Mexico 2017

I still remember this day. I don't like the beach but this photo was so inviting. And it turned out better than I had hoped.

The constant 50 degree (Celsius) weather was felt all over, the heat encompassed you in its blanket. But you fought through it.

This photo was taken the first or second day on the resort, Hard Rock Hotel.

This was the first trip I'd taken in a while; a part of me wanted nothing more than to stay in the hotel room and play Overwatch but my dad insisted we at least walk around the resort. I took so many good photos and I have no regrets. We were only in the room in the morning and in the evening, other than that I was out and about taking photos or swimming. Those were the two things I did all week.

But this photo, this one one right here, is probably my all-time favorite. And not only from the trip

Even looking at it, 3 years later, I can clearly see what this photo represents. The beauty of the beach and the shade of the trees overhead. The perfect resort snapshot. Now if only, I could get paid for this photo and all the other ones I took.

Funny enough, I don't like the beach. I hate sand, I hate the way it sticks to your wet feet in desperation or how uninviting it feels.

Maybe I was more concerned about claw featuring animals that live in there, maybe I was just being paranoid.

I haven't been on a trip since then, in fact, I hate flying. I have condition with my ears, makes the descent back to the ground incredibly painful. But it was worth it on this trip. I had god food, spent a week in the blistering heat, swam a lot and as you can see, I took some pretty impressive photos.

I've always wondered if the unidentifiable man in the photo saw me taking the photo, it's possible that he didn't.

But then again, maybe he did.

To be honest, I can't imagine the photo without him in it. His form almost dead center in the middle, far away to look small but close enough to tower over the things around him. It's like he was supposed to be there; like he had to be. No matter what.

Other than this photo, I have one other favorite. A close-up black and white image of the local shrubbery.

Even though I pursued writing, I believe photography will always be a part of me, through this trip and the photos I took. Mexico was beautiful, I got to experience the culture and the food; the heat, the sun in a different place beating against my face and skin.

If I ever go back, I'll be sure to take more photos; better photos. If I ever travel again, hopefully to Japan or New Zealand, I'll remember this trip and hopefully make even more memories.

I think I've always liked photography, not as a career, but as a hobby. Mexico was the last time I really tried to take a good photo and honestly, if that trip becomes the last time I ever do, then that's okay with me.

That trip will forever be in my heart, in my memories; in my soul. It will be saved and seared into my brain, in my phone even. Through these photos, through this piece of writing even.

Mexico 2017 was a good one, maybe I'll go back someday and make it an even better one.

To Mexico, with love.

Gracias.