It's not even an open secret, it's actually very obvious. It's just that sometimes it is overlooked precisely because it is so obvious: Beauty is nearby.

I want to explore, travel and discover my near surrounding; to consciously see and appreciate what is so close - just as I do when traveling to other places, cities, regions, countries.

This is the result of various thoughts and a lot of time to analyze them step-by-step.

A list, time passes by, one move

I moved. And looking back, one is always smarter. There's one thing I regret a little: in my last place of residence, Dresden, I proposed myself an undefined later for whatever I wanted to do in Dresden. Later was said again and again; until later became now and now is time to pack moving boxes. No more time for short or long walks and no more time for half-day trips to the hiking region nearby. later became too late. And many things that wanted to be seen and checked out remained unseen and unchecked.

I did do things in Dresden, enjoyed them and experienced life there; I did matter of the heart, such as the biking tour through district libraries - it's not like that I missed everything. I already had a similar thought when I moved to Dresden. I had learnt my lessons from the pre-Dresden city and had done better in Dresden. In the end, there were still a few open things. I know there's always something to do and to discover and there's never enough time anyway. However, what I attribute to myself is to underestimate how fast this later would come and to having the optimism that things would work out by themselves. It didn't.

For the new place of living, Hochheim am Main, a small town between Mainz and Frankfurt am Main, I want to motivate myself more to not put things off and actually get on them.

Arriving

Very closely related to moving and yet different: arriving here. I moved from one region to a completely different region that is new to me. Everything new. And I want to have that feeling of having arrived . I don't know what this feeling is made of in detail. Surely, there's a bit of the first reason in here. By exploring the area bit by bit, I hope to discover the facets of the feeling of having arrived.

on the road at home, traveling at home

There's one thought that has come up again and again in recent years, waved briefly and then disappeared again. On my trip to Japan, this one thought came very early on (which surprised me):

Why am I looking for beauty so far away? Why do I photograph so much here, away from home, and get so excited but do not feel this way at home?

It's obvious: in a faraway country, like Japan, or in any other place (city, region, country) - you may only get there once and have a limited amount of time. You want to see, experience, absorb and remember as much as possible. You prepare yourself for the trip and feel great anticipation. In most cases, it is also a long-awaited change, a holiday from everyday (working) life.

What I have on my doorstep at home (more or less on my doorstep) is no less admirable. I just don't notice it as much because it's just my everyday life. I also just don't think of my home as a place to travel, for the same reason. This automatically eliminates everything that is part of traveling.

Thus, change of perspective: Consider the place of living and the surrounding area as a place to travel. Doing it really consciously. Being a tourist.

That's nothing new. But the conscious change of perspective is good and important for me to be able to change my perception.

The art of noticing

On most days, I won't make it far at all because time doesn't allow it and I'll just go for a walk around the block. But that's when "the art of noticing" becomes much more important. Basically, the art of noticing, recently introduced by a video by Teo Crawford, is being mindful and being aware of everyday life. What would I take note of, what would I photograph if I didn't see this every day?

Now to the nitty gritty: How far shall it be? The distance and the time

The scope (time/duration and distance) will and can be very different. It is difficult to me to draw a line. The amount of time and distance correlate: The further away from home I am, the longer I am likely to stay away. This certainly depends on the actual journey time rather than the linear distance. Thus, it can be anything from a 10-minute exploration trip (one round around the block) to a whole weekend away from home.

For me and myself

At first I thought that a camera and my blog would accompany me. But then a strange feeling crept up on me and I realized: I'm doing this for myself. I want to experience things, I want to be here. Not to create something which can be presented in the end.

Whatever makes it into a presentable memory, be it a photo or an anecdote or a mini travelogue - we'll see. With this post, I mainly wanted to share my thoughts on this. Because I have starting a bit of all of this - this idea has coming down for some time already he he.

I know this is nothing new (I'm repeating myself). Lots of people do this (I've discovered some great blogs about this recently!). But I needed to collect and sort it out for myself and this is what came out 😀

Anticipation, oh, anticipation

I'm really looking forward to this! Looking forward to feeling a bit like a tourist with travel tips in my bag, strolling around and finding favourite places; and on other days, finding out what there is to see and observe in my very close surrounding. I'm hoping for lots of (beautiful) unexpected things, surprises that you encounter when one is out and about. I already know that I will learn a lot about what is around here, but also and above all I will learn things about myself.

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Picture 1: TU Dresden in Dresden, 2022 | Camera: Olympus XA2. Film: Agfaphoto APX 100. Development: self-developped. Scan: Charlie Engel Lab 2.0

Picture 2: Vines in Hochheim am Main, 2023 | Camera + lens: Minolta 9000 AF + Minolta AF 50 mm f/1.4. Film: Agfaphoto APX 100. Development + scan: ON FILM LAB