“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
One of my favorite things to do while I travel is explore. I love driving to random places and hiking in random places with the goal of finding somewhere new. It might not be new to the rest of the world, but it is new to me. I love finding new places. I have been exploring my hometown of Charlotte, N.C. since the beginning of the pandemic. I have lived here for years, and there were so many amazing places that I had not seen before. I had mostly seen them on TV. It is a different experience to see and capture a beautiful place with your own camera. For me, the images I capture I use to remember what it was like to find this amazing scene. Some of my favorite photographs are taken of places that I found accidentally. Some of these places I have revisited again, but most of them I have only been to once. I try to make it my goal when I visit to try and explore where I am at least once.
I took these photos earlier this summer when the family and I went camping at Jellystone Park in Golden Valley, North Carolina. We spent most of our days chilling at the lake, fishing, and grilling some great food. On our last day there I finished getting our camper ready early. I took advantage of the extra time by grabbing my camera, tripod, and heading up the stream that runs through the park. I am not entirely sure if I stayed in the property the entire time, but I enjoyed being out in nature. From these photos I just remember how peaceful it was. All I could hear was the water rushing down the stream. It sounded like one of the relaxing nature tracks that some people use to help them sleep.
Here are some other posts I have made about times I found great places while exploring.
Through Griffin's Lens 