m not a particularly confrontational street photographer, but I’ve certainly gotten a lot more comfortable. Much, much more than I was two years ago. That’s for sure.
Also, how was that two years ago?
Anyway- I recognize that if someone was taking photos of me shopping for groceries at Trader Joe’s the way I was trying to capture scenes in some of the stores and markets, I probably wouldn’t appreciate it a whole lot.
It’s an interesting conversation that raises a lot of opinions.
You’re experiencing something foreign to you, of course it’s fair to be curious and even compelled to capture it. That said, your subjects are just going about their day. Buying food for the week. Our job as street photographers will always be to avoid making people uncomfortable by being predatory or exploitative.
You can push the envelope and get creative without upsetting anyone. If you disagree with that, I would love for you to tell me why so that I can understand where you’re coming from.
My philosophy- subject to change in the future: Trust your gut, create without exploiting, and remember: Bruce Gilden is really kind of a dick.
On a more serious note- this conversation makes me very curious about photographing in other countries going forward.
How will I work through language barriers, respect cultural differences, privacy, etc. while creating artwork which is reliant on subjects who have not consented to be the centerpiece of it?
Mindset, a Step Back, Productivity
As I hinted at previously, I’ve been taking it a little easier lately, which is uncomfortable for me. I’ve always been a go go go, workaholic type. It’s pretty unusual for me to not have multiple projects going, and self-imposed deadlines swirling around me like vultures.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still busy.
I’m just busy traveling. And that doesn’t feel quite as busy as… other kinds of busy?
I do have ongoing goals with my YouTube channel, Instagram presence, and here on the blog as well, but I haven’t been holding myself to them as much, and that means I haven’t been hitting them.
Allowing those things to temporarily fall through the cracks has afforded me the opportunity to tap into other parts of myself that are normally occupied with ticking boxes on a to-do list.
I do intend to ramp up my content output once I adjust fully to this new lifestyle, but I’m just kind of feeling it out right now.
Productivity is a very nebulous concept…
…due predmoninantly to the limited control we have over it.
There are things we can do to help drive achievement and output, but those things are inherently subjective. For me, it’s been a lot of trial and error, and what drives me has been prone to shifting and changing a lot lately.
What I do know, is that I need to be truly invested in what I’m working on in order for me to allocate any energy at all to it, and that’s quickly becoming harder to ignore. It’s been much more difficult to kickstart my productivity lately and just sort of force myself to sit down and work… so I’ve been saying fuck it!! a lot more.
I’m thoroughly uninterested in creating anything at all for the sake of online validation or engagement. I’m sort of rediscovering what makes me want to create, and trying to be more intuitive about the way I channel my energy.
Producing content etc. can always fall back into place in a more authentic way sometime in the near future. I’m still posting and releasing new videos, but just at a relaxed rate that’s comfortable for where I’m at.
So maybe go a little easier on yourself, and just get out there with your camera, paintbrush, etc. and spend time on something that makes you smile.
Wrapping Up
That’s it. Travel Blog #1.
I anticipate things will slow down for me a bit toward the middle of June and into July. If I get around to writing another one of these on time, we’ll likely be speaking soon about the PCH, Portland, Seattle, and how excited I am to finally make the trip up to BC in July.
Until next time.