Loved every second of it! Manifesting more television in our future!!
TIme for us to get our own show already!!
Viewing entries tagged
India
working on the Nomadness movement from my temporary 'office' in India...
hilarity! in honor of my Punjabi peeps out there! Happy Diwali!
The last two weekends have hit me with some emotional spurts...all due to my people and the moves we are making...not trying to make, but are making. Last weekend was Josh and Chanel's wedding.
This weekend, up until this morning, it's been Steph's impending leave to South Africa. As of this morning, my dear friend boarded on that plane to Johannesburg. Through an amazing going away party, in a loft space I'd sell my first child for, Steph, the Tribe (in FULL effect), friends, and friends who are damn near family all gathered together to send this phenomenal off in style.
Steph and I traveled India together in early 2010, after only meeting in real life twice. The third time I ever saw her face, it became a lifeline of sanity and reliability, and friendship during one of the most intense trips of my life. There was a spoken and unspoken bond between us ever since. Both of us, recently, home for months on end (which is a long time for us both) really gave way to our friendship growing. It was a conversation with Stephanie that turned the idea of building a social network for the Tribe on another platform, into an already inclusive Group on Facebook. That idea, mixed with the vision I already had in place, was hands down one of the best moves for the Tribe, the series, and the business as a whole. I thank her for that insight. Something that I run to often for both creative and personal matters.
I love her. She truly has become one of my closest friends, to date. I appreciate her spirit, her drive, and her unrelenting passion. She is a true gem.
I, the Tribe, mutual friends all want to with Stephanie an easy, joyful transition to her new home in South Africa.
Run the world, as you will, and I promise the Tribe will be there for the Meet Up. trust...
Thank you for being you.
just watch and listen...
Nomad•ness Travel Series Official Teaser is here. Check out snippets of me all around the world. Including updated Berlin footage, from your fan help with Kickstarter.
Nomad·ness is the reality show of one woman, with one perspective, traveling one country at a time. Through these journeys, I bring you urban life as it's lived around the world. Exploring art, music, food, local pastimes, and causes unique to each area I travel within.
Check me, and other episodes, out at http://nomadnesstv.com
'Traveling Girl' Theme Song (obsessed) by Mr. Ivory Snow @mrivorysnow on Twitter
Shouts out to Foreign Beggars from the UK (obsessed) @foreignbeggars on Twitter
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The last time I watched the documentary "Born Into Brothels" it was just before visiting India. I knew my photography would flourish there, and the story of these kids, finding an escape and expression through the same art form, held so tightly to my heart. Proud owner of the film, again, I found myself moved to tears watching it.
Having had been to a number of second and third world countries, but India specifically, gutted me. India, by far, was the worst poverty I'd ever seen, and smelled, in my life. Naked bodies, open masturbation from men on the streets, lack of personal space, being followed, street animals ranging from elephants, to buffalo, and monkeys. It was unlike any place I'd ever been to before, and been to since. Yet, one boy from the film reminds of a boy I met in Cambodia.
This is Avijit, ten years post the film's debut. He's 20 now and of all the children in the film, he stook out to me the most. The capacity of which he had to describe photos, and the level of his skills was impressive in the film, especially that being the first time he'd ever picked up a camera. Avijit has a father addicted to hash, and a mother who was set on fire by her pimp, during shooting. A true representation of everything wrong with the Red Light Districts of India. In the film he talked about wanting to go to college in the US, and wanting to be a photographer. Every odd on the face of the Earth was up against this kid...until the film director pulled every loop hole imaginable to get him a passport to attend a World Press Photography event in Amsterdam, and he was exposed to the world outside of India. Ten years later, he's now a student at NYU. Seriously, tears form writing this because of another young man, who reminds me of Avijit, yet lives in Cambodia.
I wrote on here once before about Vantaa, almost a year ago. The photo above is the first, and only time Vantaa and I ever met. I was on my trek through the Angkor Wat complex in Cambodia, and after exiting Ta Prohm, I gave my driver lunch on me. While there this young man approached my table, and spoke stunning English. He asked if I was from South Africa, because of my dress. He also tried to navigate the circle of kids surrounding me, apparently because they'd never seen anyone with my style and feather earring. I was impressed with Vantaa. He spoke about meeting Angelina Jolie when they shot Tomb Raider in Ta Prohm. We spoke about his education. He was to be a few years outside of high school, and wanting nothing more than to get an education in the United States. He spoke so vividly about wanting to attend University, and how important it was to him, yet he doubted it would happen because of how poor his family was. I gave Vantaa my card, which he is holding in the photo ironically, and told him to please keep in contact with me, and use my blog as a way to study English.
About a month after my trip to Cambodia, he did just that. We keep in contact periodically over the internet. He's also gotten some free shwag sent his way. Vantaa knows I care. He doesn't know how much I care.
The type of success I want, is defined by me being able to pay for Vantaa's college tuition to attend school in America. That is the type of success I aim for in life, and travel.
People travel for different reasons, and approach it in different ways. I connect with local people when I go abroad, and I form relationships that I still cultivate after I leave. It's more so the people, than it is the places I go to. I want to see how they live and how they love. Giving back is such a huge part of what I want to do. Philanthropy is going to be a word synonymous with Evita. I have seen too much, not to give back.
Thoughts of Avijit and Vantaa today...
Photo by Stephanie O'Conner
This Holi holiday, last year, I was enjoying one of the best days of my life. Stephanie, Melissa, and I were screaming Happy Holi all over Jaipur. Bhati hit me up on Facebook and let me know that the Elephant Festival (ritual the day before Holi) was in full effect in Jaipur. I miss them and Jaipur!
Happy Holi India!
I'm signed up with a few US Embassies (as you ALL should be if traveling abroad). It's been pretty silent on their end until today. I'm sending the information to you all in regards to some safety concerns in New Delhi.
Just be on your Ps and Qs. Message read:
According to press reports and local police authorities an explosion occurred in Varanasi at the Dashashwamedh Ghat near the Vishwanath Temple at around 6:30 this evening. Media reports indicate 20-25 people were injured including a number of foreigners with one fatality. Police are on high alert across India. At this time, the motive for the attack is not known.
U.S. citizens are urged to always practice good security and to maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. U.S. citizens are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites.
U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad are encouraged to enroll with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate through the State Department's travel website so that they can obtain updated information on travel and security. U.S. citizens without Internet access may enroll directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By enrolling, U.S. citizens make it easier for the Embassy or Consulate to contact them in case of emergency. For additional information, please refer to "A Safe Trip Abroad".
I had this up as a status about a month back. The realization of everything I've done in 2010, alone. We're officially in November, and the mirage of what has made up all these moments in 2010 is humbling, exciting, even tiring. Home feels good. It feels right, right now. The world did me good this year, and as per usual to Evita, the traveling was extreme. Never half assed...
Japan: New Years in Tokyo, and the Nomad•ness episode to rep it. Niigata and saying goodbye to life long friends and children I taught. Started off the year with a ton of goodbyes, but have been adamant about keeping in touch.
India- Late Feb into March; Three cities and a desert in eleven days. Stephanie, Melissa, and I hit the ground running in India. Holi Festival and our lives are changed forever.. Nomad•ness epsiodes and some of my favorite travel photography. Running your fingers across the Taj Mahal is out of this world.
NYC: April into August; Home sweet home, for what was supposed to be a substantial amount of time. Until an opportunity presented itself.
China: End of August; two days in Hong Kong rummaging around, getting reused to Asia. Then stranded there for four days while trying to reach home again a few days before Halloween.
Thailand: September to November; home for what would end up being two months. From the streets of Bangkok, to the country of Saraphi. Chiang Mai temporarily replaced the concrete jungle.
Cambodia: The place in Asia that stole my heart. Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm were the catalyst, and the city of Siem Reap is what kept me there past my border run, for sure. So much to see, experience, and the art...oh the art. Many back alleys there reminded me more of Europe than any Asian country I'd visited before. I'll be back.
Burma: Oh Visa-Run, how you loved us so...
Gratitude for being able to live out dreams, and for those who helped support it.
43 chapters, 192 pages, 70,223 words, 1,442 paragraphs....progress
Today marked the beginning of growth. Nor pink or pretty, it was a legitimate growing pain.
Necessary.
I had my first purchase of six of my travel photos, from the array you see HERE!
It's my first time with this specific printer for something so important so I wanted to get a glimpse of the images first hand before shipping out.
At Adorama on 18th Street, I got the goods. Around 10pm, I'm on the 4 headed home for much needed rest (which I'm obviously not getting now at 2:06am) and to get a glimpse at the photos.
They look phenomenal!!!! Six 8x10s that were so gorgeous they actually started catching the attention of other riders.
"Wait, did you shoot these," she asked me.
"Yea, I did."
"Wow! Is this India?"
"Yea."
"Yes, I recognized it."
"Oh, have you been," I asked.
"No, but I could tell."
"Do you travel a lot?"
"Yes. I just got back from Brazil," she answered without hesitation.
"Great. I'm moving to Thailand for three months next week. Actually, let me give you my card. I have a travel blog, and you can see these photos for sale."
"I'll definitely check it out," she said grabbing the card. "Safe travels!"
"You too," I uttered.
It's the final 5 hours in New Delhi, and I'm situated on the roof of Nirvana Hostel. Here, I contemplate the journey that Stephanie, Melissa, and I just took, and vent about the lack of minorities that I run into when traveling...interesting monologue. Thoughts?
Every once in awhile, there is a film that speaks to the core of your values and life. There's a film that guts you, whether from controversy or from truth.
I remember one day, while working at truTV, I had a co-worker Seida come up to me.
"Have you ever heard of the book Eat, Pray, Love. Evita it reminds me of your life so much. I love the way it's written. It's a little slow when she gets to India in the second part, but she reminds me of you so much. I can picture you writing a book like this one day," she said.
I responded,"No but I keep seeing people reading it on the subway. What's it about?"
Seida continued her pitch, " Oh my God you have to read it. It's about a woman who gets a divorce, then quits her job, and travels through Italy, India, and Indonesia on this trip to go find herself. It's something I could picture you doing."
I bought the book the next day. I finished the book three days later. I loved it, especially the India part. This conversation took place in Summer 2008. Little did I know that two months after it I'd be in Edinburgh, Scotland, three months after that I'd be living in Japan, and eleven months after that I'd be on my own trek around India. In conjunction with the travels, I'd start writing my own memoir. That which I am now approximately 170 pages into right now....funny how the Universe works.
I LOVED the book, and am a bit of a skeptic of the book to film transition. But this one, I HAVE to go see.
For all the women out there. For all the true life livers out there. For all the travelers out there. This film is the story of just one of us. Don't worry mine is coming...
Between Basquiat and Eat Pray Love I'll be spending this weekend at the theater.
Nomad•ness Episode 8 takes us to the mecca of India, and one of the World Wonders, the Taj Mahal. This one monument was the whole reason this trip was planned in the first place. Join us as we deviate off the intended itinerary and end up in the desert on top camels...
In this episode, we end the celebration of Holi in the digs of an old palace that has been converted into an upscale hotel. Follow us as we brave the streets, the men, and a king cobra at Amber Fort.
Nomad•ness Episode 6 is here! It is the first installation of my trip to India. Join friends, Stephanie, Melissa, and myself as we begin our journey in Jaipur, India. We were embraced by a local family and got to experience the Elephant Festival and Holi Festival of Colors up close and personal, all while staying in an amazing hotel for $23 a night/per person...
It's no coincidence that I have been back for over a week and still have yet to post a thorough blog about my time in India.
As a writer, India presented a tangible challenge. How does one convey the power of the images, smells, and emotion captured in a place that saturates the senses in all these ways? India led to some of the best photography I have taken, to date, as you can observe throughout this blog. I also have video footage that I will be spending the next few weeks making heads and tails of for upcoming episodes of Nomad•ness. Overwhelmed with wondering how I was to relay the information of this trip, it wasn't until I started giving slide presentations to my schools in Japan, as a final lesson, that I got the energy and insight to push it out. The look on these children's eyes when I show them photos of me covered in the colors of Holi, or riding a camel, or kids their age too poor to go to school. They get it, and for a moment I see their eyes open beyond Japan. I want to influence everyone I meet enough to make them get over the fear, and get on the plane. This was my journey...
India.
The memoir will most definitely retain the details of my travels, but here I offer some photos as navigation through the most uncomfortable, scary, dirty, invigorating, and rewarding experience of my life. I thought living in Japan for a year made me a warrior. Little did I know what India had to offer.
The ten day trek took Melissa, Stephanie, and I through New Delhi, Jaipur, Pushkar, and Agra. We stayed in the North, venturing locally on buses and trains in the uncomfort of stares, being followed, and constant invasion of personal space. The ratio of men to women, outside, is highly uneven and it is not uncommon to find yourself surrounded by gazing men offering you rides, deaf to the word "No."
Northern India is also knows for being cultural, yet extremely poverty plagued. The South is known more so for the cleanliness, tourists, and resorts. Needless to say, I am happy we ventured in the North first. 
They live the way they must. It is the begging of the children that tears you to pieces, but there is a silent understanding.
Five of our ten days we spent in Jaipur, celebrating Holi Festival of Colors, becoming masked by vibrant paint powder colors. The Elephant Festival was amazing, even after I drew a crowd of laughing male faces at my attempts to get on top of a horse. Good times.
Holi was one of the best days of my life, and Stephanie's 30th birthday. Mayhem, chaos, alcohol, and all of us in a humvee were the symbols of the day. We started by braving the Jaipur streets with our new friends and 'bodyguard' and we ended it in a private party hosted by Jaipur's elite, inside the garden of an old palace. The day was a real life fairy tale. 
We continued through Jaipur onto the Amber Fort where we were surprisingly greeted by a snake charmer. All three of us took the charmer's word for it, stating that the snake wasn't poisonous, and touched the cobra. My brother would have been proud. When in Rome...right? There were elephants, monkeys, pigs, buffalo, and camels everywhere. Over dinner in the desert I had a monkey scare the hell out of me while I was eating outside, only for it to get into a fight with a cat. I cannot make this stuff up.
We intended to spend three days in Agra, but as per everyone's recommendation, it was too long. Agra also proved to be the dirtiest of the places we went so within twenty-four hours we got there and left, walking away from our hotel payments and all. Though the city left much to be desired, it was here I saw my mecca and the reason why I ventured to India in the first place.
Taj Mahal. The most epic representation of love.
We even saw Japanese people there, something that makes me feel very much at home now. How ironic?!
In leaving Agra, we rerouted for the unplanned part of the itinerary, Pushkar aka the desert aka Little Israel. It's a bit of a hippy town packed right in the middle of the desert and steep hills. We spent two days in Pushkar doing cheap shopping, gawking at the fine Israeli that ran the Internet Cafe, fighting off pink lizards and stomach issues, while riding camels for hours. It was here I met my 10 year old camel guide, the most fascinating young man I have met in my life.
Leaving Pushkar, I headed back to Japan to conclude my year long journey there, and my fellow travelers flew to South Africa.
Sugoy! Amazing!
If it seems as though I am recalling events, yet not emotion, it is because I still am. I am still searching for the right words to formulate the right sentences, to spit out all that I have in.
I am forever grateful for India. If for no other reason, I know I can sleep anywhere and find some comfort. If for nothing else, because even at my worst, I have so much more than those in the Northern part of their country. In its ugly, I find such a raw beauty. I look forward to the day I find the words...the memoir is going to be amazing.
Loving my life!
I have yet to find the proper words to express this day.
The Holi Festival in Jaipur has been, hands down, one of the best days of my life.
Color filled faces and streets.
Driving all around town in an old military style jeep, with a driver drinking beer, talking on the cell phone, and smoking a cigarette at the same time.
I cried today from being blessed about my life.
The perfect words....still aren't found...but I have hundreds of images. Photography and video that you can only see to believe.
This one photo, as an introduction, I will give to you.
To be continued....