The Importance of a Road Trip

“Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.”
| Erol Ozan

My year 2019 was loaded with many challenges in my academic life as a scientist. My team hs grown significantly in size to a group of about 25 wonderful personalities (https://www.socialnetworks.uzh.ch/en.html). In parallel their maturity has grown as well. With such an amazing collection of backgrounds, skills and experiences we have also shifted our research interests more towards topics that are relevant to society. As such we do research on human values, the way they emerge and change over a lifetime, how we are influenced by our environment and the relationships we build up, the role of the educational system and social processes on human values and the way these values impact our welfare and sustainable lifestyle. I do believe that values are something essential in our life and that a pure heart is capable to return more.

In consequence, I had to unfortunately play down my time investment into photography a lot almost to nothing. I suffered. I regretted it. This has created an incredible hunger and need to feel myself and follow this huge passion more in 2020. Thus, one of the main objectives for 2020 is to give my thoughts and passions more room to bloom.

In 2017, the adventure photographer Chris Burkhard published an article about the importance of a road trip (https://www.redbull.com/us-en/chris-burkard-photography-road-trip-inspiration). In this article he looked at the life of the father of landscape photography Anselm Adams and his dedication to making the photograph. Anselm used the time being out in the field as creative tool to “submit himself to a place for a period of time by living in the paces he photographed and devoting days to document a place”. Chris argues that the careers of many top talented artists blossomed from a road trip that allowed them to be one with the camera. It is this immersion that makes us forget everything else, including the complexity of the world and just focus on creation. The world we have created always demands for short term results, not considering the importance of these self-reflective immersion moments in which we may create something capable to change the world.

In 2020 I see myself being on that road trip in which I’d like to give myself more room to be silent, listen to my inner voice, reflect, create and breath with my camera.

May you all have the opportunity to listen, feel and create in 2020.

With my best wishes for your road trip in 2020.

References

Burkhard, Chris. Here’s Why a Road Trip Is a Rite of Passage, published on redbull.com, Nov. 17, 2017, https://www.redbull.com/us-en/chris-burkard-photography-road-trip-inspiration.

Jarvis, Chase. The Chase Jarvis Life Show with Chris Burkhard: Say Yes to What you Want, no. 182, Dec. 25, 2019, https://www.chasejarvis.com/project/chase-jarvis-live-podcast/.