Category: Rodney’s Travels

Why oming?

May 15th, 2019

Driving cross-country to deliver my daughter

My daughter, Taylor, alternates with me between napping and driving across The Great Plains.

We just passed a shrink-wrapped boat. What it’s doing in the middle of Nebraska, I have no idea. But there seems to be all manner of transport along this flat, gray, rainy Pony Express trail.

My daughter sits next to me napping on her “Hug this pillow until you can hug me” fluffiness, given to her by her new hubby. It’s sweet. Even though we’re traveling at a pretty steady clip, we’re not taking great pains as we drive across The Great Plains. Destination: Cheyenne, Wyoming and her next three years. Why oming? Her Air Force husband just re-upped for duty and she’s got a job working with older folks at the Veterans Administration. Her new life awaits her. Read More…

Mayan Healing Ritual

March 9th, 2019

Healing comes in many forms.

Massage therapists work their magic during a Mayan Healing Ritual in Costa Maya, Mexico.

You can credit the pills.

You can credit eight months of treatment.

You can credit the warm, moist Caribbean air and glorious sunshine.

Or, like me, you can also credit the Mayan Healing Ritual. Read More…

Being in the Not Know

February 23rd, 2019

Leaving your comfort zone for a more tropical one.

El Castillo, is the main pyramid at Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico.

It’s good to not know what I’m doing.

My wife texted me on a recent Thursday afternoon, asking if I was into a last-minute cruise.

“Okay, cool!” I wrote back.

Early Friday morning, we hopped into my Prius and drove south out of Detroit and snow squalls toward sunny New Orleans. Read More…

Zach and Meegan: two friends, two notes

January 27th, 2019

Two interwoven stories about my photo friends

Crunch Time: the Picture Editing team putting together the 120-page book at The Mountain Workshops.

I met Zach this past fall down in Kentucky at The Mountain Workshops, a week-long intensive dive into photojournalism. He was one of our students in the Picture Editing sequence that I’ve been lucky enough to help teach each fall for a large part of this millennium.

Zach made us laugh, worked really hard and helped us — with our other students — pull together a 120-page book of photos and stories in less than a week. But I think I bonded with him during our shady drug deal on the streets of a small Kentucky town.

Read More…