I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve never lived in another state, and in the 35 years I’ve been around I’ve done very little traveling. The most I knew of other places around the world was from TV, movies, books, and from friends & family that lived or traveled elsewhere. It’s actually kind of funny (at least I think it is), that the only thing I knew about Chicago growing up came from watching the Blues Brothers movies.
Granted, I knew it was called “The Windy City” and that the pizza was the thickest pizza you could imagine, I’d heard about Chinatown and how cool it was to see Asian inspired architecture mixed with modern buildings, and I’d also seen the famous “Chicago” theater sign multiple times in YouTube videos I’ve watched. But aside from those few things, and hearing a couple friends talk about it, I really had no clue what Chicago was like.
So when a long time friend hit me up and said I should come out to Chicago to see him, I thought, “Perfect! I can hit multiple birds with one stone!” You see, not only did I get to go see my friend, but I got to go experience Chicago, AND I could check off a Photography Goal that I’d set for myself (trying my hand at being a travel photographer).
Ever since I picked up my first camera, I instantly had a thought of how amazing it would be to travel the world, shoot photography, and then write or talk about my experiences. So after spending countless days trying to figure out what to pack, and ending up packing WAY more than I needed, I hopped on a plane and away I went. It wasn’t until I landed, and met up with my buddy to drive me to where he lived, that I realized that he didn’t live IN Chicago, but in a suburb of Chicago (Schaumburg). Luckily I inherited my moms ability to adjust plans on the fly, and after a quick dinner and conversation with my friend, we made plans to actually go tour Chicago a few days later.
As soon as we got to the outskirts of Chicago, I was blown away. Everything looked exactly like I’d seen it, but not so much in a visual way, more the feeling that came while looking at everything. I know that sounds strange, but there’s something about Chicago that once you’re in and around the immediate area, you can feel the grit and swagger that surrounds the city. I don’t know if it’s because Chicago is one of those cities that has an old history to it, I don’t know if it’s because the people have a style to them all their own, hell it may just be that it’s so vastly different from Seattle and the cities I know that I couldn’t see past my excitement of being in a new place. Any way I put it, I was in love, and in that very moment I was living a dream life. Visiting with my best friend, seeing a new place, and getting the opportunity to do what I love so much. I can’t put to words the best way to describe it, other than it was absolutely amazing.
Unfortunately with the ups came the realization of an immediate down, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to experience even the tiniest fraction of Chicago, being that the city is massive. Instead of letting it get me down though I decided I was going to make the absolute most of our short one day adventure. So after spending the day walking around, taking the subway to Chinatown, eating some of the most amazing food I’ve had in my life, and hitting up the hotel room after dinner so my friend could pass out. I went back out into the heart of Chicago, by myself, in the middle of the night. Now I’ve already been told that I’m a little crazy for doing this, especially with a couple thousand dollars worth of camera gear nestled snuggly in my backpack. But I’m known to be obnoxiously stubborn, and it would take an act of God to deter me from doing most things I set my mind to do.
Both during the day and during my late night photo walk I had an absolute blast, seeing all kinds of things with my own eyes, and meeting a ton of new people (some of who looked intimidating as hell, but turned out to be some of the friendliest people around), I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I left Chicago fully satisfied, happy to have been able to visit with my friend, happy to have made so many new friends, happy to have photo memories for the rest of my life, and happy to know that when I go back again there’ll be a whole new section to experience as well.
I can’t wait to go back, but I’m also excited for the next adventure that comes up as well, whatever that may be. As always, I hope you enjoy these photos, and I hope you’ve enjoyed my writings as well. Until next time, happy scrolling, but don’t “Breeze” through too fast.
Andrew Hoyle - Grimlock Media
