Canceled Trips = Book Release

Hi everyone, 

First and foremost, I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe during these crazy times. Like you, I've been staying in as much as possible. I wear my mask when I go out, use hand sanitizer, and wash my hands like crazy. All we can really do is have common courtesy towards others and use our common sense (it seems so many people have forgotten how to be a nice person). We will get through this together, even if it doesn't seem like it now. Understandably, my travel blog has been quiet. That is because we had all our trips for 2020 canceled. On the bright side, having all this new found free time has given me the opportunity to work on projects I've been dreaming about for years, one of which being a photography book of my travels. Canceled trips = book release. Preview/purchase it here or continue scrolling to see behind the scenes content.

Cover of the book, designed by me.

This project has been in the works for the past two years, and it's finally done! I think my excerpt from my book itself explains my feelings best (and even since, the statistics have changed so much):

 

How the times have changed since I started this book two years ago…I'm sitting here in my home office of Dana Point, California entering my ninth week of quarantine. Covid-19, coronavirus, has literally turned the world upside down. There are millions of cases worldwide, the US nears 100,000 deaths, and we've been on lockdown since March 2020. Understandably, I've had four huge trips canceled. Ideally, this book would have had a few more sections and ended with a return trip to Africa. I had planned an amazing birthday safari over two years ago to Mala Mala and Mashatu that got postponed because the African governments have extended lock down measures drastically. I was supposed to get my "dream shot": a stunning portrait of a leopard (or leopardess!) which is something I've never had the pleasure of photographing in all my trips to Africa. But, I will get there one day. I was also supposed to be traveling Central Asia and Europe. I was supposed to go to non-touristy destinations before they got touristy, and of course now with the virus these "off the beaten track" destinations are getting written up in articles stating where people should go when quarantine is over. 

Now, more than ever, it's important to reflect upon all we take for granted — food, a home, travel, everything. I've been incredibly fortunate to see so many destinations alongside the people I hold dear to my heart and I've been fortunate to have my photography work published on an international level. I cherish these experiences and as I sit here dreaming of travel, I look back on this book and think to myself, "Wow, what great memories." Because at the end of the day, life is what we make it. I choose to immerse myself in new cultures, to try new foods, and to make new friends in every corner of the world. 

Which brings me to right now. My journey wouldn't have been the same without the many people I've met along the way. From amazing photo guides, to safari guides, to drivers, to airplane crew, to trip staff, and to everyone else… From the bottom of my heart, I thank you. You're the reason I continually seek out new experiences. You're the reason I wake up in the middle of the night smiling — those darn time differences!! You're a huge part of the reason I am the person that I am. So thank you. And finally, thank you to my friends and my family for supporting me in everything I do. I love you. Be safe.

 

Now, to the book itself... Next Stop Everywhere is a two-year long project that I undertook to document my travels. Previously, I had combined my love of writing with photography into this very blog but nothing compares to holding a physical book. With a BFA in Graphic Design from Chapman University, I decided to design, write, and publish a photography book entirely from scratch. View some sample pages below (on this post), or view it as a hard cover book or PDF by clicking here. Please note, to preview the entire book, simply click on the cover and use the arrow keys on your keypad to navigate (alternatively, use the slider at the bottom). 

Behind the scenes while shooting.

For a project like this, most people use already created templates. As a graphic designer, however, I find I have more customization when I design the spreads myself. Taking into consideration the traditional book layout with front matter and back matter, I carefully started assembling book pages by creating a six column grid with gutter space in between columns. On the rest of the page, inside/outside margins and left/right margins. Once I had a basic master page to work with, I set up running heads, page numbers, chapter titles, and all my character/paragraph styles for design elements such as drop caps, captions, pull quotes, and more. I also made sure to mind the gutter so photographs don't get awkwardly cropped and ensured perfect bleeds for images for a perfect trim once pages were cut. Once the tedious work was out of the way, I set up additional master pages (eventually designing pages A through K) to visually vary the layout of photos and captions throughout the book. If I haven't totally lost you yet, see below for a sample page in the design stage.

Once the book was designed, written, and formatted, I went back through multiple times with grammar check and spell check and also ran multiple color proofs. I used a third party seller to publish my book while still having control over decision designs such as paper type, what kind of cover to use (image wrap vs. book jacket), and end pages. See below for some sample guts (guts is the design term for the inside of the book).

I also designed the book jacket, using measurements to scale for a 240 page hard cover book. I designed the cover image in Adobe Illustrator using clipping masks and imported this as a link to InDesign to complete the rest of the book jacket design. See below.

With all of these design decisions to consider, it's no wonder it took me two years to complete this project. Now that I have a hard copy in my hands, I am so incredibly proud. The wait was worth it... and I've already decided there will be a second book!

Here is an exclusive sneak peak at the contents of Next Stop Everywhere:

Temples to Desert: Japan and Mongolia

Hear Me Roar: Zimbabwe

Walking in Darwin’s Footsteps: Galápagos Islands

From Lions to Lemurs: Across Africa

High Arctic: A Journey to Svalbard

From Meerkats to Lions: Kalahari to the Selinda Spillway

Waterways: Victoria Falls and the Okavango Delta

Pristine Wilderness: The Great Bear Rainforest

Orange Hues: Japan in Autumn

On a Quest For Culture: Around the World

Traversing Europe: The Balkans

Life in the Bush: A Medley of African Wildlife

Behind the Scenes: The Not So Glamorous Life of a Wildlife Photographer

I am proud to share the final product with you and I hopes it inspires you to explore the world… whether your local wilderness or someplace more exotic (when it is safe to do so, of course). As of right now, my next planned trip isn't until April 2021, so this blog will be quiet unless there is photography news to report or potential local trips to blog about when it is safe to travel once more. In the meantime please stay safe and I look forward to sharing more adventures with you in the future. 

Interested in owning a copy of Next Stop Everywhere? 

Buy or Preview Now.

“You are all the places you have been, the sights you have seen, the marvels you have achieved, and every soul you have touched. Each passing moment is another brushstroke on the canvas. So rise, live always with passion and heart, and someday you will look back on your life and see a work of art.”
— Beau Taplin