About Us
We are Laurie and Bryan, and our passions are traveling and photography. We met in college and started our adventures together right away, although it took many years for us to get to the point where we would be comfortable jetting off to remote locations without reservations. Our first few trips together were small and short - a few weeks of camping through the Southwest, and then backpacking through Italy. And from there it grew. We saved our money and vacation time to take a four week trip through Central America in 2004. We did it on the cheap, staying at hostels and getting around on the "chicken bus". Somewhere in those remote jungles and hidden beaches we fell in love with the way that "roughing it" got us closer to the local people and culture in a way that an organized tour never could. We were hooked. The next year we spent three weeks blitzing through Eastern Europe and the Balkans to Istanbul, which quickly made the top of our favorite cities list.
In 2006 we were married and took a three month honeymoon through Southeast Asia. It was to be "the big trip" as we made our way from Hong Kong to Singapore over land. But along the way we met many other travelers who thought our trip was actually too short. Why not just keep going? What was to be "the trip of a lifetime" soon turned into a lifetime passion. Unfortunately, we needed more money and time. We went home inspired to do more. We started new jobs in a new city, but soon felt the urge to plan something else. So, in January of 2009 we set off on a year-long trip around the world, visiting Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India & Nepal, and Japan.
We eventually returned home to restart our lives, but have done some shorter trips since then. Recently in the summer of 2011 we visited China and Mongolia for two months. We saw more of China that we missed on our first visit, and Mongolia was a stunning surprise of adventure and culture.
Our Photos
Along the way we found that photos make the best souvenirs. And we got hooked on that, too. In many ways we have become collectors. Photography helps us gain a new perspective and document our journeys. Looking for a great photo helps us to see new people and places in different ways. While our trips are not solely about taking pictures, we can't deny that it has become a large part of our enjoyment while traveling. We prefer to shoot in natural light and capture the scene as it unfolds in front of us. We want to showcase the amazing cultures and people of the places we visit in a spontaneous and documentary style.
Collective Lens
Our hobby and passion for photography also turned into something more. During our various travels, our desire to raise awareness of global poverty led to the formation of Collective Lens: Photography for Social Change. So many people around the world live in conditions that those of us in the west can only imagine. Even worse, our media is dominated by celebrity excess while most people in the world live on under $2 per day. Collective Lens was started as a nonprofit to help promote important causes and charity work around the world through visual media.
Budget Your Trip
Also, while traveling we kept extensive records of our travel costs. Many people ask us how it's possible to spend an entire year traveling around the world. We saved money and worked hard to make it happen, but knowing how much hotels and buses cost ahead of time can make the planning process easier. We then had the idea to start Budget Your Trip, a website where people can share travel costs from around the world. As current travelers track their budgets, future travelers can learn about average costs for food, accommodation, and transportation in nearly two thousand cities around the world.