This time last year I wrote that 2021 had been a gradual return to normality, but certainly hadn't been normal. What's remarkable about 2022 is how quickly Covid has faded away as an issue, certainly one that I spend any time worrying about. I travelled to Berlin for a few days in Easter, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand for a wonderful four week summer break in August (leaving the continent for the first time since my trip to Peru, Bolivia and Chile in 2019), and Poland in October to visit a friend. Here are some of my favourite images from my year of travel.
Dresden was a nice town to briefly visit on the way to Bad Schandau. I shot the first shot walking back over the bridge over the Elbe after visiting the impressive Museum of Military History. The second, third and fourth shots were all taken on a day I had to myself in Berlin. I'm increasingly drawn to black and white, and the third shot - of the Berliner Fernsehturm - is probably my favourite of the year (I have another version in portrait that I also like).
Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand in the summer of 2022 was fantastic - just the break I needed and wanted, with amazing beaches, beautiful weather and delicious food. The first shot was taken from our dinner table overlooking a beach on the wonderful island of Palau Redang. The others are all from weird and wonderful Singapore. The Gardens by the Bay are a photogenic and frankly bizarre experience, with a light show set to classical music. Then there's the iconic Marina Bay Sands, and the even more fantastic Jewel shopping centre at Singapore Changi Airport. The final shot - inspired by Elia Locardi's videos - is taken near the Helix Bridge on the other side of the Marina Bay Sands hotel to the first.
I didn't have my DSLR or lenses with me in Poznan, but was really pleased with the collection of photos I took with my phone. This is one of the simplest, an obvious composition in black and white, but I like it.
2023 promises more travel than I've done since 2018 and 2019 - with a possible trip to Kerala at Easter, a more likely trip to Ecuador and Colombia in the summer, a definite (work) trip to Japan in October and hopefully something at Christmas 2023 too. We'll see!
Future me: OK so this didn't happen. The Kerala trip at Easter was always a tad ambitious and the 'definite' work trip to Japan in October got cancelled. I still had\have some exciting trips planned though - Ecuador and Colombia for four weeks in the summer, work trips to the battlefields of Belgium and France and Pompeii, a winter trip to Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest, and a February half term mini-break to Trieste, Ljubljana and Zagreb. So a summer of South America followed by a year of European adventure!