Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we shared our Ireland photographs. As I went through our trip, day by day, I thought about the difference between this tour, and how I usually travel. The tour was easy and stress-free, and we saw amazing places. The payoff was not being able to stop wherever I wanted to along the way.
So I did my best. Often when our group was listening to a guide talk about the history of a place, I was listening with one ear while I wandered as far as I could, taking pictures. On this particular day, we spent most of the day driving along the coastline of the Dingle peninsula, and on the narrow Irish roads there were few places where there was room for the coach, and often those places didn't have the best views.
This series of coastline views on the Dingle peninsula will always be a reminder of this tradeoff between a tour and traveling solo. Luckily for me, at the place where the coach pulled over, the view was spectacular. Between the brilliant green fields, the stone walls, the turquoise water, and the distant mountains, I felt like I'd overdose on the sheer beauty of it all.
When we headed down the road, we passed at least a dozen other places where I would have stopped to get a different perspective or a different direction of light. I kept seeing photographs I could have captured, if only I'd been on my own.
Oh Ireland, a trip I dream of, but the not being able to stop would drive me crazy. I have had trips like that.
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