Yesterday was my 29th birthday. I don't feel remotely close to 30, though sometimes I do feel a slight maturity and increase in empathy with each year that passes. Truth be told, I'm not a particularly serious or mature person in general. One thing I am, is highly observational. I think running around with cameras is what I was made for. I never really considered the possibility that there might be some sort of purpose for me out there in the world until recently. Where most people somewhat know what they want to do from a young age: painting, playing instruments, sciences that lead to a career as a doctor. I just never truly knew what I wanted to do, and even now, sometimes I still question just what I am doing and where I am going. But I sit back, I take a look from afar and consider what I believe really matters: the present. That constant motion from one place to another. The endless thirst for all things new. Birthdays have never really been something I have given much thought to. This is the first birthday I have ever had in which I truly felt content. The realisation that I was actually doing what I wanted.
These past six months of travelling were meant to be a simple two weeks in Turkey. I'm now in my third country, Georgia. I look back and think of what may have happened had I boarded that return flight back to England, and it genuinely horrifies me that I would've missed out on all these life experiences. I was always an introvert, afraid of social interaction and often spending stupid amounts of time just doing nothing on my own inside, letting the time pass. They say travel broadens the might, but I think my mind was already shaped for this. All anxiety I previously had is gone. I have no assumption of what was once depression. I now yearn for a camera in my grasp, a new place within my view. One step in front of the other, seeking out new interactions with people, and witnessing the true beauty of the world. Weirdly, I feel I adapt to these changes within an instant. I don't miss the 'first world' lifestyle. I don't miss the perfectly paved roads or the modernist housing developments that coated the landscape. Not once have I missed the lifestyle I had back in my bedroom.
As I type this, I sit in a living room on a farm in Akhalkalaki, Georgia. Snow is all around, but the intense heat punches into the Earth and bounces back up. It's warm, yet apparently it is 1°C. It's quiet here. I sometimes hear the sounds of cows, and that's it. A softened light enters the room through a mixture of Armenian and Georgian influenced drapes. All I have with me is a few items of clothing, two cameras, a camera gimbal, and my laptop (as well as the collection of cables and batteries they all rely on). All of which fit into one backpack. I don't own a lot of things, but again, I feel I was born for this more simplistic lifestyle. I don't need a lot to be happy, it seems. And I felt this more than ever yesterday, the feeling of turning 29 not bothering me at all. Instead, I chose to walk up the mountain behind the village, do some photography, and then sit on a rock that overlooked the village and nearby mountains. This village is split into two areas, for the most part. Which holds a huge flat area of farmland in the middle. Homes are a mixture of traditionally old village homes, and some slightly modernised (more so expanded upon) homes from the Soviet era.
Up on the mountain is a stream in which the locals rely on for water. It's drinkable, and surprisingly good. A collection of rocks took the water in different directions to slow it down towards the village, little pools and turns here and there that had frozen over or remained in motion. You could see the pockets of air beneath the ice as water would run beneath it. I found myself sticking to this stream for the most part, looking around for photography subjects with the forest on one side, and the village at the bottom of the mountain on the other. This rocky landscape was home to a lot of spiders, little things that would scatter around with the movements of rocks as I would place my footing. I'm not too bothered about spiders, I was more concerned of the possibility of snakes that could be lurking in the crevices of the rocks. Nature here in this time of year seems to be mostly birds, four-legged friends in the form of deer and wolves. I was on my own up this trip on the mountain, but the excitement of really doing something kept pressing me upward.
The rocks in this area have an interesting set of colour to them. It's as if on one side they're swallowed up by the growth of moss where the snow perhaps doesn't reach and last with the sunlight, and another side where the rocks held a strong mixture of brown and orange, as if to give the appearance of having been scorched by the sunlight over decades of seasons. It was a really beautiful environment that seemed truly natural, with little influence by mankind. I'm really not used to such environments, where back home in England development is rampant even in the villages, where the landscape is mostly flat. I would kneel down and notice the smaller aspects of life here. The growths of plants popping up out of the snow, the formations of ice by the stream of water, the blends of colours that were contained within such a small space. I was using a Sony A6000 with a 35mm F1.8 lens, I could barely see the screen with how bright the sunlight was. At times I felt a little limited by what I wanted to capture with this focal length, where the contrast in views within a tight space was something I wanted to capture fully. The trees in the background, the rocks in the foreground, and the stream that ran through.
Here in this area of Georgia, it was once Armenia. The people that live here consider themselves Armenian. They're very much Christian, very much devoted to the Armenian lifestyle still despite the Georgian influence in recent years. In a way, it is like I never left Armenia. I hear Armenian, and not a single word of Georgian. Homes are still decorated in a mixture of Armenian and Georgian influence, though reminders of their backgrounds are still present. To look down at the village from the mountain was an interesting feeling. Sitting on that rock, I thought of whether the people here felt a change in their lives with the way things are heading. In some aspects, it's like there is nothing else happening outside of this space. That this is their entire world. I have some admiration for this mentality. To close off and focus on those who are around you, reliant on your farmland's production. The elements of community that are otherwise lost elsewhere.
Perhaps this was in the back of my mind all along, and what encouraged me to look down at my feet during this little hike. To focus on the small details and little worlds that were right there to be captured. Huge structures of ice in pools of water, rocks that swallowed up the Earth beneath and seemingly never ended. The craters in the snow that surrounded the stream that were impacts from larger animals that had made their way over to drink from the water. Turning 29, it's more a reminder that I'm just another piece of it all. Time passes, the water runs down from the mountain to the village. But that's fine.
I'm curious about most of the people you know as most of the people I know didn't know what they wanted to be when they grew up and are simultaneously surprised and not about where they've ended up XD
I'm a little bit older than you
Happy birthiversary for your birthday and glad you got to do something you enjoy doing :D
I feel like most people have something figured out, at least. Somewhat of a direction. Like a childhood passion that encourages them forward into education or something. I never did go to university, and it took me until I think 25/26 until I went to college (which in England comes before uni).
Though perhaps that was mostly academics and environment just making younger me completely uninterested.
When I turned 29, I just started working on my first 'serious' filmmaking attempt ( after having quit my umptieth soul crushing job ). I shared the result ( Zeespiegel ), here on Hive, 6 years ago or so. It definitely wasn't my first film project but the first that I seriously went for and actually finished ( aside from one short film created in 2002/2003 ( aged 21 ) and a bunch of unfinished attempts and experiments that were never witnessed by the world or have been lost forever.
Sounds like an inspiring place for sure! P.S. Are snakes even active with this type of ( cold ) weather?
And - talking about apex predators - are there bears too or 'just' wolves?
I don't know about bears, I should probably ask before venturing out on my own like that, haha. But based on this environment, there may actually be some. It's very mountainous and certainly dense in forestry. Especially in the horizon where I can just see endless rows of mountain peaks.
In a way that excites me a bit more, to know there's more nature around. I wish I had my 85mm lens or perhaps something a bit more telephoto for capturing the nature here though. 35mm is just a bit too wide.
I remember your film uploads, by the way ;^)
Have you ever considered getting a camera and at least getting into the photography side of things? I think with where you tend to roam around, it'd be a really therapeutic hobby to have for you. I know for me it's an essential aspect of my life now. I feel off if I don't get out with the cameras after a few days.
By now, I know that this is how you roll, haha!
Thinking about it, I feel kind of tempted. Might be a nice thing to buy, with some crypto profits, in the near future. I sold my Canon 7D ( that I mainly used for filmmaking ) back in 2017, after having bought a Go Pro Hero Black ( a li'l device that I hardly used and started malfunctioning, early on ). I had forgotten that I still have it, it's collecting dust somewhere. But yeah, a DSLR or something along those lines might be nice, although I am not necessarily looking forward to photo editing/ the digital/ on the computer side of it. I would probably skip that part, knowing how I work. I like the idea of not using my phone for everything though and going back to using quality machines with basically one function ( camera for photography, walkman for music, phone for calling and texting, etc ).
Cheers for sparking these ideas!
You wouldn't really need to do a lot of editing if the lighting is good and the settings are set nicely for the environment. I know what you mean though, I don't really like the editing side either. If I do edit I tend to make very quick changes. It's one of the main reasons I prefer shooting film over digital, but that's not much of an option in this part of the world. Film's still pretty expensive, and definitely difficult to find.
Look into maybe getting a used Sony, it'll be about $500 if you get an APS-C model. The pictures I've been sharing have been with a Sony A6000, the quality is definitely good for the price. Lenses on APS-C are also a lot more affordable. You can get the 50mm for about $150 these days.
I believe full frame Sony lenses also work with the APS-C models, you just have to crop the sensor to fit the lens, which then just makes the lens basically double in focal length at a slight reduction in quality. That might also be an option if one day you want to just get a full frame Sony A7 III or something.
Though with how crypto is doing, perhaps you may not feel the guilt of splashing out on a brand new full frame. :^)
Let me know on Discord if you wanna get some help on choosing a body and lens(es).
Great photos! Long-term travel truly is a life-changing experience, it's true freedom. I'm introvert and social interactions, especially in large groups, usually drain me, but when travelling, I have a lot of energy. I've spent amazing birthdays couchsurfing in Paraguay and hitchhiking through Australia, overwhelmed by the kindness I experienced from random strangers.
Happy Birthday!!!
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Great write-up. We're in the same boat, except I'm nearing 36. Body and mind are still in the 20's, which feels great. Yeah, starting to get random pains here and there, but... Feels good to know there are others like myself out there.
Passing by to wish you a Happy Birthday.
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