Travel Blogger Spotlight Series: a Moment with Kirsten Alana of “Aviators and a Camera”
This week’s blogger spotlight is on Kirsten Alana, a masterful photographer and travel writer all in one awesome bundle, and creatrix of the blog Aviators and a Camera. Apart from bring a terrific human being, I am so proud to call her my good friend. We catch up with her in a Q&A.
Q: Since you're a photographer and a journalist rolled into one awesome bundle, can you share with us a few photos that really tell a story–and why?
Kirsten Alana: I think the images I'm most proud of, are those from Paris. It's a place I've had a three decade love affair with. Maybe my images could never live up to that kind of expectation. Yet I had to try and in the end, I love what I captured while there.
Q: What prompted you to start traveling? What are some of your earliest travel memories?
As an adult, my divorce was a hugh catalyst. I'd always wanted to travel more, finally I could. Travel became a break from life and a new start, really. As a child, I never felt at home anywhere, fully. I think I traveled so that I could find a home or a sense of home. My earliest travel memories are the road trips I took with my mother, her best friend and my best friend – driving in a rusted-out van through Vermont, Canada and the wild, untamed parts of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. They'd send Katra and I to a camp in the wilderness every summer, then pick us up and road trip home. There were no huge adventures yet those are among the only truly beautiful memories I have from my childhood.
Q: Name three places you've loved visiting this year.
France, Austria, Uruguay
Q: Name three places you'd love to travel next year.
Spain, Japan, Australia
Q: What are some things you could never travel without?
My camera, my iPhone (which is also a camera for me), a sense of adventure, a notebook (usually Moleskine).
Q: How do you capture travel memories other than through photographs (e.g. souvenirs, postcards etc.?)
I write down thoughts in a paper journal when I travel. I often buy an extra postcard to keep, additional to the ones I send friends. I like to collect stickers, stones, shells and random found objects. If jewelry really inspires me and seems to capture a place, I will buy that. Sometimes a scarf. However, it's my photographs that ultimately take me back once a trip is complete.
- As told to Charu Suri. If you would like to be considered for the Blogger Spotlight Section, please email me at charu AT Butterflydiary DOT COM.
Awh!! Thanks for featuring me my love. It's an honor and even more so – to call you my friend is a dear blessing to me. XOXO