Absorb

I went for my first walk of the week. I wasn’t expecting anything special, but when I looked out across the creek, I saw these ducks relaxing on the water. I hung out with them for a bit and took a few pictures, but my session with them ended early when I ran out of memory on my SD card. I only have the one, and I figured that’s a good enough reason to invest in another one. I like how much easier it is for me to leave the house than it had been before. One of my goals had been to expand my walls beyond the physical ones of my home, and I think I’m succeeding. It’s a slow journey.

For the past few years, I’ve been following Craig Mod, a writer, photographer, and walker based in Japan. What attracted me to him was how he was living the type of life I wanted to live. He would walk hundreds of miles across Japan, take beautiful photographs, and later write about his journey. He would talk to people and learn about the land and eat new food and otherwise absorb the world in a way I wanted to do, too. Last year, he wrote this essay about his quest for pizza toast that has stuck with me since I read it. I’ve had this crazy dream to walk across America and do something similar to what Craig does, but I don’t know if I have what it takes. But there’s something about walking, photography, and writing that appeals to me so much. I wonder if I’ll ever get to do a long walk like he has done, something in the 500-1,000 mile range. Maybe one day.