antique automobile automotive car — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I have always wanted to visit Cuba! It is a dream and will help me expand my street photography experience….the architecture, the vintage vehicles and the people it all appeals to me on a visceral level. The colors, the sights and sounds…it the kind of thing that makes my photographer’s eye twitch. So the bestie and I are going….she writes a lifestyle colum for an online magazine and I blog. It is a perfect combination and she is the perfect travel partner. So I am going to document my research and the cameras I am taking with me. I have to start this now so my head doesn’t explode before I get there…getting it all down will keep me sane.

Cameras

I plan to take 4-5 reliable film cameras and one Polaroid…my new Minty. I am starting to stockpile film so there is no mad dash to get enough before the trip. My most reliable cameras are the Holga 120CFN, the Holga 135BC and the Diana Mini. I think it is a good mixture of 35mm and 120mm film choices. Unfortunately, my La Sardina’s failed the test when I took them on a family cruise. There were too many issues with film loading and rewinding with all four.

Research

There are so many articles to read…people share their experiences and it makes my heart sing. I can’t wait to see and document it all. I am over the moon excited…my soul needs to be fed and traveling with my bestie is the best way to do this. We are Army girls always ready to go with the flow. We let the locale dictate the days…we don’t have to have fancy digs and plan to live like the locals.

My travel research beings with the first link a subscriber sent me. Where to have film developed in Havana….I will check out this photo lab and may get some film developed while I am there. I will see how it flows. This photo lab seems like a a good place to check out. I will give a comprehensive review on the services#309 Calle Obispo, Habana Vieja, Ciudad de Habana. That’s the main east/west street down the middle of Old Havana, running down from Parque Central to Plaza de Armas.

Fashion

Cool, casual and comfortable is my goal and I want to blend in and look like a local. It is not hard in Cuba…the population covers the color spectrum and mostly look like me. My Pinterest page will be my go-to for storing my ideas so take a look if you get a free minute…my plan is to update it as often as possible.

Join me on the journey from planning to touchdown and let me know what you think along the way. Any tips? Send them my way.

Spring is a time of rebirth! Flowers are blooming, the weather is cooperating and we have shed the heavy layers. Spring is a time to celebrate yourself! Beauty trends and the latest fashions are amazing ways to express your self but at its core beauty starts within. Take the time to preserve your inner light. I take the time to celebrate my thoughts and the things that make me happy through travel, photography and writing. Cultivate your inner beauty along with your physical representation and you will shine this season. When you smile and laugh your inner peace resonates and everyone around you reaps the benefits. I have kept a journal or diary since I was a young girl, capturing my thought and feelings while documenting people and places that brought me joy. Many of my blog posts start out in longhand and transfer to my site once I have settled in for the night.

Journaling is relaxing and allows me to relieve stress. So in honor of the Spring/Summer season I indulged in new journals for work and me time! My favorite Moleskine journals now come in bright vibrant colors like teal, red and fuschia, colors that are guaranteed to bring out the writer in you. Moleskine journals have a long, distinguished history. The Moleskine notebook is, in fact, the heir and successor to the legendary notebook used by artists and thinkers over the past two centuries: among them Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, and Bruce Chatwin.

In the mid-1980s, these notebooks became scarce, and soon vanished entirely. In 1997, a small Milanese publisher brought the legendary notebook back to life, and selected this name with a literary pedigree to revive an extraordinary tradition. Following in Chatwin’s footsteps, Moleskine notebooks have resumed their travels, providing an indispensable counterpart to the new and portable technology of today. Capturing reality in movement, glimpsing and recording details, inscribing the unique nature of experience on paper: the Moleskine notebook becomes a battery that stores ideas and feelings,

A chance trip to a Crate and Barrel store gave me a new favorite and I balance my love for journals between the two styles. The French-inspired Mon Carnet de Poche has become a favorite in my day bag along with my Moleskine. I am an inpatient shopper and very grateful that Amazon carries both styles and I can get them overnight or close to it through my Prime account. I like to use one for my fashion and blog notes and the other for tedious meetings. I mean really…who wants to sit in a meeting and not make a must-have now list!

Last but not least is my One Line a Day memory book. My memories cannot be contained in one line so I try to document the one thing or significant memory that has affected me emotionally. Good or bad and with little censorship. I celebrate life’s challenges through these memories. You never know how far you’ve come unless you acknowledge the good times and bad. So, I hope you can find joy and peace in the reflection of life.