Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

It is August 1986. Ed from St. Louis sits beside me in a natural hot springs pool in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories. We are soaking our sore bodies after a long day of travelling hundreds of miles of gravel road. Ed and I are sharing stories from the road. He and his wife have just returned from Alaska, driving their motorhome through some of the most spectacular scenery on earth. Wolves, moose, salmon, crystal clear lakes, grizzlies and remote snow-covered mountain ranges are all part of the landscape in this part of the world. A magical place, still unspoiled by human intervention. “There is nothing up here!” Ed says, “what a waste of time and money. Can’t wait to get back to civilization!” I didn’t argue with Ed, obviously beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, but his comments were a lesson to me: The moment I stop to look for beauty everywhere, to marvel in the mystery in nature and to acknowledge the magic all around me, I might as well be dead!

To me, every journey is a quest – a quest to find myth, beauty, mystery and magic in places and people I have not seen or met before. Discovery doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes, you have to scratch the surface to see the beauty or ask questions to discover the mystery.