Notes from the Mountain

For twelve days, almost everything around me felt unfamiliar. Not just the obvious things. The plants. The color of the soil. The smell after the sun came up. The way people made use of what the land offered. Even the silence sounded different.

I recently spent twelve days in South Africa, and if there's one thing I wish everyone could experience at least once, it's the feeling of stepping into a place that couldn't be more different from home.

It's hard to explain until you're there.

You quickly realize there isn't just one way a landscape should look, one way a forest should smell, or one way people should live. Everything has been shaped by where it is.

And somehow, that's incredibly refreshing.

One of my favorite parts of traveling isn't checking another destination off a list. It's realizing how quickly we accept our own surroundings as "normal." Until suddenly...they're not. Seeing another corner of the world reminds you that beauty comes in countless forms.

Different plants.

Different wildlife.

Different colors.

Different traditions.

Different ways of living alongside nature.

And after seeing all of that...you come home seeing your own backyard just a little differently, too.

This trip filled more than a camera roll. It filled pages of ideas. Colors I hadn't noticed before. Textures that don't exist here.

Landscapes that immediately made me start thinking, "How would I capture that in a bar of soap?" I don't know exactly what those soaps will become yet...but I have a feeling Africa will find its way into the workshop before long.

One of the funny things about leaving home is that it often makes you appreciate it even more. But I also hope you get the chance, whenever you can, to step outside what's familiar.