It has been a long, cold , grey winter.  Since the time the calendars were gone and the holidays were over, finding the motivation to attempt any real adventures has seemed impossible.  Cement skies and icy road conditions were a good excuse for a while, as well as the short days and boatload of work we had piled up in the 6-month road trip.

Really, we were just tired.  Perhaps we still are.

I began traveling full time in 2011, living out of a small station wagon and going where the wind blew.  By the time I began dating and traveling with Sophie in 2017, I had spent more of my adult life living in isolation, unattached to places or things than I had in apartments and conventional living.  

Even after Sophie and I were together, we still continued to travel on a shoestring budget going wherever we could get to for as long as we could afford to be there.  

After winning the Michelob Ultra contest, we could afford a place to rent in the US for the first time in our life together.  While it sounded appealing for some time, I don’t think either of us realized just how much we needed the stability of a home until we had one.  Now, the struggle is in leaving it.  

Already I am getting anxious that we may be getting too comfortable.  Spending all day in sweat pants at a laptop making travel guides and working on photos from old adventures makes it too easy to get caught up in the past.  There have been too many good reasons to avoid the chase – to avoid the discomfort and cost of getting many of the photos you typically see on our Facebooks and website.  

As people look over our proverbial fence to see the green grass of a perpetual travel life, we find ourselves admiring the lawn on their side of the fence.  We see friends who are no longer anxious about finances, enjoying homes that they own with walls filled by photos as we stare at the blank white walls of our rental.  We see them joyously sharing photos of their families and pets while we day dream about having a four legged friend to curl up on the couch with, but are not allowed in our unit.

And then the trees began to blossom.  Grey became blue.  We began to wake up to the sound of birds chirping nearby.  The snow melted and spring emerged, providing provocation for change.

The leaves had us inspired.  I have never before lived in a place where every tree you pass seems to be having a floral eruption.  Sophie and I attempted a few various locations before finding success at a row of incredible blossoms on the Portland city waterfront.

We actually would end up returning a second time hoping for a sunny morning during peak blossom with no crowds.  In the end, we got 2 out of 3, missing only the sunshine but accepting the photos we did get as feeling quintessentially PNW.

With a friend in town all the way from England, we also took the excuse to visit the Oregon Zoo for our first time.  We first checked with an old friend who works in animal rehabilitation to put our minds at ease from an ethical standpoint – she assured us that the Oregon Zoo is one of the best-run facilities in the country, doing the most possible to maintain natural or close-simulation of natural conditions while providing significant enrichment for the animals, among other things.

We were both incredibly impressed with how well maintained everything was and how natural it felt (for a zoo, of course.)  It also gave us our first real chance to play with a telephoto lens we purchased primarily for wildlife photography!  Really, the day was supposed to be about the 3-year-old son of our friend, but there is no doubt that I was having way more fun with my new 500mm toy than Vinnie who seemingly was unimpressed compared to what David Attenborough has shown him on TV… kids.

When we began Moment of the Month, it was with the idea of sharing insight into one of the more memorable adventures or photoshoots or moments from each month.  Since October, it has felt like those adventures have been so few and far between that each deadline has become a thing of stress.  

Talking about it out loud, however, we were reminded of the other goal of this; to provide a real-life, GENUINE insight into the lives of travel photographers & travel bloggers.  We wanted to have one outlet where we didn’t have to produce something polished and shined, as is so common and expected on social media.

This is the one-year anniversary of Moment of the Month and I want to say a big thank you for everyone who has followed the journey and has continued to support our art and dreams.  Not everyone can find the joy in something as intangible as this, which makes us extremely grateful to those of you who do.  In a time when everyone expects art for free and consumes content like its sugar, it means a lot that you see the human beings behind the keyboard.

With that said, we have opened up the comments section to you all and welcome you to leave any feedback or questions or greetings there!  With Facebook becoming too big to manage all the comments daily, YOU our dear members have DIRECT access to us any time via comment or email.  Please don’t hesitate to use it 🙂 

Click the slideshow below to showcase the featured photos for March in full screen mode.

WANT TO TAKE HOME ANY PHOTOS?

WE DREAM OF TRAVEL PRINT GALLERY

With the link above, you can browse photos from past Moments of the Month, and have the choice of printing those that speak to you on traditional photo paper or metal.

Metal prints produce more vibrant colors, deeper contrast, and a three-dimensional aesthetic that accentuates the stylistic ethos of our photography.

If you see anything you like in this Moment of the Month that you cannot find on the gallery, just send us an email at: Info@WeDreamofTravel.com

Don’t forget: If you are subscribed as an ART LOVER, you will receive your monthly 10% off promo code via email.  Simply enter the promo code at checkout!

We have created a ton of guides to Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Whether you are a local or planning a visit, you may want to bookmark some of our top guides:

• Ultimate Oregon Guide: 130 Best Things to do in Oregon
• Top 10 Places to Visit on the Oregon Coast
• Top 21 Waterfalls in Oregon
• Southern Oregon Photography Locations
• Southern Oregon Coast Guide
• Waterfalls of Southern Oregon Complete Guide
• Top 15 Places to Visit in Oregon
• Silver Falls State Park & Trail of Ten Falls Complete Guide
• The Complete Thor’s Well Guide
• The Complete Painted Hills of Oregon Guide

Sophie and I are Maui bound on March 30, followed by a visit to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival, Washington, and Big Island all in the month of April! On top of that, I am very much hoping to try and shoot Milky Way for the first time this year, if we can manage some clear skies!

As travel restrictions ease up and the weather warms, we are hopeful new opportunities continue to present themselves and that we can continue to make things work with our new home base in Portland.

If you have any questions about the Moment of the Month club, you can find frequently asked questions and more information by clicking here.

If you have a question that is not covered, just send us an email or message on social media!