“Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.” – Matsuo Basho
Sometimes we just need to take a walk. Sometimes that walk just needs to be somewhere else. There are benefits to traveling to new places. It’s easy to vacation in the same place because it is familiar, but we spend most of our days in the familiar. Heading to the unfamiliar opens our minds to new experiences and people. Doing something outside of our circle helps us grow as people. While traveling somewhere new can be more exhausting than staying somewhere familiar, it is worth it.
When I visit somewhere new, my camera comes in handy. This way, I can capture photos of all the new places I have visited. One of my stops was Stornoway, Scotland, during our summer cruise around Europe. There were some great photo opportunities while we were there. Some of the landmarks we saw were far away. To get a closer shot, I used my camera with a 300 mm lens. I used that lens to capture shots of Lews Castle. Lews Castle is a Victorian-era castle near Stornoway on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis. Built between 1844 and 1851 for Sir James Matheson, it was designed by Glasgow architect Charles Wilson. The estate was later purchased by Lord Leverhulme, who gifted the castle to the people of Stornoway in 1923. During World War II, it housed naval air crews and later served as student accommodation. After years of disuse, the Category A listed building was restored and reopened as a museum and cultural center in 2016, with apartments opening in 2017. The photos show views around the castle and from the town itself.
