Adam Sandler
During COVID I got really into Saturday Night Live. I don't know why, it's not always funny, but there was something about watching compilations of sketches I really enjoyed. As a creature of the internet, the sketch format lends itself so well to in jokes, repeatability and memes, it just sucked me in.
There's a great Adam Sandler skit where he's playing a travel agent where the joke is all about how 'the same sad you where you are will still be sad in Italy'. It's a great joke - if you're sad where you are, and you get on a plane to Italy, the same sad you where you are will just be in Italy. Wherever we go, we're still us.
The last few weeks, I went on my first overseas holiday since COVID went down. I flew to Hawaii for a friends' wedding and stayed there for a bit over ten days and even before I returned home, people were texting and messaging me 'how was it? what was it like?' which are questions that I always have a hard time answering.
I wasn't sad, but some days I was tired, or sick of the sun. So someone would ask 'how is it?' and I'd think 'well its hot, I'm sweaty and honestly I'm a bit sick of it today'. But that has nothing to do with Hawaii and everything to do with me. I find it funny, of course people aren't going to be super precise with their questions, but no one asks 'are you enjoying yourself?' or 'are you having fun?'.
I actually found traveling a bit hard this time. For many years I was quite an eager traveler and spent 4-6 weeks overseas a year having a blast. I enjoyed making new friends, seeing new places and enjoying life somewhere else. But this trip I found a bit harder to get in that groove. Perhaps it was Hawaii itself: a mecca of a sort of lazy tourism that I rarely enjoy. Or perhaps it was being in the USA - the bluster, busyness and commercialism just felt abrasive after so long in a quieter part of the world. But, no, I think the real answer is me: I'd lost some of that stamina for travel and shifted my focus from overseas adventures to exploring Australia. So my head wasn't in the right place to just love it.
I did have a lovely time - not working is my favourite thing - and running around a new place snapping photos and eating mangoes is a great way to spend time. I think there was something cool each day, though at the end of the trip one can't help but feel a bit sad - going back to the 9-to-5 is a bit of a let down, though being back at my house is super great. I tell you what, though, flying just kicked me in the teeth - the flight home (10 hours) I just couldn't get comfortable or sit still. I was fidgety and unsettled and really just thinking 'do I ever have to fly again?'. I tell ya, planes are a miracle, but man they suck sometimes.
So I get home and at work people are asking me a zillion questions 'how was it' blah blah. I guess sometimes I don't give people what they need - they needed gushing, over-the-top it was amazing, I gave them something a bit quieter and more pensive. People tend to read those things as disappointment or unhappiness - but that's a bit inaccurate. One of the most interesting things about travel is how it helps me see myself and experience some new perspectives. Still, folks I work with expected me to be like 'omg it was fucking lit' and I was more 'well it's a weirdly developed series of islands'.
But, for the sake of being more celebratory than navel-gazing, some highlights:
Snorkeling in schools of fish not once, twice but thrice
So much of the landscape just seems impossible, like someone has melted earth and remoulded it (which I guess is what a volcano does...)
Getting to the top of the Koko hike (if you know, you know that getting to the top is an ACHIEVEMENT)
Green Mango on the side of the road
Pineapple icecream
Waimea canyon - the whole thing
Sunsets, most nights
Late afternoon hiking in the rainforest - so green, yellow light, gentle breeze
Acai bowls
Being warm
Swimming a lot
Seeing turtles and seals - close
My gf constantly looking like inspector gadget
Also, in my art life a few small things have happened in the last few weeks:
I was invited to talk at a University, and I was able to talk a lot about the Killing Sink and Tall Poppy Press - it went well and they even suggested I do a PhD (hmm, we'll see)
I was interviewed over at Photo Collective - I really like this interview, we talk a lot about audience, next steps and true crime (which is something I'm really not that into)
Tall Poppy Press (my publishing company) released our third book - it's a banger.
After all that whinging about Europe, a gallery in the UK confirmed me for a show in September/October 2023. So looks like I've got to get sorted and (hopefully) tee up some further exhibitions while I'm there. The plan is to take 6-8 weeks off work and do a bit of a tour (if possible) while there - time to fire up the email (pray for me)
It's also grant season here in Australia so I've been increasingly working to try and get some grants for my art making in 2023. Fingers crossed.
Here are three from Hawaii, hope you're well
