Disposable Snaps

My number 1 travel tip is to take a disposable camera with you. I got this from my childhood, especially my grandma. She still uses a disposable camera to take pictures at any family gathering, and I have always having those pictures to look back on. I love having physical prints to look at from my childhood because there's just something so special about being able to hold a snapshot of those moments. I'm not a very sentimental person when it comes to physical things, I don't keep any childhood mementos or old clothes, but my pictures are my most precious possessions. I have a photo wall in my bedroom of all my favorite moments and memories, most of which were captured on disposable cameras.

My favorite thing is to just keep one on me and use it whenever I'm in a moment I know I'm going to want to remember forever because when you get the camera developed you get to relive all those moments. I only took one camera with me to New Zealand, and managed to fill it with some of my most precious memories so I thought I would share some of them here.

I met so many amazing people on my travels and had so many great adventures. This was one of my favorite days from my whole trip. We did a sailboat cruise-type thing on Lake Taupo. It was freezing out on the lake but the sky was completely clear and sunny. The views were incredible and this is when I felt I really bonded with people who I now know will be my friends for life. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face that day.

This picture is from the day we hiked the Tongariro Crossing. We sat and ate lunch on the shore of the Emerald Lakes together 5,561 feet above sea level. I just sat and ate and stared at the incredible beauty of literally everything around me. I was also dead tired from hiking up a mountain, but I just felt so relaxed and at peace.

"These are the good old days." I saw this sign and it made me so happy-sad. I was so hyper conscious of this my whole trip. I know that these are going to be the memories I will look back at when I'm old and think "damn, those were the good old days." When I watched The Office for the first time and saw the scene at the very end of the series where he says "I wish there was a way to know you're in the good old days before you've actually left them" it made me so sad because I realized that these really are the good old days and that I should be living my life to the absolute fullest. Seeing this sign made me think back to that quote and so I wanted to capture it for future me to look back on and remember this time of my life. I know it's corny but it makes me happy.

I loooove my disposable pictures so much. I think they capture my trip perfectly and every time I look back at them I get to experience a little piece of it all over again. There's something about pictures taken on a disposable that feels more candid and spontaneous than just snapping a pic on your iPhone. Anyways, these are some of my pictures and memories from my 2 months in New Zealand. :)

#photography #film #disposablecamera #travel #newzealand #filmphotography