Travel in 2017 – Office Thoughts..

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*Se quiserem ler este Post em Português, cliquem aqui.

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I felt the need to write this Post, sitting here on my office at lunch time (though I’m only posting on a Sunday) and really wishing to be somewhere else, travel dreaming, anywhere it’s sunny and warm. I know most of you must feel the same way, so you can understand this feeling of just leaving where you are now and go somewhere else.

In Germany, Winter is very different than in my homeland Portugal, not only because of much colder weather but because of the smaller amount of sunshine hours. There are weeks where I can’t even see the sun and I start working before sunrise and go out of work after sunset.

During this times, I think about all the travel that I’ve made and the ones I will make this year. My holidays dates are now confirmed, so I can finally start scheduling my trips 🙂

Last year 2016 Best Travel

Last year, Andreia and me, visited some amazing places and this was by far my best year in photography. My favorite photos were taken last year and my favorite trips were Cinque Terre and London.

  • Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre has to be one of the most amazing places in the world. It’s really the perfect merge between a village and a natural landscape. With 5 villages to visit (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore), this place doesn’t disappoint no one who visits it, whether you only want to visit the villages or go to the beach and swim on the amazing clear water.

  • London

London is the most awesome city where I’ve been. We were really lucky do have such great sunsets in April, when normally rains like hell..(does it really rain in hell?..Thought of the Day..).

London is the place which changed my photography the most and it was after this visit that I felt confident to start my website and share my Portfolio online. Though London is one of the most populous cities in the world, I’ve never had that feeling of too much people on the same place. London is so big, with so many places to visit and the transport system both subway as well as bus are the best I’ve seen until now. Another big plus and the most obvious thing, is that everyone speaks English. I also spoke with more strangers than I’ve ever did, because it was not only easy to speak in English (instead of German) but the people were very curious to see my photos. I’ve met other talented photographers and spoke with really a lot of Portuguese people there =)

Talking about feeling at home, on a different place.. You can read my Post of the 10 Best Spots in London to Photograph.

2017 Travel Plan

So this year the plan stays the same, being 3 weeks in Portugal to visit Family and Friends and 3 weeks traveling. From these 3 weeks, one week is to stay on a big City, one week on a more natural and relaxed place and the last week to stay on a smaller city with a mixture of landscape, with sunny weather.

  • April

In April, on my birthday, we are going to Berlin and Hamburg by train. It’s a much longer trip on the high speed train (around 9 hours) but we found a great price for this, comparing with an airplane. We want to stay around 4 days there and then catch a train to Hamburg where we will stay for 3 more days. I’m very excited both Berlin and Hamburg which are the biggest cities in Germany by population. There are lots of opportunities to take some great Cityscape photos so I hope that the weather gods help us! (Rain dance..anyone? =D)

  • July

In July we have 3 weeks of vacation and 2 of them will be in Lisbon, to visit family and friends. It’s actually quite difficult to find time to take photos, although I have so many spots which I’m looking forward to add to my Portfolio.

On the other week of July the plan is to go to the amazing Dolomites, which are a very well known area in the Italian Alps. We have to drive 4 to 5 hours from our home. I’m finding some difficulties knowing where to sleep, to be able to have easy access to the spots I want to visit. Not sure if we stay at an apartment rented on Airbnb or on a camping site. If anyone has any tips, let me know on the comments below!

  • October

Then on the anniversary of Andreia, we have one week but it’s still an open point. There are many places which I want to visit. I’m thinking about a merge between nature and city. At this time, my ideas are: Meteora, Greece; Santorini, Greece; Dubrovnik, Croatia and Malta.

All of them are on the south of Europe, because at this time we really want to go somewhere sunny. Well, at least more sunny than here.. It’s still an open point, but I hope to find a nice price for any of this places.

  • December

Finally in December, this year unfortunately I can’t spend Christmas in Lisbon..but still we’ll be there a week before =)

What’s Next?

Throughout this year I will test some new equipment that I acquired. I’m beyond excited for what’s coming and the places I will show to you!

We are also very excited for 2018, when we will have some great new projects and plans to do a lot more travel. But more on that later this year =)

Do you have any travel planned for this year? Let me know where you will go or what you would love to visit this year!

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Happy shooting!

Luis Pina