Guest post by @driftingfocus

One of the reasons I have been fascinated by photography from a young age is that when I see a photograph I’ve taken, it allows me to relive the moment in which I took the photo. When I look back through my photographs of distant lands, it’s like getting a free plane ticket. In this post I’ve put together five photos from my travels, along with what was going through my head around the time the photo was taken. Enjoy!

A converted barn in a small village near Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland:

It’s almost as cold inside as it is outside due to the stone walls and floor. I’m in Switzerland, but I’m sitting alone inside, staring at the blaze orange metal piping that my bunk bed is made of, while bugs ram themselves against the window panes, drawn to the decidedly unnatural, flickering glow of the fluorescent light above me. I’m the only one staying here, and I haven’t spoken English in four or five days. I get up and walk outside. There are stars everywhere. In the distance I can hear the quiet clanging of cowbells around the necks of innumerable dairy cows in the fields. I walk barefoot across the grass and the cold dampness numbs my feet almost immediately. I turn around and see, in the distance, the Staubbach Falls, the tallest waterfall in Switzerland, lit up against the darkness, wisps of mist trailing off into the shadows. The light from the open door cuts a path across the grass, and I sit down, staring up at the mountains, their ridge lines silhouetted in the moonlight.

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A street in Liege, Belgium:

I got mugged last night. My laptop was stolen, and I’m feeling decidedly shaken as I wander around the neighborhood today. I can’t wait to leave this country – I have bad associations with it now and I need to get out of here. As I’m walking, I see what seems to be a small alleyway, and when I look down it, I realize it’s the entrance to a family’s courtyard. The orange plaster walls reflect a warm, inviting light. The children’s bikes left unlocked project an innocence I feel was taken from me. I can’t go in, but looking in on this little milieu makes me feel better for the moment.

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Gagye Beach on Jindo Island, South Korea:

I can’t believe that I’m living this life. Two days a week I get off work at 1pm and within 15 minutes, I can be here at this beach, swimming. The water isn’t the clearest, but it’s better than the Atlantic! I love coming to this beach, even if I don’t swim, just to feel the sand and water around my feet and to revel in the fact that I live somewhere like this. There’s a school group here from Mokpo, and while they say they’re jealous that I get to live here, I also notice a bit of mockery for living in such a “hick town” (as I’d say in English). I miss home, but standing here on this beach, listening to the waves, knowing that I have a good salary, the freedom of a motorcycle, and beauty like this surrounding me, I’m glad to be here.

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The old town area of Quebec City, Canada:

Okay, come on lady. It’s cold and this maple syrup is starting to freeze around my teeth. I gave you my camera to take a picture of me because you said you knew how to work “one of those cameras”, but you’re quickly proving yourself to be a liar. Click the damn shutter already, the syrup is gluing the stick to my gloves.

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Rice paddy on Jindo Island, South Korea:

It’s my first full day here on Jindo, and it feels like I’ve been plopped down into a documentary. The town seems bigger than I expected, but also smaller – I didn’t expect to see people planting rice by hand, much less to see them doing so only a few hundred yards from my apartment. I’ve traveled a lot in my life, but this is the first time that I really feel like I’m on the other side of the world.

About Kelsey Freeman

Kelsey is something of a nomadic jack-of-all-trades. After having moved 28 times in 8 years, she’s currently living near Washington DC. She works odd jobs as well as being a graphic designer, web designer, photographer, and writer.

She is also a former professional tall ship sailor, she’s working on her private pilot’s license, and she rides a vintage Russian sidecar motorcycle. She is an avid historical reenactor and travels frequently within the east coast to attend events. Photography is her true calling though and she is passionate about exposing people to cultures, places, and people they might otherwise never know about.

She loves to travel and used to live on a small, rural island in South Korea. Her favourite country is Switzerland, she’s currently planning a journalism expedition to Mongolia, and she once spent a year living out of her truck, couchsurfing around the USA and Canada!