I wiggled a two week gap in between photographing weddings in the UK in the summer of 2018, so naturally I took the opportunity to travel. Jimmy and I chose Tunisia because it was affordable and we knew very little about it. We like to throw ourselves into the proverbial deep end let’s say. We spent our time travelling from Tunis to the Sahara in the south, to the warm Mediterranean waters of the Kerkennah Islands. We met one other western traveller the entire two weeks and plenty of welcoming locals!
The leg home from travelling never ceases to spur me into writing down some feelings. They’re usually scribbled sideways and contain only fragments of anything remotely resembling meaning but I’ll let you be the judge; how I felt after 14 days in Tunisia:
I often contemplate in the morning, fresh day offers the most possibility.
Why do I travel to distant places?
What do I search for?
I lack much understanding of the world and am concerned about wearing down my shoes along the same road.
To understand others’ differences is to understand ones’ own difference.
We often comment on how lucky we are; to be born into wealth and love in a time of peace, to me, surpasses the scale of Everest. I travel to be reminded of this.
And too often I become complacent, to take things for granted, to coast when I should be running. I travel to be reminded of the opportunities I have.
Sometimes I am angry at the world, when really I am angry at myself.
Bitterly, I’ve learnt that I cannot save the world, I can only save myself, and in trying to do so, I can help give others the strength to do the same.