In #Mongolia at the October Eagle Festival in the far west of the country, in the Altai Mountains in 2016, I was surprised and delighted to see a local gentleman with his camels, all three of them smiling for a camera. Posing with his hand held up high over the camels head reminded me of every sassy kid I ever knew in school. I still smile every time I look at this photo. I hope you do too. This is cropped on left by Instagram, check out my FB pg for correct crop It was a long trek to get there from New York, half way around the world and then some, but well worth the effort. I flew alone with two small carry on bags to Beijing on a 32 hour flight from NY, then slept for a day and a half in a 5 star hostel in Beijing. Figured out how to buy a Chinese/Mongolian train ticket and then took a sleeper train nearly 1000 miles through the Gobi desert to #Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of #Mongolia. I met up with #KevinPepper, and a small group of photographers in UB, and after a couple days shooting in UB, Kev got us the 800 miles to the west by airplane, something I just couldn’t figure out how to do from home no matter how I tried. I think a Mongolian or Chinese travel agency is the only way to book the airfare. When we arrived in Bayan Ulgii, Kev prepared us for the festival, with an afternoon photographing eagles and their owners as they practiced their competition skills, so we would know a little better how to deal with the real thing the next day. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but the bright and colorful clothes and the genuine warmth and humor of the Mongolians and the Kazaks was a happy surprise. Forty-plus years of travel photography has given me the opportunity and inspiration to see places and people in a way I never would have otherwise. It’s taught me to look through my lens at people, strangers, as if they were my old friends. Young or old, makes no difference. Everywhere I go, I am always conscious of the fact that I could have easily been born there rather than in NY, so I look for the things that not only make us different, but also the same. What do you look for when you travel? I’d love to read any feedback you leave in the comments be https://www.instagram.com/p/B9lbPgdAoeZ/?igshid=y5n59hl9mr66
