Sunrise over the Atlantic

Today we traveled for over twelve hours straight.

Around 7am Portugal time (1am my brain time) I woke up on the plane to the most incredible sunrise I've ever seen. I can honestly say that I have never seen colors in nature this deep and vibrant with my own eyes. On camera it is easy to deepen the exposure to exaggerate nature's colors a bit, but there was absolutely no need here. My good cameras were in an overhead bin that was far from where I was sitting, so for about 20 minutes I was content taking snapshots with my point and shoot.

The longer I watched the sun come up the more I was itching to pull out my fisheye lens. Finally I sucked it up, monkey climbed over my mom and dad and went to the end of the airplane to get my good camera.





Since we were flying at 500 miles an hour towards the sunrise, it went by really quickly. Here is our first view of the coast:



It is obvious from the air that this city is going to be absolutely adorable.

Traveler

My mom loves quotes and she shared this one with me yesterday:

"Own only what you can carry with you; Let your memory be your travel bag." - Alexander Solzhenitsyn

We are officially leaving the house in less than an hour, but somehow we made time get a photo of her that is inspired by this quote.



Wish us luck on our flights today!

-Claire

Packed: Trip of a Lifetime

Tomorrow I leave for a six week excursion to Europe! I have never been to Europe, and haven't left the country in over 6 years, so I am crazy excited! Friends keep suggesting that I start a blog, so this seems like the perfect time for it.

My parents and I are traveling together in Portugal and Spain for two weeks. At that point my dad will go home and my mom and I will tour Italy. Then I will get to travel on my own to Iceland and London. Organizing and preparing has taken weeks, so I am so stoked to finally be "ready."

After a lot of fussing and shopping I decided to get a large hiking backpack. Loaded with six weeks worth of clothing, supplies, toiletries, etc. it weighs only 25 pounds! I put my 35 pounds of camera equipment into a small rolling suitcase to take as a carry on, so I don't have to have 60+ pounds on my back while I travel.

I am officially packed now, so my mom demanded that I let her do a portrait of me with my pack before we leave. I think she did a great job of capturing my epic preparedness.


I have to go finish getting ready for tomorrow. Thanks for reading!
-Claire