I’ve been talking about it for months and now it’s ready!

Getting Out of Auto is being published in collaboration with Almost Fearless, and the official launch is in just a few days! Next Monday (August 1st) is the big date and I am VERY excited!

Getting Out of Auto is a photography ebook that covers the basics of photography along with a lot of creative extras, step by step instructions, composition tutorials, historical photography facts and inspirational quotes from world famous photographers.

Seriously, I put a TON of information in this ebook. It was been a real labor of love and I am really, really happy with the results. It’s in the review stage now and has opened to some amazing compliments!

So what the heck is in this thing? A LOT – I’m serious! I have packed this book full of great information, including how to’s, tips, tricks of the trade & cheat sheets! Check out the table of contents:

Here’s a little sneak peek at what’s inside:

If you learned anything at all in the few pages above, imagine what you might get out of the entire book.

What Are Other People Saying?

The reviews are just starting to roll in. Here’s the first one!

“This is the book I wish I had read when I first got serious about photography.”

– Wes Nations of JohnnyVagabond.com

For the official launch next week, we’ll be having photographers week at Almost Fearless. Lots of great photographers are sharing three of their favorite photos and their thoughts about photography. It’s going to be great and I’m honored to also be a part of it! On Monday, we’ll also be hosting an official launch on Beers & Beans, and I’ll be putting up a couple more sneak peek pages for the book and elaborating on the contents and reviews!

If you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost I have great news – it’s only $10! It’s over 70 pages and a great deal! When I elaborate more on it next week, you’ll get an even better idea of what’s inside!

Next week is going to be a really exciting week here at Beers & Beans and on Almost Fearless. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about something!

Thank you all for reading our blog and taking the time to read and comment on our photos and posts. Truthfully if it wasn’t for you guys, this blog wouldn’t be where it is today. Most likely Getting Out of Auto wouldn’t even exist. I wrote this book for all of you who are trying improve your photography. I put a lot of heart and soul into it so that you would get a lifetime of help from it and TONS of knowledge and inspiration.

O.K., I’m getting wordy and it’s 3 a.m. – more to come on Monday!

Yes, sadly it is true.

As my dad is trying to recuperate in the hospital I can’t help but think that my father, the man who gave me the gift of wanderlust, has had his own traveling days cut short due to his health problems which have spiraled out of the control for the past few years.

As far as travelers go, my parents were pretty bad-ass. We made it to almost every state (48 out of 50) and usually with no itinerary.

Me & Dad

They haven’t done much in the way of international travel but they have given me and my sisters an up front and personal view of the United States. In my youth we spent weeks traveling the country, usually in search of same post apocalyptic, forgotten cowboy town. My dad is obsessed with cowboys and Indians and the good ole’ American West. A typical trip would involve flying somewhere and renting a van while we traversed the western states for weeks on end. Often times we would spend 8 – 12 hours a day in the car all while on search of towns that barely existed.

Dad, me, Kate & Bridgette leaving New Mexico. Why was I allowed to wear those hideous shorts?

Sometimes it was awesome. Sometimes to a teenager, such as myself, it was not awesome at all. I remember one tiny town we rolled into a donkey came to greet us and then a toothless man who was 1 of the 6 remaining residents. The donkey stuck his head in our car window and tried to eat my fathers shirt – much to our amusement. As kids we got really good at entertaining ourselves on these long trips and would play the most random games, such as counting cattle guards or bridges. For our reward, the winner would get a dollar! Somehow this still seemed like a good deal to us.

Now you should know my father is the curious sort. He takes his sweet time going anywhere new and I know I’m just like him because it drives me batty when Randy just wants to cruise through something quickly. I mean how can you really see it if you’re going so fast!?! I can drive the same street several times just looking at ‘stuff’. To top it off, my father is a National Park junkie. His goal was to see every National Park in the US and honestly we made a good dent and have seen most of them. My mother however is just the opposite and if she mangaged to get the wheel we would go whizzing through areas with barely a stop. So of course my dad never wanted to relinquish the driving role and my mother drove like a speed demon whenever she had her chance. When she was behind the wheel all we saw were blurs of famous monuments or attractions. It was always a big running joke in our family.

Me, Dad and Bridge at Howes Caverns

To give you an idea of the slow “take every minute in” kind of driving my dad would do let me paint this picture:

We were in Yellowstone National Park and my father wanted nothing more than to see a bear. Wherever we went seeing a bear was on the top of the list. As good kids we dutifully pushed our heads against the windows and shouted out whenever we saw a black dot in the forest that somewhat resembled a bear. We stopped for each and every possible bear sighting but they always turned out to be rocks or tree stumps. There are a lot of things that look like bears in the woods! This drove my mother mad. By the time we reached Yellowstone my father was in a full bear frenzy. We still had not seen a bear in our travels and come hell or high water he was going to find one. In a way it’s bizarre since my parents live in the country and we have bears that walk through their backyard. Somehow though in my fathers mind these these bears are very different than any bear you would spot at a National Park. And for some strange reason all this man ever wanted was to see a bear on vacation at a U.S. National Park.

So one day he came up with the great idea that instead of waiting for a bear to come lumbering out of the woods on it’s own we should lure a bear out into the open so we could all see it. How would we do this? With peanut butter of course.  Because as dad accurately reasoned – what mammal in the world doesn’t love the smell of peanut butter?

Bridgette, me and dad on a boat. My father loves boats.

We went to a restaurant and ordered lunch and the diner happened to have the little packets of jelly and peanut butter on the table. Which was great news to my dad because now we would not have to buy multiple jars at the grocery story. Much to my mothers mortification we took them all. My father sent us as his happy, eager minions to collect countless teeny tiny containers of peanut butter not only from our table but all the other tables around us. We regaled in this mission because it meant we might see a bear but more importantly because our mother, rightly so, was thoroughly embarassed by the entire episode.

(A side note: My dad was the perfect father to have as a young kid because he is quite mischievous himself. When we were little he was always encouraging us to do silly things. One time he and I had a spitball competition of who could blow the biggest spitball into a woman’s wig (this poor lady had the misfortune of was sitting at a booth in front of us) without her noticing it. She walked out with about 10 spitballs in her hair and never noticed a single one! He also showed us how to make straws long enough so we could put our sodas on the floor and still drink them. Whenever we went skiing without my mother we would go on pixy stix benders. He would buy me and my sister an endless supply of 3 foot pixy stixs which we would suck down before we barreled down the slopes like sugar crazed addicts. Ahhh, the 80′s when you could eat straight sugar without being guilt ridden. As kids, any activity with dad was pretty much a guaranteed good time but my mother was usually horrified at his hijinks.)

Meeting Goofy on our first trip to Disney World!

So on this day in Yellowstone with the little packets of peanut butter in hand my dad decided that the best way to attract a bear was if all of us (my mother refused further involvement after about 15 seconds) opened the packets, held them out through the car windows and drove at the break neck speed of about 2 miles per hour through the park. This way the bears could get a good sniff and would come out of their hiding spots looking for the tasty treat. Then my dad could finally see a bear and snap the picture he wanted so badly for years. I’m sure this excruciatingly slow and embarrassing drive was more than my mom could bear but me and my sisters thought it was awesome.

We never did see a bear.

After this charade my mother had seen all she needed so she made sure in Colorado that she was going to drive and we were going to get somewhere, anywhere fast. So when she scored herself a big day of driving she used it to her full advantage. On that particular day we were supposed to visit the Garden of the Gods. As we  sped through the National Park my father was literally screaming with the window open and pointing at rocks saying all in one breath – “Look kids this is the Garden of the Gods. Of course you can’t see it because your mother drives like a bat out of hell but look at it – this is it! Aren’t the red rocks nice?!? Whoops, there it goes – Kids that WAS the Garden of the Gods, we sure saw that in a flash!” It was hysterical and had us all in stitches. We sped through that place without stopping once. We didn’t see much but it really was a lot of fun since everyone, even my mother, was laughing so much.

Me, Dad, Kate & Bridgette about to enter a cave. The awesome shorts make a comeback.

My parents also rarely planned a steady itinerary. They had an idea of where we would go but that was it. We would head off and stop where we wanted and found a hotel when we were tired. A couple times we got screwed and couldn’t find places to stay. One time we had to stay in the conference room of a hotel because everywhere was booked for miles (due to a fly fishing competition), we also had to sleep in the car and another time we had to actually stay at a real dive that was actually called the Bates Motel. My mother made us sleep on top of the covers and we couldn’t take our shoes off just in case we had to leave quickly. We also stayed in some historic hotels and really fancy digs in special places as well. I’m sure it’s because of their free wheeling travel style that I am so adverse to travel planning. They raised a bunch of ‘go where the road leads’ kids. We had a great childhood with a lot of amazing memories – that is for sure.

For years my sisters Bridgette, Kate and I have been trying to get them to travel internationally (besides Canada) and have had no luck. It’s not that they don’t want to go it’s because my father is afraid to go. I know in his heart he wants to see other parts of the world (he started crying the minute I skyped him with his cousins from Lacedonia, Italy) but he is nervous because of his health.

Leaf peeping in New England.

He told me once he is afraid to travel because he worries that something could happen to him and he won’t be able to get to a hospital. On top of that is the additional fear that the hospital might not have enough knowledge to help him. I told him we could get him we could get him travel insurance that even includes coverage of airlift by helicopter. It did seem to excite him a bit but didn’t assuage all of his fears.

But we’re still holding out hope because much like the elusive bear sightings there is one other thing he has been itching to see for the past several years -the Panama Canal. He goes on and on about it and strangely enough Panama actually offers free travel insurance! When Randy and I went to the NY Times Travel show this year I confirmed that with a rep and it is true. So if you are going to Panama be sure to remember that.

After I told him about the free insurance and after hearing his barber regale him with stories of the canal my dad got a little bit excited and started looking up cruises to the canal. Which is actually a big deal since he has been so nervous to go anywhere for years now.

It makes me happy because I want them to go somewhere. I would love for them to get over the fear of medical issues abroad and go someplace new. They are so happy when they travel but they haven’t been anywhere in over 5 years. My sisters and I are secretly trying to see if we can send them on the cruise next year but this depends on my fathers health so it will be a while before we actually can think of setting anything in stone.

Editors Note: I used the tools on Good2Go travel insurance website while researching insurance for my parents since they offer all types of policies include seniors travel insurance.

Does anyone have any similar situations? Is there anything you can do to try and help someone get over their health fears while traveling?

*Please remember all photos on this website, unless otherwise noted, are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

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Cinque Terra is out of this world. It’s colorful, mesmerizing and it feels like a home away from home. It’s also a final resting place for not only the residents of the five villages but also for visitors who took a wrong step on the sometimes perilous hike. Throughout our hike in Cinque Terra I noticed small memorials tucked into walls & nooks, sometimes lit by candlelight. Italy was very emotional for me but the memorials in Cinque Terra always seemed to catch me a little off guard. When hiking in one of the prettiest locations on earth it initially feels strange when your mind drifts to thoughts of death and the afterlife.

It’s fitting though, don’t cherished family & friends deserve memorials in beautiful locations? Places like Cinque Terre where the sun shines bright, the buildings glow and the sea seems to laugh at itself. I love this memorial. It makes me wonder who Sarah was, why she was here and what kind of pizza she might have liked best.

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

When I started blogging almost 3 years ago – (yes BeersandBeans is 3 years old, crazy!) I had no idea what I wanted out of this blog or out of life even. All I knew was that I had wanted to travel long term for most of my life and had finally gotten the nerve to do it. My greatest and best travel pal throughout this entire time has always been Brooke from Brookevstheworld.com. She helped me create the blog and even found the very first theme I ever used! More importantly she was always there to listen to my sometimes excited, sometimes tearful self online. We were always going through similar, yet different situations and over time we discovered we had a lot in common. We were both a little bit workaholic, a little bit never satisfied and definitely both determined to see our dreams through to the end. Turns out we’re also both musicians, obsessed with the Silk Road and items inspired by outer space and keeping up on our sometimes insane travel budgets. Strange. And she still likes me even though a couple years ago I may have oversold the hippie town of San Pedro, Guatemala as a great place to learn Spanish. Anyway, Brooke suggested a while ago that I write a little more about my personal life on the blog and now as part of a change for 2011 and as hard as it might be, I’m going to do it. I usually rely on my photos to do this for me but in reality I need to take pen to paper and start baring a bit more of my soul on here. oh boy…

I’m not going to lie and say that planning for this trip has been a bed of roses. It hasn’t. In fact the past couple of years have been some of the most stressful in my life. I didn’t want to just travel for a year or two. I wanted to change my life. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to be a location independent photographer/blogger. I wanted to be healthy, do what I loved and I wanted to have a passion for life again. I also really wanted to help people and volunteer around the world. I worked really hard my entire life and suddenly I knew that professional success was getting me nowhere personally. I was ready for the real me to emerge and so I started changing my entire life all under the disguise of “The Big Trip”. It’s been an enormous undertaking and it all started happening at the same time my life got a bit chaotic.

You can read as many “How to Save xxx Dollars for a RTW” blogs as you like but it doesn’t take away the cold hard facts that making a tremendous change in your life comes with tremendous sacrifice and a lot of really hard work. That being said, it is damn exciting. Planning this trip has given me more courage and more long term motivation than anything else EVER.  I always go 110% into something new but usually I get bored with it and stop after a few months. That has never happened with my dreams of travel or with Beers and Beans.

I’m also really excited to say that Beers and Beans has had a pretty big year and I’m always in awe of it’s continued growth. It wasn’t until about 10 months ago that I really started taking the site seriously and the changes have been pretty exciting since then. What started as a personal blog for my family and friends is now the thing I spend most of my waking hours working on and thinking about. I am psyched for 2011!

However the one thing I’m really thankful that Beers and Beans has brought me is all my new travel friends. It’s mind blowing. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like without all the people I “know” online and really I have no idea. I actually can’t imagine it. Isn’t that weird? One time I was sick for a few days and the lovely Erica from OverYonderlust emailed me to make sure I was ok. She noticed I was ‘missing’. Isn’t that the sweetest thing? That really touched me. The travel community and all you crazy peeps reading this blog really mean a lot to me. Thank you all!

Ok before I get too mushy I’m going make a run down recap of this life changing, crazy pre- trip adventure! This is for all my new readers and a lot of my older ones too since I tend to not talk about too many personal things on here.

I’m warning you – the first ones are really not that great. This isn’t a pity party here so please don’t think that way. This is just the true and honest beginnings of Beers and Beans. And yes, the beginning sucked hardcore but trust me – things have gotten a lot better! Plus I think some of the later recaps are pretty funny. Hopefully you will too!

Here are a few of the things that this blog has gotten me through in the past couple years:

1. Working 10 – 12 hrs a day at a real estate job that caused tremendous stress  – I wasn’t able to devote a lot of time to the blog then but it got me through knowing one day I would live my dream.

2. Losing a very close college friend, Sarah Ann, who I had lost contact with over the years because of our chaotic friendship. – No words for this.

3. A month later, losing my pet rabbit Ree as he died in my arms after 13 years of constant companionship. – Thinking of him still makes me cry.

4. Being laid off – This should’ve been bad but actually was a huge and awesome relief. Randy and I surfed every morning and ate Papas Locos seaside for breakfast. Was pretty sweet while it lasted.

5. My best (since 12 yrs old) friend’s dad passing away. – Sudden, unexpected and heartbreaking. I did not have the money to fly back and be with her which was very hard for me.

6. Being diagnosed with cancer at 31 – I believe this was from the stress of my previous job but I actually started the blog during my recovery – it gave me something to look forward to when I was in a really dark period of my life.

7. Gained 50+ lbs in just a few months time because of related health issues. -  I should note I am petite and only 5′ 1″. This was pretty depressing. – So far I’ve lost half of it – Go Me!!

8. Got kicked out of my apt. same day as I returned home from my surgery because of my pet rooster. -Don’t say it, I know but in my defense I was told he was a hen chick and after being in the hospital, which was also coincidentally just a couple days before Christmas and my birthday, coming back to an eviction notice was awesome – NOT.

9. Had to give up Pepe, my feathered buddy.  – This was really, really hard for me. I really fell for this little guy.

10. Six months later got kicked out of next apartment because of the economy.  – My sister Bridgette and brother in law Mike went home to Boston- sucked.

11. Adrian lost his battle with Leukemia – Throughout my cancer recovery I made online friends with 1 fellow cancer patient and that person was Adrian Sudbury. He was by far one of the most amazing people I ever had the chance to ‘know’. Life was interesting when I had Adrian in my online circle and I even dreamed of his passing the day he passed away, before I found out. He is also the one reason I want to go to Norway. He was only 27.

12. In attempt to save money, moved into a 350 sq. ft apt w/ Randy and our dog Chachy  – Believe me when I tell you this was not easy. Thank god for Guitar Hero.

13. My uncle Joe passed away unexpectedly. – This was and still is really upsetting for everyone in my family because we all really miss him.

14. Started a new photography business, Nariko’s Nest. – Shooting weddings on my own – scary and fun! Named the business after my beloved pet rabbit.

15. Bought a sailboat! – Had no experience but got it caught in my head that I needed a sailboat. I desperately needed a change and thought I would one day sail to South America. Some people thought this was crazy but this was a great move for me. The first step to living out my dream of starting a new life. I also thought it would be cool for my new photo business. Looking back at the above posts I can now see so clearly why I needed this.

16. Learned how to sail  – This was awesome! Although I quickly discovered that I would not be sailing to South America in 6 months like I had dreamed of. That was ok – just cruising the San Diego Bay was fantastic enough. I also got to shoot engagement photos on it and I used it as my office for my new business – Awesome!

17. Met really interesting people on the docks like Steven. – I wish I had written a post about him but I’ll surmise it here: Steven was in his 60′s, still bouncing around with the ladies and smoking pot. He was an interesting character and took an immediate liking to my best friend Lauren and repeatedly tried (unsuccessfully) to get a date with her. I can’t say anything bad about Steven though, he actually taught me how to sail. One day he insisted I sail back into our slip. Sailing into your slip can be quite dangerous because if you miss it, you’re screwed. You don’t have the engine on to turn your boat around or put yourself in reverse. I didn’t want to do this but Steven said it was something I should learn just in case I lost engine power one day at sea and had to sail home. He also said his 8 yr old daughter did it with his boat. Steven was normally calm and collected so I agreed. As we entered the row where our slip was he discovered the sail was caught on something and wouldn’t go down. This is really bad because we were going too fast and had to turn into our slip in just a few moments. Without getting the sail down, there was no way to slow down. This was surely going to be a disaster of gargantuan proportions that would end with me either running into someone else’s boat or the ground. This thought turned the normally calm, hippie Steven into a flailing, crazy mess in the matter of .2 seconds. He then wrapped his arms around the boom swinging wildly with all his body weight in an effort to drop the sail. Cigarette in his mouth, tossed drink on the seat, 60 yr old screaming man flailing his entire body on the sail – this was a sight. This was only our second time sailing and watching Steven’s reaction sent Randy and I into a state of paranoia. This really scared the living crap out of me and I mentally tried to remember how much insurance I had taken out for damage to other people’s boats. We had appx. 15 seconds from the start of this frenzy to our slip and amazingly (I still don’t know how) we made it! I remember my legs shaking as I jumped off the boat onto the docks to tie up the boat. Then I kissed the docks. Steven thank you for teaching me how to sail under extremely stressful conditions. Turns out I didn’t need you to crash into other people’s boats anyway – I did that all on my own 1 month later on the 4th of July. My screaming caused multiple people to scurry from their boats like worms in a rainstorm and Lauren to unwillingly flash her thong underwear at all our fellow boaters as she desperately tried to keep us, unsuccessfully, from running into their boats. Thank you Tom & Jerry (yes those are their names) for fixing our engine that day and thank you Jose Cuervo for being a trusty friend for the remainder of that nerve wracking evening. Living Life! If you ever feel your life is in a rut then learning how to sail meeting new people on the docks is a good way to change that!

18. Photographed Ziggy Marley & Nikka Costa! – This was really cool and Randy got to interview him as well.

19. Lived *illegally* on our sailboat – Always wanted to live on a boat, would totally do it again legally if I could. What wasn’t fun was getting busted on the docks by a 65 yr. old man wearing long black socks and Birkenstocks, who was known as “The Wolf”. Yes, I’m serious. Actually less fun was having to disguise myself and Chachy whenever I went to the car so it would look like I hadn’t slept on the boat.  I  would wear a big, dark hoodie and put chachy inside my hoodie or a bag as I walked up the docks. Then I would walk down the street to my car, which I had craftily put in another lot. Then I would drive down the street, change my clothes and drive back to the marina and walk down the docks with Chachy on a leash like I had just arrived. Going up to take a shower was the biggest game of dodge you have ever seen. At any given time I had 3 different outfits in my car for quick changes. I can’t believe I did that! Looking back, it was very tiring and a huge waste of time but led to interesting stories.

20. Started living in a tent and actually had to sleep in the car a couple times -First a 350 sq. ft apt, then a 27′ boat, then a tent – what the hell was i thinking? I should also note the car was a Hyundai Accent and again, 2 people/1 dog. What haven’t I given for the big trip? In the end it was cool. We slept at the beach and it prepared us for the nights we car camped in Europe!

21. Had to do most of my work at Borders Bookstore because they had 2 important things lacking in a tent, Electricity  & Internet. – Actually this was great for me but it wasn’t for Chachy. It was too hot to keep him in the car and he couldn’t stay at the campsite alone so he had to sit in a bag at Borders with me while I did my work. Good think he likes to sleep in small spaces.

22. Lived on Lauren’s couch after we got busted on the boat and the tent was getting to be too much- This was actually really fun once I got over the fact I was 34 and had gone from living in an apt., to a boat, to a tent and was now living on my friends couch and that my boyfriend was sleeping on a different couch in another room. We had a lot of great times and became locals at the drag karaoke bar down the street.

23. Dealt with a lot of unexpected money stresses  -Please, this can stop really – that was enough. hahaha

24. In a rash attempt to be more like a normal human and to take part in the 8k homebuyers credit, I tried to buy 2 different houses that fell apart for the most insane reasons, one being that the seller’s realtor didn’t like my loan. HUH? – After being in real estate financing for several years I knew exactly what I was doing and had never seen anything like this happen. After my futile attempt to talk them into my pre-approved loan and then my attempt to hardball them into it, I gave up.  I was sad but I felt because of the oddness of the entire situation that I was not supposed to have a house at that point in my life. I felt like the fates were looking out for me and after some tears I realized I was definitely supposed to be on the road and that something was waiting for me out there. Bullet dodged!

25. I started shooting my first solo booked weddings with Randy as my assistant. Photos always came out even better than I could’ve imagined and each time they seemed to get better and better – success!

26. Randy and I both covered the X-Games for a north county paper – We talked travel with Bam Margera & Johnny Knoxville too – very cool!

27. We left for the first leg of the big trip, which started in Iceland! – AMAZING!

28. Started actually making money on Beers and Beans – Beyond Amazing!

Wow! I can’t believe I got all that down on paper! It’s actually crazy to look back on it all, especially all of the losses and tough times I went through at the beginning. Sometimes I feel like my memory is horrible and that I’m not the person I used to be. Seeing how the first couple of years went, I know why – I think I blocked it out! What else is amazing is to look at where I am today. Life is so much better. I never want to be sick again or go through any of that part of my life again. It was just too much. I think I was in a haze for most of that time. Truthfully I’m feeling pretty good about things right now after writing this because I can see how vastly my life has improved and how much closer I am now to living my dream. Maybe I can get good at writing these personal posts!

Anyway, I hope this gives all my readers a look inside my personal life and what my life has been like the past 3 years since the inception of Beers and Beans. I’ll have a few more (happier) lists coming out as well about travel and the growth of Beers and Beans. I’ve also got a secret stash of must see locations and a CRAZY amount of travel photos that I am finally getting to edit. I am so EXCITED and I can’t wait to share some of my personal travel stories with you guys. Coming up – My Arrival to Italy (highly emotional photos from the train), Venice at Night (Beautiful by day, better by night!), All Roads Lead To Lacedonia (my successful quest to find long, lost family members in the small village of Lacedonia, Italy – AMAZING EXPERIENCE) and much more. Plus Paris, which I’ve barely glazed over here and believe me, I am in LOVE with that city.  I can’t wait!!

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

Somewhere in Time is a photo from around the world. Enjoy!

One day while wandering the streets of the Iceland capital, Reykjavik, Randy and I decided to blow our budget and rent a car. To be honest, we hadn’t budgeted in a car rental but spending almost a week straight in Reykjavik was getting a bit boring. Renting the car was one of the best decisions we ever made because we got out to see the country. Foolishly, I did very little research before we went to Iceland and in fact didn’t even have a guidebook until my sister gave me one the day before we left. If I had done some research I would’ve known that it is a driving country and I could have budgeted in a couple days for a car rental – which would have been awesome! (Read this if you want some tips on renting a car in Iceland). In fact, I would love to return to Iceland specifically to drive around the entire country.

As soon as we left the city the scenery changed instantly, and we realized that the open road was integral in witnessing Iceland culture.  We saw glaciers, waterfalls, mossy landscapes, horses and icebergs. Our budget constraints ($50/day total for 2 people) left us with one option for sleeping that night – the car. Oh we did look around and stopped in at the few random and far off hotels we spotted. They all ran about $250 night. Agh! We also stopped in a hostel which was over $30/pp a night and I pissed off the people running the place since I didn’t take my shoes off when I first walked in. Needless to say the car was the best option. We put down the seats and jumped into our sleeping bags. We woke up before dawn to start the drive back from Hofn to Reykjavik. I took this picture at some point during that morning and I don’t really remember exactly why I took it or where exactly it was, but it reminds me sleeping in the car in the middle of Iceland during the first week of the big trip, and of all the places to visit in Iceland that we have not seen, yet.  This photo has a lot of memories for me and even though it is a bit non-descriptive it speaks volumes to me. It reminds me of the desolate Icelandic roads, the Icelandic horses that run along side them and the birds that sleep in the middle of them. Even more so, it reminds me of the surreal feeling that accompanied me for the first couple of weeks on the big trip.

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*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

In an effort to catch up on some of my published articles I am posting what became a pretty popular article over at Emily’s website – Maiden-Voyage-Travel.com a few months ago.

Emily’s website is geared more towards the 20 something traveler and even though I am in my 30′s I had a great piece that I wanted to write about. I had been thinking about it for quite sometime and was going to post it on my site before the opportunity came up with Emily. It was meant to be a humorous and funny post and I wrote it with a bit of dry humor in hopes that people would giggle a bit as they read it.

Not everyone who commented agreed with it or saw the humor in it but everyone left excellent comments and I was really happy with how it turned out. Plus from the people who left comments I was able to find a fantastic selection of new blogs to follow!

You can take a look at the screen shot below but if you want to see the article (and corresponding comments) then you can visit Emily’s fantastic website – Maiden-Voyage-Travel.com

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Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

We are covering the X-Games this weekend and so far it has been really fun! We’ve managed to get travel advice from Bam Margera & Johnny Knoxville (more on this coming in another post) and I’ve been able to take some really cool photos! (More on this coming in another post.) I had a few minutes here before the next event and wanted to upload some quick photos from today. I’ll put more up later as well as some tips for photographing sporting events. More to come soon!

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Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.

*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

If you want more information or want to inquire about having your wedding photographed by Nariko’s Nest please contact me at Beth@NarikosNest.com. BeersandBeans readers get 20% and all destination weddings book at 50% off regular rates!! To see more photos please visit NarikosNest.com.

Disclaimer: A couple people have written to me thinking that I am mad at my mother. This is meant to be a funny story. I am not mad at my mom in any way and she is the best mom anyone could ever ask for. I have already asked her what she thought of me posting this story (to add some history to the post) and she said that she didn’t mind. Tomorrow is her birthday and I wanted to send her some flower pictures. Please don’t think I am mad at my mother or that I dislike her in any way. She is awesome!

Many moons ago when I was a photo student I was thinking of transferring colleges. I had an interview at another school and was asked to bring my best photography portfolio. At the time my portfolio was REALLY dark. I don’t mean the colors but the theme was dark. I was struggling with change, growing up and all the emotions that go along with that ball of wax. I was inspired by the likes of Sally Mann, Cindy Sherman, Julia Margaret Cameron and Joel-Peter Witkin to name a few.  My images weren’t happy ones but they were very real to me. I was really proud of my portfolio. My teachers and classmates liked it and I loved it. However my mother HATED it.

Anyway, she always used to bug me to take pictures of “something nice, like flowers” instead. This was something she asked me to do over and over again. So much so that now it is a joke between us. No way! I was an artist, I wasn’t about to spend my hard earned angst on freaking flowers! Gross.

Well she and my father drove me to my interview (at the new school) and I had all of my photos in a large envelope without matting, as requested by the school. I fell asleep in the back seat and my mother was holding the envelope, which I didn’t think twice about.

Until I got into the interview.

I went in and met with the Dean of the college prepared to show him my best work. After I described my portfolio I started taking out the accompanying photos. Imagine my complete surprise when I saw that, while I was sleeping, my mother had taken out ALL of the photos that I thought were the best. All of the ones with the darkest undertones. All of the ones she hated the most.

All that was left was random filler crap. I was speechless. It made me look like an idiot and it made me look like I didn’t prepare at all for the interview. Now at this point I didn’t realize this was my mother’s doing, I was thinking that maybe I actually forgot to bring the right pictures. I was totally dumbfounded and my interview was a total bomb because of it.

I walked out back into the car where my parents were waiting and surprise, surprise what was in there – my missing photos! My mom decided (although she has absolutely no background in art) that she was going to help me out by removing the photos she didn’t like. She assumed that a highly ranked photography only art school wouldn’t like them either.  What?!!?? I was so pissed, as anyone would be. I mean can you even imagine! My blood, sweat & tears removed just like that. She really thought at the bottom of her heart though that she was doing the right thing and that she was helping me out.

Well long story short, because of my bombed interview and ridiculous photo presentation I didn’t get into that school. Which was probably a blessing in disguise. Instead I made the best friends a person could ask for at UMass Dartmouth and had an absolute blast in their art department. So it’s a long time coming but -

Thanks mom for bombing my interview! I made amazing friends who I still know today and you saved me thousands of dollars in student loan debt that I would’ve acquired at the private art school! In the end it was for the best – so thank you!!

Since tomorrow is your birthday and I’m not there in person I wanted to send you this little photo collection I made just for you. It took about 15 years for but here it is -

Flowers! Flowers! Flowers!

I still don’t like shooting them but I have come to peace with it since I love you so much! Plus the desert wildflowers are pretty nice aren’t they?

Wish I was there but I will see you in about a month. I Love You – Happy Birthday!!!!

Love,

Your flower-shooting daughter

Did you like this article? If so, consider retweeting below or stumbling it. Better yet sign up for our RSS feed OR get the goodies delivered directly to your inbox! Consider yourself hugged.
*Please remember all photos on this website are copyrighted and property of BeersandBeans.com, NarikosNest.com & Bethany Salvon. Please do not use them without my permission. If you want to use one of them please contact me to ask first because I do love to share and I would be flattered. Thanks!

Every love story should be told.

Let Nariko’s Nest tell the story of your wedding day.

I made a new photo site! I’m very excited!! It’s geared mainly towards weddings and travel photos. Please take a look, bookmark it and pass it on to EVERYONE you know.

Take a look see:  Nariko’s Nest

If you know anyone who is getting married please let me know or better yet send them the link. My style is mainly photojournalistic. I still have dates open for 2009 and I’m booking for 2010 now. I can make custom packages for any budget. I’m available on both coasts and of course I would love to shoot destination weddings!

I’m also available for travel work, journalism work, lifestyle portraits, food photography & anything else you can throw my way.

Please tell me what you think of the new site!!!

All comments welcome.

Thanks! Beth

It didn’t seem right to let today go by without celebrating the life of Adrian Sudbury.

.

Adrian (aka Baldy) was a beautiful boy from England who worked tirelessly until the last few days of his life to educate people about the awareness of being a bone marrow donor. If you don’t believe me, do a google search and you’ll find hundreds of stories about him. You can also read some previous posts I wrote about him. He was an amazing man, a fantastic journalist and inspired so many people, many of whom he never even personally met. Me, being one of them.

Without a doubt he made a huge impact on my life in the brief times that we emailed back and forth about ideas for his campaign. He was obviously a very unselfish and loving person. I think everyone who read his blog fell at least a little bit in love with him. There aren’t many words to describe someone like Adrian. He was completely and utterly full of awesome-ness. Is that even a word?

There is no doubt that he has saved/will continue to save thousands of people because of his Sign up for Sudders campaign, which made it all the way around the world and directly to the head of his government – the Prime Minster of the U.K., Gordon Brown.

Although Adrian isn’t here now to directly work on the campaign his efforts continue to save the lives of others because he gave a gift that keeps on giving. If you convince even 1 person to sign up for bone marrow donation and then they convince another person the circle continues and grows larger. This is what Adrian did but on a much larger, worldwide scale. Now solely because of Adrian the U.K. has a secondary school program where every student is taught about bone marrow donation and why it is so important. Imagine all the students who are now educated about donation because of his campaign. Whether on purpose or inadvertently they can now pass that information onto many other people.

With all the ways to share information – blogs, tweeting and facebooking – this circle will keep growing and so many more lives will be saved. It’s amazing!

This is all because of Adrian, literally. This was his brain child and he kept going with it, kept pushing until the very end. He did a lot of his work on the campaign in just the couple months right before his passing. When he left us to start his new journey he left enough knowledge & passion with the people around him to keep his campaign going strong. Because of his determination to help save the lives of other people suffering with the same disease, his dream has become a reality. If you ever think that you can’t make a difference, sit back and think about Adrian.

That is the power of what one person can do.

He started the beginning of a beautiful circle that spanned the globe and will hopefully continue for the remainder of time or until we can put a stop to Leukemia.

Did you know that if you donate bone marrow it can be used to save the life of someone else halfway across the world? If you are a patient you can receive bone marrow from anywhere in the world as well. Thanks to Adrian there are now thousands more people donating and helping to save the lives of Leukemia patients everywhere.

Someday that person could be you, your child, your parent, your friend. The donor could very well be someone who was inspired directly though the school program or from following Adrian’s blog. Perhaps it could be someone who donated indirectly because someone else they knew stumbled upon his story and told them about it. Maybe you’ll tell your co-worker during lunch about this story you’re reading right now, maybe they’ll tell their friends later tonight during happy hour. Maybe one of those people will sign up to be a donor and become a match for someone in need. This is the beauty of the campaign that Adrian started.

One main reason many people don’t donate is because they think it is still a painful surgery with large needles being jabbed into your bones. Nowadays in most instances, it’s not too different from giving blood. You can sit in your street clothes and listen to your Ipod. Most people don’t realize how far bone marrow donation has come and how much less invasive it is. Thanks to Adrian getting the word out about how much easier donation has become and I am sure we will continue to see many more people saving lives and signing up to donate.

Maybe right now that person is you.

For more information visit:

Marrow.org – in the U.S.

Anthony Nolan Trust – in the U.K.

Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide – Everywhere

If you aren’t eligible to donate blood marrow there are other ways you can help:

1. You can sign up to become a school speaker.
2. You can help out a local bone marrow drive.
3. You can tweet about Adrian and what he accomplished.
4. You can give a financial donation to any of the bone marrow registries or to the Sudder’s Campaign.
5. You can buy Baldy’s Book and learn more about him while donating to the cause.
6. You can re-post this article anywhere you want so more people can read about Adrian & bone marrow donation.
7. You can post one of the widgets I made for his campaign to your blog, your website or social networking page so that   other friends/readers may see it, click on it and learn more about getting involved in the Sudder’s Campaign.
8. You can join the Adrian’s Army Facebook group
9. You can work on a grassroots project contacting local legistlators.
10. You can read Baldy’s Blog and forward it to one friend, or 10!
11. You can tell just one person what you learned today about bone marrow donation and how easy it is to save a life.

If you can’t do any of the above, you can raise a glass and say a toast to Adrian Sudbury, his family and the gift he gave to the world. Thank you Adrian!

Love, Beth