Sitting here in Ishigaki, I can’t help but chuckle when I think back on Osaka. The two couldn’t feel more different, especially after the quiet simplicity of Taketomi, a small island just off Ishigaki where I had spent a night.

When I arrived at our hotel in Hakone, I exhaled. Not just because we had made it—but because getting there had already been a lot. The rain had been relentless.

I’m sitting here, staring out at the sea on a small Okinawan island—closer to Taiwan than mainland Japan. It feels like a place that exists slightly outside of everything else. And I’m thinking about how I thought this part of the trip would be the easiest to write about.

Hi, I’m Emily—the photographer and writer behind Odisea, a photography-led publication devoted to the stories of place. After more than 20 years in marketing, I began reshaping my life around travel…

Who am I becoming? I find myself asking this on the cusp of entering 2026, standing at the threshold of a new chapter. I wrote the first lines of this piece late at night, aware of time…

I write this from a place that feels like home, but not my home—sitting on the lanai of our condo in Kaʻanapali, Maui, overlooking the ocean. The Hawaiian air is warm and heavy with humidity.

I didn’t expect Cusco to feel the way it did. By the time we arrived, our little tour group was coming down from the intensity of Machu Picchu—the logistics, the timing, the crowds…

I didn’t expect to start writing this on Thanksgiving Day. Holidays have a way of bringing up feelings about home, family, and what remains when the people who shaped us are no longer here.

After three weeks of traveling alone, joining a tour felt like an exhale I didn’t know I needed. I’d been solo before—Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Chile—but something about this stretch in Peru wore on me…

Puno, Peru makes Arequipa feel like a major urban city. The drive from Juliaca Airport—about an hour through the dry, cluttered landscape—reminded me of Atacama, Chile at first…

Life in Arequipa, Peru feels simple. In the city’s historic center—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—white colonial buildings glow against the Andean light, their iron balconies twisting…

The one thing that stands out to me most about Valparaíso is color. It’s everywhere I look. No wall is untouched—seriously. Art lives on every surface: sides of buildings, retaining walls…

As I write this, I’m sitting in my hotel’s little restaurant in San Pedro de Atacama, sipping a complimentary glass of sparkling wine after another long tour day. Frank Sinatra is crooning…

As you drive into Torres del Paine, you’re struck by the sheer grandeur—the otherworldly beauty, the majesty—of the mountains rising before you. Majesty can be defined as impressive beauty…

In Patagonia, our mornings went something like this: the night before, over dinner, our instructor would outline the next day’s plan. There was always a sunrise shoot—because why not?

As we wrap up our last full day on Rapa Nui, I find myself thinking again about what it might be like to live here. It would be a simple life—one free of the material trappings of American society.

The first full day of the Nikon photography workshop began before dawn on Rapa Nui—better known as Easter Island. We woke in the darkness and climbed into the van, headed to Ahu Tongariki…

Perfection. I’ve chased it my whole life—at work, in relationships, even in the way I communicate. But this journey is teaching me to let go. To see how perfection, instead of fueling confidence…

The Castle View is simple, but deeply comfortable—like home. At the entrance, a little sign hangs from the staircase banister: Smile, Giggle, Be Silly. It sets the tone instantly—playful, warm…

Last night and this morning, I found myself in an internal struggle—an argument with myself. Yesterday, with sunshine finally breaking through the clouds, I packed it all in.