Red-headed Nomad

"Today is a sunny day!!"
I screamed in my mind. People who do not live in Seattle may not understand this, but it was a big thing for me. I was sick of clouds and rain. Anyway, it was a perfect day to bring my Nikon and get out. I wanted to shoot both the city and Mt. Rainier, so the only place I could think of was Kerry Park. I have been to that place innumerable times, but I feel every time there is something new and Mt. Rainier and Seattle never fail to surprise me. I found a really nice position to shoot the city, so I settled my tripod there and politely asked people to move aside (basically, to fuck off) when they came in front of my camera.

After a while, a woman came besides me with her camera gear and wide-angle lens. She gave me a look which said, "Oh damn! You took the spot I wanted," but later seemed to be happy with her spot too. She told me, "Please let me know if I am in your way." "Don't worry, you're not," I replied. She was a middle-aged woman, maybe in her early thirties. She looked like a minimalistic traveler, maybe a hippy, but a happy hippy. "What is she doing here, who is she, where had she come from?" So many questions started coming to my mind but couldn't ask her. I finally gave up and asked her, "What brings you here?" She nicely replied "I am a traveler and a photography blogger." I was like, "Wow! What an amazing profession you have." In the heart, I am a traveler and photographer too. I instantly felt connected. "So how do you manage to travel? Did you save money and traveling?" I assumed she must be working somewhere too because you need money to travel. Period. "I sold my house, all my belongings, everything I had, quit my job and decided to travel the world," she replied. I was awestruck, shocked and confused at the same time. For a second, I refused to believe people like that exist and if they do, one of them is in front of me right now. Most of the people put photos and videos on social media just to get attention and feel good about themselves, but traveling is a serious affair. One should be ready to live like a minimalist, ready to compromise on sleep and food. Many times, they must sleep in freezing cold temperatures and extreme weather. In a moment, I had a smile on my face and immense respect for her in my heart.

"One day I just had enough, I was frustrated with my job. So, I quit it for my own good and here I am today. I have never been so happy in my life," she continued. In the moment I felt like doing the same but then a voice screamed in my mind and said those magical words - "You have a loan," and then I silenced my thoughts of quitting the job.
"I am a minimalistic traveler. I don’t need many things. Sometimes I get sponsors who pay for my travel ticket. Sometimes I stay with couchsurfers; if not, I have my sleeping bag and I can put anywhere. I don’t need a fancy place to sleep," she explained.
"Do you know Couchsurfing?" she asked.
"Yes. I have hosted couple of people and I am friends with them now. One guy from Argentina and a girl from Czech Republic. They were amazing people with interesting stories. I like to make friends and listen to their stories".
"In India, there is a saying in Sanskrit, 'Atithi Devo Bhava,' which means a guest is like a god. The poorest of the poor people in India will treat their guests with respect and provide food, shelter and water if they can. It’s a part of our culture." I continued and then we had a long conversation about cultural differences between India and the US. I got to know that she has a master’s degree in Public Relations. She shared many of her experiences with different people and situations, from spending nights on a desert with freezing cold temperatures in Utah, getting drenched for a whole day by rainfall during one of her expeditions, walking several miles for water, meeting random people in Florida and watching a sunset on a beach from a skyscraper, sleeping in a truck when she lost her tent. Her life was full of amazing stories and I was simply listening like a kid, mesmerized and awestruck.
By this time, it was already dark and we were done taking photos of the Seattle skyline. After having a nice scoop of ice cream from Molly Moons, we headed for Burger and Kabob Hut to have dinner. Later, she wanted to visit Gas Works Park at night to get a nice view of the Seattle skyline. As soon as we reached there, we were really surprised to see people performing fire dancing. There were people performing stunts with bicycles, some people were playing the guitar. I have never explored this part of Seattle before. I was indeed happily surprised.

While taking photos, she told me she is going to pursue a PhD in Public Relations in August and got an assistantship from a college in Virginia. She also told me that there is no age limit to learn something new and we should always be hungry for knowledge. My respect for her doubled.
While bidding adieu, we realized that we haven't asked for our names yet. I was really amazed and surprised with the thought that we meet strangers, share our stories, talk about life without any kind of formal introduction, let alone knowing each other’s names.
"I am Talor Stone, the red-headed nomad," she said while handing over her card and contact number. 
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Talor. You are an inspiration and we will be in touch for sure," I said before she went away for her next expedition.

After taking photos in Seattle, she was heading towards Mt. Rainier to shoot Reflection Lake during sunrise and she would sleep in her car. After that, she would drive to Alaska alone for two weeks just to click that one perfect shot in the hope of seeing the Northern Lights. We both knew it was not a good time to visit Alaska for the Northern Lights, but one thing I learned from her was that "it’s worth taking the risk." :)