Lets pick up your story after your photography course in China and leaving SE Asia…

Well actually there are a few travel stories to tell from the year of the course… I made three trips to Vietnam – spent a month each time shooting two separate projects – one a railway travelogue, the other on the minority tribes of the northern hills which was to become a printed book submitted at the end of my MA.

I was also part of an all expenses paid trip with China Photo Press – a fortnight getting driven across two provinces with a pack of professional lensmen from around the world shooting promotional imagery for local tourist departments and meeting, eating and drinking with top-ranking government officials… A real insight into Chinese business culture!

Where did you head to next & what was your motivation ?

As the end of the course approached and many of my classmates made plans to return to the UK for Christmas, I felt in no rush to remind myself of a London winter… My first thoughts had been to head for my ancestral homeland of Goa and be eating king prawns on a sandy beach at least a week before Big Ben heralded in 2008 a few thousand miles west.

But then my Canadian cousin announced his engagement; the ensuing wedding was to take place in Cuba in mid December. Sadly I was unable to make it as we were in ‘finals’ mode on the MA – photos to edit, book to print, dissertation to hack out…but…I could meet the wedding party as they returned to Canada on Christmas eve in time for a reception in Calgary and other seasonal festivities…

BTW – did you pass your course and how are your Chinese language skills nowadays ?

Yes! I now have an MA in Documentary, Travel Photography and International Photojournalism.

My Chinese language skills didn’t get too far beyond beginner level – the course was taught in English and it was the language of our debates and dissertations. Having said that I built up enough vocabulary to survive – ask directions, buy tickets, order food etc. I could talk a little about myself but not really have a full conversation with someone. Managed to learn a handful of characters though which enabled me to read a train timetable or the destination on the front of a bus and spot a few things on a menu.

Did you ever need to get away from travelling whilst you were away – how did you relax ?

I sometimes needed to get away from the MA and went travelling! Sometimes just walking, though it’s amazing how relaxing rail travel can be. With deadlines looming many an edit or essay draft was tweaked on a laptop on a night train!

What items do you always carry around with you and why ?

The obvious answer, quite predictably, is a camera. I suppose I always have, even in the days before mobile phone gadgetry I would often have a film compact with me on days I wasn’t carting around an SLR. Before I left the UK I had my eye on a waterproof and shockproof digital compact… which I subsequently bought in Hong Kong.

This trip was also the first time I’d travelled with a laptop computer – essential for editing and cataloging images as they are shot. It was a headache at times, always having to ensure it was safe (not to mention the extra weight), but I think the burden justified itself this summer when I was contacted by a publisher in Hong Kong looking for pictures of Chinese museums while I was in the wilds of Guatemala…

Fellow Globetrotter James Robinson met you in Montreal and relayed stories of you following a notion down through Central & South America. What happened next ?

But first, how did I end up in Montreal?? I was way-out-west in Alberta’s Cowtown, taking advantage of the snow in the Rocky Mountains to get some downhill skiing in…

Two and a half years previously when travelling in Morocco I’d met a French-Canadian, Marie-Eve, who told me that next time I was in Canada I must visit Quebec. West Jet, Canada’s budget airline, had reasonably priced flights from Calgary to Montreal (if you go at 3am on a Tuesday.) And while I was there, I met Valerie with whom I spent the spring and made a plan to tour Mexico for the summer.

The original intention had been to head for the Copper Canyon and its scenic mountain railway journey either at the beginning or end of the trip. The way it panned out though was to start in the Yucatan and head south to the jungle at Palenque and up to the highlands of San Cristobal before crossing into Guatemala. A month there saw hikes up active volcanoes, trips out to the jungle and a weekend on the pacific coast.

Then it was back into Mexico and up to the capital city via Oaxaca, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta. I stayed in Mexico for independence day celebrations on Sept 16th before heading back to Montreal.

Due to constraints with deadlines…the second half of this interview with Gavin will appear in a later edition… The Ant