When I was younger, my family had a boat but I honestly never thought too much about it.
Sure, as soon as it was warm enough in summer we'd take it out on Lake Michigan, but I didn’t love or hate being on it– I was always pretty indifferent.
I guess it’s true that people take things for granted, because while that boat is now long gone, I’ve now come to love spending time out on the water and wish we had another boat.
Traveling around Asia, boats became a normal part of travel for me. Taking the ferry back and forth from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon or island hopping in Thailand and the Maldives– it was just standard every day transportation for island nations. I expected that.
What I didn’t expect however, was just how much time I'd be spending on boats in Europe.
Our itinerary consisted of mainly landlocked cities, so the thought of touring Europe by boat didn’t even cross my mind. Yet somehow, in nearly every country we visited, we found ourselves on a boat at least once.
And you know what? The more we explored Europe by boat, the more I realized the best views really and truly are from the water no matter where you are in the world.
Maybe it’s because I’m obsessed with good skylines and architecture, but to me, there’s just something so special and memorable about discovering a city by boat.
I guess as a photographer, it tends to give you new and unique perspectives to a city. Suddenly you may notice things you that never would’ve exploring by foot.
So as we continued to hop around from one European city to the next, even with our packed schedule I made sure to find time to squeeze in a boat ride or two in every new destination.
Here’s a look at some of my photographs taken while on boats around Europe. Can you see why I love exploring cities this way?
London, UK
