I remember that every year when the long-awaited school holidays arrived, we did something that almost no one practices already: “the summer”. Almost three months moving the residence and daily routines to the edge of the sea and doing marathon days of beach of those so little recommended today.

Undoubtedly, the least idyllic part of that change of air was the journey by car of the four hundred and odd kilometers that separated us from the coast. The “D” day, no less expected, was in my nightmares, I was a girl whose simple smell of gasoline already made her vomit. Often the martyrdom began without even leaving the city.

What I tell as an anecdote gives me a smile when I think about it because with such a background nothing could have made me imagine that as an adult what it would cost me would be precisely to be still in a place.

Today, it is always a good time to travel. And to get involved in all those projects that give me things and make me feel good, that is why in 2012 I began to collaborate with the Gea Photowords collective, being to date one of its members

I don’t like tags. Nor would I know how to define myself as a traveler, because although I have my preferences, most of the time it is the destinations that choose me. It happens constantly: through the reading of a book, a blog entry, or viewing a movie awakes my curiosity first and then the need to move to those places. I need to bring my own impressions, especially because as much as I have been able to read or investigate on my own, the reality is richer, interesting and colorful.

I think of my first trips, where everything was thought out and planned in detail. Now every time I travel lighter and low-cost. I have been leaving behind everything that is not strictly necessary, and it is one of the best decisions I could make because in the end, no matter how impressive the cities are, or their historical past, what you take with you most fondly is the interaction and contact with people, little adventures and misadventures. My only concession is the camera and notebooks to take notes, without it the trip would not be complete.

I am no longer motivated to have a packed schedule of activities, I prefer to wander and let myself go a thousand times, stop in a beautiful place to do nothing, sit down to talk, live the moment in short.

In 2015, after returning from my then last trip to Istanbul and checking that it continues to attract and motivate me to write, I decided to create a specific section in the blog that could not be called any other thanI Love Istanbul. From here, my humble personal tribute to perhaps the most fascinating city on the planet, inspiring and seductive in equal parts, and, in which every time I return I feel that a small part of me stays. Who knows, maybe in another previous life… I already camped in these places.

Unamuno said that: “Fascism is cured by reading, and racism by traveling.” Each one may have their own opinions in this regard, but I believe that traveling certainly enriches and expands our horizons. It makes us more open people, with less prejudice, and feeds our spirit as material things cannot.

I sincerely believe that traveling is living two lives, and, from this humble window, I invite you to join me.

Ana Morales
Collaborating Photographer

He collaborates with his work as a travel photographer, contributing his images and his experience to my reports. As a graphic designer and webmaster, he is the SEO and responsible for the design of the blog.