Welcome to the community!
My name is Jake, the storyteller and photographer behind Foxy’s Photos. Unlike most other travel blogs, what you’ll find here is not just a list of the best places to go. This blog is about learning through travel. But more importantly, it’s about traveling to learn.
On here, I’ll be highlighting the experiences I’ve had and lessons I’ve learned on my journey around the world. In addition, I’ll be sharing tons of photography tips and focusing on the issues facing the places I visit. Ultimately, it is my hope to encourage travelers to be more mindful of the destination they’re in and the impact they have on local communities, good or bad. And as always, to be curious and find new places to explore.
What you learn on the road are things you can’t learn any other way.
My Story
The biggest question I get asked is how I got into travel and photography. And to be honest, I can’t really give an exact answer.
You see, travel has always been a part of my life and has always been something I want to do. In fact, I recently got a text from my mom of a first-grade project. The task was to draw something you wished for in your future. Most 6 year olds put down answers like “become an NBA player” or “be a doctor”. But me? Well, all I wanted at age 6 was to travel the world.
Thankfully, nothing has changed since. But what you may be wondering is, “Where does a 6 year old get the idea to travel the world?”
Well, it started really young for me. I was born in 1998 to a really amazing family in Westchester County, NY, which is the suburb directly north of New York City. My parents loved to travel and brought me and my brother with them on vacations at least once or twice a year. As a really young kid, we stuck mainly to Central America and the Caribbean, but as I grew older, my family started to expand to Europe, Asia, and even Africa.
Thanks to my wonderful parents, by the time I turned 18, I had been to 4 different continents and around 10-15 different countries. It’s a privilege I cannot even begin to thank them for and something that has fundamentally shaped who I am today.
In high school, I started to take trips of my own. At the time, I was too young and afraid to travel alone, so I joined small travel groups for young teens like myself. It was amazing to be exploring with people not only my own age, but with similar mindset and background to myself.
However, my goals in life at the time were not focused in travel. I loved school and I loved learning even more. And boy, was I on a race to the finish line. In 2020, I received both my Master’s and Bachelor’s degree (at once) in Electrical Engineering, only a few weeks after my 22nd birthday.
my travel history
Through all this, my family still took time to travel, giving me and my brother more of a say on where we went. At the same time, I had discovered the photography of Chris Burkard, who I’m sure many of you know. His work of the northern lights had me mesmerized and I dreamt of seeing the aurora myself. So that year, I convinced my parents to brave the cold and go to Norway on the trip that inevitably started my photography journey.
My dad brought his Nikon D3500 and a small dinky tripod with him. He let me borrow his camera during the beginning of the trip. His mistake… as he would never get it back the entire trip.
When I got back, I took my dad’s Nikon with me to school. There, I started to go on hikes with the outdoors club and took some film photography classes. Every weekend I would go out and explore Upstate New York, camera in hand, practicing my photography. Even though I was still deep in my studies, this little escape from the grind kept me sane.
Once I graduated, I honestly felt pretty burned out. Doing a Master’s and Bachelor’s degree at once in engineering was a lot to manage, especially doing so in only 4.5 years. The only way to slow down was to take a gap year.
Little did I know it would change my life forever.
At first, I was absolutely terrified to travel alone. But as my year progressed, I came to love being alone on the road. I was learning not only about myself, but about the places I visited. I was pushing myself out of comfort zone, talking to locals and travelers alike, and learning as much as I could. Slowly, I fell deeply in love with solo travel.
This blog is my way to help spread that knowledge to a larger audience and inspire everyone to learn about our planet, travel sustainably, and push their own boundaries.
I feel so fortunate to have traveled as much as I have and thank you for being a part of my journey!
