Our Q&A Interview wasn’t enough for us when it came to writer/photographer Stephanie Cornell (Elizabeth Taylor on Flickr). If you read her blog you’ll see she uses her writing and photography to describe experiences and places in such a way that you feel like you’ve been transported there.
We asked her to tell us about a few of her favorite places to travel (below), and what she wrote is a treat. We hope you enjoy!
New Orleans/USA
I’ve driven cross-country in the United States so many times I have lost track. But the first time was completely alone in 1997, from Boston to California. I connected the dots between friends’ addresses over the course of months and crossed the Mississippi River for the very first time. I saw wild ponies in Virginia, lived in an RV park in New Orleans for a month, camped on the beach in Texas, soaked in snowy hot springs in Colorado, hiked canyons in Arizona and explored the coast of California. I was offered so many couches and guest rooms and local brews and favorite taco stands and homemade pie that year, and that really is how you get to know a place, isn’t it?
French Quarter
Honduras/Central America
I celebrated my 30th birthday in Central America, where two of my best friends were living. We traveled overland by bus from Honduras to Nicaragua and finally to Costa Rica. But first I spent a month in the countryside of Honduras, where my friend Heidi was in the Peace Corps in a small town called Jesus de Otoro. Days in Otoro were languid and simple. We cooked, we played with the kittens, visited the neighbors, shopped at the market, drew pictures with the kids next door—a whole day could be spent preparing a soup for dinner or washing the laundry by hand. But it’s the kind of place that marks itself deeply in your memory with its midnight roosters cock-a-doodle-doing and coffee beans roasting over open fires.
Beans at farmer’s market in La Esperanza, Honduras
Seoul, South Korea
I have been living in Seoul for two years now. It is one of the most vibrant, complicated, amazing and soulful places I’ve ever been. I am often struck by just how much my perspective has shifted in those two years. Everything that was so strange and new when I arrived, and how very ordinary it is to me now. But still, I am constantly astounded at the enormity of this city. Just this past weekend I went to a part of Seoul I’d never been to, and it was as if I’d stumbled into some foreign alter ego. I think that is what is most interesting to me about living in a complex country like this. Just when you think you have it all figured out, it is always right there to surprise you and show you something delightfully new.
Buddhist Temple on Namhansanseong Mountain, just south of Seoul
Fukuoka, Japan
I am not really a fan of short trips. I like trips that are like long dinners, prepared carefully all day and served in several courses over the span of a whole night. So far, my time in Japan has been like an appetizer. My opinion is, therefore, underdeveloped. For instance, I believe that Japan is quite possibly perfect. It is a place that is completely its own, unique and captivating. It is very tidy, orderly and well-groomed. It makes amazing food and is extremely friendly. It has the most beautiful packaging and retail displays I have ever seen. I have a big, giant crush on Japan.
Hakata Station at Lunchtime
Hong Kong
When I went to Hong Kong in February, I realized something very important about the way I travel. I need a decompression chamber, of sorts. I can’t just jump right in. I need a day or two to breathe and get my bearings. I need some time to cling to the familiarity of my hotel, to dine within spitting distance and observe life quietly, at arm’s length. I do this everywhere I go, and it’s an unfortunate affliction for weekend trips. But just like people, it takes awhile to get to know a place, to memorize the way it smells and laughs and feels to the touch. I want to get to know places the way I know my dearest friends.
Chinese Medicine Shop in Causeway Bay
