Wonderland

It was impulse.
Booked my ticket. Departed a week later.

Bound for Central America with no plan and no ability to speak Spanish.

Assuming I’d get robbed for my digital equipment, I bought a $30 plastic film camera. Then I called every photographer friend I had and asked to “borrow” any forgotten film they still had lying around.

Free from the concerns of gadgets—batteries, chargers, hard drives—I discovered 'Wonderland'. Slow, selective shooting without second guessing. No time wasted reviewing. No flash, so no images at night. Which felt like a liberation, not a limitation. And wayward adventures under waterfalls without the fear or drama of having expensive equipment. This experience had me connected to myself, and wide-open to all that life had to offer.

I chanced fate with a sting ray; roasted marshmallows on molten lava; and I found a real-life a ninja-turtle in a Guatemalan jungle. I had a smiling stand-off with a shotgun-wielding security guard; cliff-jumped well-beyond my comforts; and scared myself senseless on a dare with a tarantula!

I met Jesus on a bus; superheroes in the streets; an albino man in a cage; and I made friends with "tour guides" who turned out to be people smugglers. Daring to dance beyond all of my comforts, personal and professional, this was the misadventure of a lifetime. A wild act of self-discovery. Still landing.