I just finished up my second article for The Journal of Wildlife Photography, which I was thrilled about. My second 3000 plus word article. It is stressful but in a good way. The reason it is stressful is because I want to tell a good story; I am hoping the reader takes something from it and is entertained at the same time. That is always my hope when I write, but you never know. It could be a total lemon, as I am sure I have written many lemons throughout my career.

Thinking about that got me to looking back at my role as a storyteller. I have been writing and sharing stories for years; on paper, in newsletters, in my journal, and my blog. I began writing in a journal right out of high school, and I started a blog back in 2005 on our old website. Sadly I took down that website to divert the old traffic to our new website, and in doing so, all those years of blogging disappeared. I am sure if I wanted to, I could find them floating in cyberspace, drifting endlessly among millions of other web pages. All of them lost with nowhere to go.

Thankfully, I still have those pages and writings saved on a hard drive, so they are there for me whenever I want to look back to read my thoughts from those long-lost days.

I do enjoy writing; I enjoy the art of getting lost in a story, or taking a reader on a journey. Sharing ideas and worlds and moments, I love that about writing. As a kid, all my favorite books were from writers who would take me with them to farway places; exotic lands, exotic animals, exotic people. I wanted to be there, I wanted to see that animal, to breathe in the air, to feel the wind. Those escapes are what helped to turn me into the person I am today.

I do hope that when you read my blogs and stories, you feel the same way - That I have taken you on a journey. I know not all my stories have because sometimes they are just rants that I need to get off my mind. But hopefully, more often than not, I take you on a ride, somewhere… anywhere.

Thanks for reading.

I was going through images from the 2019 season, and I was blown away by all the places we got to visit that year. I forgot how busy our schedule was, especially after what happened in 2020. In 2020, I was so busy feeling sorry for ourselves (for lack of a better word), trying to understand the new normal, that I quickly forgot about what 2019 was like for us. All the wildlife we experienced, all the places we visited, all the magic and the people. It indeed was one of the best seasons we have ever experienced.

I am grateful that we finally see some light in 2021, and there is hope that the world will return to some normalcy again. It needs to because there is so much beauty out there, and it needs to be experienced. Wildlife needs our kind because without tourism and people fighting to protect them and wanting to see them (in the wild), all that will be left are the hunters and gatherers trying to kill or capture them all. When I think of all the wild places left unprotected last year because of covid, it truly breaks my heart. How many animals died because no one was there to watch over them.

I know I sound extreme, but sadly it has come down to that. It is no longer nature that decides what species lives or dies. It is 100% left up to men in suits. They determine what species will be allowed to continue living, what species can be hunted, what species can be harvested. And their decisions are based on how much money can be made (for themselves) by allowing this to happen. It is happening all over the world, and there is no end in sight.

And what is worse is that the illegal trade of these animals is happening at the same time. Poachers and trappers are out there now, catching and killing everything they can get their hands on. So we have politicians deciding the fate of our wildlife (legally- most of the time) and poachers out in the world doing the same thing (illegally).

So wildlife tourism must go on; it has to continue. Because without it, these officials will find another way to make money off of our beloved wildlife. And left unguarded, poachers will continue to slaughter and cage up the rest of them. Wildlife tourism helps fund our politicians and slows down the poachers.

Sorry for such a dark blog this morning. This is part of the journey that I am on, this is what I think about, and it is an essential reminder that the world needs to open up and we need to continue traveling. We need our researchers back out there, our game wardens, and our tourists to continue being a voice for the voiceless. Wildlife needs all of us.

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you out in the world… somewhere… anywhere!

Storytelling... I Absolutely LOVE IT!

The World MUST Continue to open up... Wildlife Depends on it!