Annapolis, Maryland: Summer 2024.

Aspen & Arches, Fall 2023.

Cuba, Summer 2023: Havana, Vinales, Varadero, Santa Maria del Mar. The first 6 portraits were taken by my very talented Cuban photographer friend, Alian Borroto Rodriguez. You can follow him on IG at Alian_lens. Cuba, ”the island of eye-contact because no one is looking at their phones” has such a rich, fascinating history of cultural pride and the people we met became instant friends. Similar to the way residents of the American Gulf Coast mark time with hurricanes, Cubans do so with the Revolution.

Italy, Christmas 2022: Florence, Rome, Naples, Positano.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado: Christmas 2021.

Barcelona, Mallorca, Paris: Summer 2022.

Japan, Summer 2019. Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamikochi & Matsumoto. Sadly, we missed Osaka, Hiroshima and Okinawa because of a typhoon. This trip was best summed up by the phrase: “It goes like that,” the Japanese version of “it is what it is.” While the American phrase sounds insouciant, the Japanese version is meant to be prophetic. Arigatogo simos (thank you so much)—always with a bow. And the beloved Fuji-san “she is a shy mountain.” We were on a boat all around her yet she was blanketed in clouds the entire time. We hiked through the Japanese Alps, visited Honda, Toyota and Nissan, learned to use a variety of Japanese weapons, cycled through Kyoto, paid respects at countless Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and hit every ramen shop possible. It was the most civilized, respectful, exquisitely peaceful place the boys and I have ever experienced. Returning to a busy American airport, 13-year old Leo lamented “Mom, I think I’m suffering culture shock from my own culture.”