Traveling opens up the world

To leave home means seeing other homes.
It also means looking at your home from the outside.
Looking means finding but can also mean losing.
Like finding solace in solitude or losing faith in humanity.
There are so many facets to travel that some people never leave.
They are too afraid of what they might find.

I try not to be afraid and to keep my mind open.
I am privileged. I come from a privileged part of the world.
There is enough food, enough water, a roof over my head.
I am a woman and I take photographs of the world I see.
The light and the dark.

Lately it has become a challenge to see beauty without a 'but'.
There is not more virginity out there.
We have all become part of the global pull of gravity.
But there is always hope, always light.
The people in my photographs are the world's hope.
They smile when they have nothing to laugh about.
They open their armes to the stranger.
They dance and rejoice amidst despair.
And they share.
We share.

As a woman who travels I am grateful for the bonding looks,
the waving hands, the open hearts.
Thank you for letting me share.