Ahhhhh Italy... oh how I miss you! It was April this year that my good friend Jeremy Beasley (an incredible wedding photographer from Australia) asked me if I wanted to be a second shooter for him at a wedding in Tuscany. I actually had to think about it for a second. On one hand I had only just arrived in Vancouver and all I wanted to do was get settled in, find a job and live the simple life for a few months. But on the other hand I had Italy, Tuscany, and the thought of 2 best mates photographing a wedding together in a food and wine paradise. A new adventure was clearly calling. This one I knew I couldn't pass up. It has been my dream to travel the world taking photographs, and here was another chance to do so. I decided to go.

Before I knew it June had reared it's head and I found myself climbing out of a plane and stepping foot on sunny Italian soil. Even though I had been to Italy before I always try to travel with zero expectations. So when I arrived in this new country my heart began to pound like a kid on their first trip to Disneyland. So many new experiences to be had, so much pasta to eat, and oh so much wine to drink! Not to mention the people you meet! In Italy I found it has some of the kindest, gentlest, most hospitable people you are ever likely to come across. Their faces are filled with character, their hearts are full of soul.

Below are a few snap shots from Day 1 of my 15 day journey.

Stay tuned, more photos coming soon to get your Italian travel bug grumbling!

It's funny how things turn out, we can go over in our minds a hundred times how we think a situation will play out, but in reality there are far to many variables for us to accurately predict an outcome. Before I left Australia I had plans of what I was going to accomplish during my time in Vancouver. Where I would to travel to, what I would be photographing and the sorts of people I would be meeting. Then reality hit, and not in a bad way, just in a way that I hadn't predicted. I was faced with either trying to hang onto the plans I had predetermined in my head or just to go with the flow and see where it led me. I chose the latter, either out of laziness or perhaps I was just looking for excitement in the fact that I didn't know where I would end up. Whatever the case I occasionally ended up questioning myself on the decision. I wondered if I had wasted opportunities. Opportunities that would take me months of saving up capital to get back again. But I know that sort of thinking only leads to negative ends, and ultimately regrets.

I think when we are faced with that uncertainty all we have to do is look at ourselves and ask a simple question. Am I happy?

Who knows, what if back in the day you had taken a different path to the one your on now, you might have ended up in a better financial situation, by chance became famous or even found a new love. What you should really think is who gives a shit. That path could have just as easily led you down a road where you got hit by a bus. Over the top perhaps, but life is unpredictable. Just be happy for what you have right now, if your alive, if you have friends and family who care for you, if you have enough money for a roof over your head and some food on the table then life is good.

For me, even though I am not on my chartered course right now, I know I have always been sailing in the right direction. These last 5 months... this incredible summer... has been unforgettable and simply beautiful. I want to thank every person that played a part, you made it special. From the homeless guy that collected empty beer bottles from my bedroom window when I was hungover and cheered me up, to my mate who dragged me across the Atlantic to photograph a wedding in Italy and everyone in between. You made it magical. So am I happy? A resounding fuck yes would be the answer.

With Van City's sun shining bright, I've been living the dream life.

Here's to the people:

The homeless guy who collected empty bottles from my bedroom window