Travel, Photography, and Life with Brendan van Son

This is a travel story. The story about how I stowed away on an iron ore train in the west African country of Mauritania.

There are 10 things (well, let's be honest - way more than that) that annoy me in the photography world right now. In my latest live-stream podcast, I talk about them all.

This is the story about the time I got culture shock in Dublin, Ireland of all places. I know, a professional travel writer and photographer getting culture shock is a bit of a funny scenario. But it happens, and the truth is that it happens more often than people realize. It happens to travellers when they're not expecting to get it. And it happens to travel photographers even when they've seen the whole world. And sometimes, it even happens at home.

This week I live streamed telling the story leading up to when I photographed my sister's wedding. I was so broke I almost missed the wedding. And the photos were so badly edited, I wonder if she regretted me photographing it.

I get asked a lot about my favourite countries to travel, but I rarely get asked which countries I didn't like. This podcast I talk about some travel experiences I didn't love.

I've been going through a lot. Not only have I been dealing with some physical struggles needing a major knee surgery. I also have definitely been in need of some mental health help. Luckily, I've gotten that.

I really love Medellin, Colombia. I love the people, the city, and the city was like home to me in 2009-2010. But, it's also the place I was kidnapped. I've held off from telling this story for a long time because I really don't want to disparage the people of Colombia, and didn't want my family to worry. But, I think it's been long enough. So, this is the story about the time I was kidnapped (for a night) in Colombia.

I'm going to weigh into the area of AI photography and, maybe more so, AI generated photography. On this episode, I talk about how it's sort of ruined my feelings about photography. Also I dive into the legality of AI generated photography and talk about some other related topics. Some of the links I mentioned in the photography podcast are: The blog post: https://brendansadventures.com/is-ai-photography-here-to-stay-ethics-goals-and-questions/ My WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaE8plt5fM5WZ2oSPD1W My Photo Workshops: https://brendansadventures.com/travel-photography-workshops/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message

This was one of the wildest 6 days of my life. I spent 5 nights sleeping on buses. I didn't change my clothes, and I must have smelled horribly. I travelled all the way from Annai, Guyana to Medellin, Colombia via Venezuela over 6 days without sleeping in a bed. I hitchhiked with some less-than-ideal members of Venezuelan society. I got stuck in Caracas. And I just had a bunch of weird things happen. This is the story of that series of unfortunate events in Venezuela. Story about Annai: https://www.brendansadventures.com/whats-in-a-road-a-look-into-guyanas-north-rupununi/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message

So, no storytelling today, just photography. I just got back from Patagonia, and I had an awesome time. We made lots of great photos, and had some really special moments. But, I did spot a lot of photographers making mistakes. In fact, I think that this is the first time I've been around so many other photographers in awhile, and I was definitely more aware. On today's episode, then, I'm going to walk through 4 mistakes landscape photographers make. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message

Back in 2011 I arrived in Suriname. This is the story about how I got there, and the series of misadventures that led to me being totally broke. I slept on the beach because I couldn't afford a hotel. I snuck food from hostel fridges. I did all I could to survive the simple fact that I just didn't have any money what-so-ever. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message

I became a travel photographer almost on accident. I had the goal of travelling, and I was following the mantra of "find what you love doing, and then find out how to make money that way." I loved travel, and be it leading tours, writing, driving tour buses, or taking photos I was going to travel for a living no matter what. This is the story about how I accidentally became a travel photographer. https://www.youtube.com/brendanvanson --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message

Travel photography is a career I sort of fell into. Along there way, there were countless stories. On this podcast, I'm going to focus on the stories that brought me to where I am today. Whether it's being broke and sleeping on beaches in Brazil, or nearly dying in the Congo, or travelling all of Africa on a scooter, these are the stories way behind the photos. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/brendanvanson/message