MSP > LAX > AKL > CHC > MEL freewrite!

Hey, Steemit! I’m back on the road. Just landed in Los Angeles. I’m here for one day. I have an engagement shoot in a few hours. Until then, I’ll be hanging in DTLA close to the venue I’m shooting. I’m right next to the International Global Market. I brought @vermillionfox and @guthrie here almost exactly one year ago. I’m also just a few blocks from The Millennium Biltmore Hotel. This was the venue I hosted two NOIR I LA events. It’s stirring a lot of memories, mostly good, but overall, just that it’s hard to believe I’ve been shooting in Los Angels for almost seven years now! When you grow up in a town like Scranton, PA, Hollywood seems like another world. It’s hitting me that I’ve made so many memories in that “other world”.

I’m enjoying a $7 pour over at Blue Bottle Coffee downtown. These few hours are the calm before the storm. Once I finish this shoot, I’ll be trying to find a place to settle in for the night. Yeah. I don’t have a place to stay as of now. That kind of thing drives @vermillionfox nuts, but it’s pretty regular for me while on the road working. Stressful sometimes, but it always works out. I can only recall one time in my 20 years as a professional photographer that I was stranded with no where to stay. Since I’m only here for one day, I also don’t have a rental car or a loaner. That’s frustrating because you can’t get around Los Angeles without a car. The worst public transportation of any city I’ve ever seen.

Tomorrow evening, I leave for Auckland, New Zealand. It’ll be a 14 hour flight there, and once I arrive, I’ll be meeting with my longtime friend, Ella. Her pinup/blogging persona is Miss Victory Violet. Since 2015, I’ve seen her [...and shot with her many of those years] during Viva Las Vegas. This’ll be my first time visiting her in her home country, and it’ll by far, the furthest I’ll have been from home. This entire trip has a lot of crypto-market tie in. I see a lot of “STEEM is a great investment!” posts, and contrastingly, “STEEM is a shitcoin!” posts. Next months is my three year anniversary on Steemit, so I’m not going anywhere, it’s also not all about money.

That said, money is a part of it. It is. In 2017, I mapped out my next few years. New Zealand and Australia wasn’t a part of those plans. Staying home and drawing comics. That was my plan. The two year bear market extended my crypto-holdings far beyond my worst expectations. I’d hoped we were right around the corner for a massive turn around, but at this point, I’ve given up that hope. I wouldn’t have a problem HODLing, but with a family, tons of bills and expenses, it just wasn’t an option. The choice became either burning through the last of my crypto, or booking shooting even further away than Los Angeles and New York City.

I’m confident this is all part of some divine plan. I have the strangest relationship with travel. I do it all the time, but I don’t have a wanderlust soul like @anomadsoul or @eveuncovered. I’m often content to stay in Minneapolis playing Magic: The Gathering with @tarotbyfergus, @treigh-c, @vermillionfox and @dartstrife. Need is the necessity of introspection, I guess. It is the need that has brought me to this trip, and this trip will most likely have an impact on my life in some significant way. Bringing it back to the beginning of this post, reminiscing on the memories I’ve made in LA, it’s amazing to think of the memories I’m about to make in New Zealand and Australia.

That’s the rest of the itinerary. Auckland for several shoots with Miss Victory Violet. I’ll have one day to visit Hobbiton [The Shire from Lord Of The Rings]. Ella and I will be flying down to Christchurch midweek, then doing another series of dark pinup sessions. To my surprise and elation, looking at the schedule last night, I’ll have one, maybe even two days in Christchurch! Around the first of August, I’ll be flying to Melbourne, Australia. I have about six shoots there, all with outstanding models. Some have been long time Instragram friends I’ll be meeting for the first time. Melbourne looks incredible. Travel weary, yes, but I do feel lucky to see these places.

So, this wasn’t meant to be a lengthy freewrite, but that’s exactly what it’s become. I’m getting sideways glares from the hipster baristas. I’ve been here few hours and apparently I’ve overstayed my welcome [...my $7 pour over begs to differ]. I need make this post quick, then thinking about this evening’s shoot. Food wouldn’t be a bad idea either, considering the Global Market is right across the street. I’ll be writing more. I mean, I’m looking at 13 hours on a plane, so what else am I going to do? Thanks for reading. For more photography, art, illustration and thoughts on life, follow me here @kommienezuspadt