It’s Christmas Day, and as 2025 comes to an end, it’s the perfect time to look back on your year of journeys, the memories you created and the photographs you made. I hope that your year was one of discovery, not only of new locations but of yourself. As my ideas and plans for travel in 2026 are now at the forefront, I look back at what still seems fresh.

I travelled when I was younger. I took a handful of trips to Montreal, Quebec, to visit my aunt or road trips across the border in Maine with my mother. Growing up in New Brunswick, Canada, cross-border drives were not uncommon. In my teens, I recall driving to Calais, Maine, to purchase CDs and cassettes that were unavailable at home. A fantastic music store just over the border had an incredible selection of hip-hop albums.

As photographers, we can focus on the result more than the experience. We can research our destinations, looking for the “best” place to get the “best” photographs. Learning more about our destination is a logical and appropriate step to learn more about what to expect and what to hope to experience when we arrive, but focusing on the experience should be the point.