Photo blog feature: “Mom Says I’m Running Away”

When we’re not traveling, when we’re stuck in one place and our feet are itching, the best distraction often involves reading about someone else’s adventures. Once upon a time, that meant heading to a bookstore or library every few weeks to see what was new — except it wasn’t “new,” it was already old information by the time it hit the shelves. Nowadays, travel blogs make the information we have at our fingertips hours, and sometimes only minutes, old. You can be cursing your lack of movement one moment, and in the next be reading about someone who was snorkeling in Bali that very same morning.

But what if you’re more of a visual person? Maybe you prefer to flip through photo collections rather than guidebooks. Perhaps you don’t think words can accurately convey the color of a sari or the wrinkles on an old man’s face. For you photo lovers, I present Robert C. Paetz III.

Robert’s blog, Mom Says I’m Running Away, is more than your average travel blog. He’s been traveling since early last year, and he not only writes about what happens to him almost every day, he posts photographs of the day’s events as well. His pictures are sometimes beautiful, sometimes poignant, and always interesting. He’s good at seeing things in a way most of us don’t — taking the time to snap a picture of a lamp post or a shadow on the ground – and therefore helping us to see the places he’s visiting through his eyes.

Not only is Robert’s blog keeping his readers entertained, it’s giving him a diary to look back on when he’s done with his trip and — perhaps most importantly — it’s even providing him with some income while he’s traveling.

This travel blog thing might just catch on after all.