Jim Goldstein’s travel photography blog recently posted an interesting project, asking readers to create a post on their own blog of their favorite photos from 2009.  It provided a good opportunity to look back on my shots from the year and choose a few I really liked.  I took more pictures in 2009 than in any other year, mostly because I always had a pocket-camera with me. Check back on Goldstein’s blog next week, as he will post a list of all of the participating blogs and their respective favorite photos.  There should be some great ones out there!

Obama’s Inauguration at sunrise

Georgetown basketball from the student section.

Washington Monument at Night

The colors of India

Coaching kids’ ultimate frisbee in India.

The Taj Mahal, 5:45 AM

Wandering in San Francisco

Arriving at National Airport, DC

Hello, Los Angeles

Echo Park, LA.

Like a face filled with the wrinkles of time, my camera’s scratches evoke a life well-lived. My trusty Canon Powershot camera has been with me for multiple years, on multiple continents, and across state borders — tucked away safely in my pocket. It’s survived drops, falls, and the occasional guy in India yelling at me to put it away. It’s not the fanciest, priciest, or most high-tech camera out there, but because it fits in my pocket and is always with me, as photographer Chase Jarvis has famously said: “the best camera is the one you have with you.”

Indeed, always having a camera with me has become my number one rule of travel. The beauty of travel is that it opens up your eyes to new ways of seeing even the most mundane things in the world. Having a camera with you — and as a result thinking of what could make an interesting shot — refocuses your mind on your travels allowing you to better connect with your surroundings. I’ve found that as much as I enjoy reliving my travels through my photos in which I took the time to compose a shot, often-times the spontaneous snapshot — the dog bathing itself in a tub of water following a rain storm, or a ridiculous sign in Russia — bring back the strongest memories. Indeed, it’s because of this that I eschew the big SLR cameras, preferring, instead, to rely upon a model that can be taken anywhere at anytime. Besides, traveling around with a huge black camera is a good way of drawing unwanted attention to yourself, and, afterall, a great photo should be all about the subject, not the means of capturing it.

So, before sharing a few of my favorite serendipitous travel photos with you, I implore you: bring your camera with you!

A dog cooling off after a rainstorm in India:

Somehow a cat wandered past airport security in India…and no one seemed to care

After randomly deciding to buy these Costa Rican candies, about 5 minutes later we happened to serendipitously walk by their advertising car!

Apparently if you walk up this hill in Moscow…you get decapitated?!

Thanks to Sosauce.com for publishing this article on their blog!