Lensography of Kiwisoutback

Road trip lens after road trip lens...just how did I amass this knowledge in road trips?

Once you've been bitten by the travel bug, you'll always have the desire to travel at every opportunity. It was a dream of mine to drive across the country, and in 2002, my girlfriend and I (now my wife) decided to fulfill that dream. We didn't have much time, only 3 1/2 weeks off at the most before we had to be back at work. Before we changed our mind, we decided to go for it. We planned our entire trip, researched the best room rates, and mapped out how long it would take to travel from place to place.

We Started by Heading South...
The trip started in Massachusetts, heading south to Maryland. Our real first destination was Virginia Beach, then Myrtle Beach. From there, we headed to New Orleans (it was pre-Katrina), then we decided to skip Texas as best we could. A long, boring drive through the entire state of Lousiana and through the majority of Texas, we stayed one night exhausted and decided to keep moving the next for a 17 hour drive. That day was one to remember...17 hours of driving and two time zone changes! We arrived in Palm Springs, California late that night, one of our favorite places to visit.

Finally, in California
We zig-zagged across the state from San Diego to L.A., Santa Barbara to Big Sur, and finally to San Francisco, our northernmost destination on the west coast due to time constraints. Next was the beauty of Yosemite National Park and back down inland California towards the Grand Canyon.

The National Parks
The next few days we crammed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Arches National Park, Sedona (a day trip from the Grand Canyon), and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Heading back north
Before we knew it, the trip had nearly come to an end. We had to head back to the east coast, crossing Nebraska, Iowa, and stopping in Chicago for the day. Our last major stop was Niagara Falls. Everyone recommended we see the Canadian side of the Falls, so we travelled through Detroit and north of Lake Erie/Ontario to arrive on the Canadian/U.S. border near Buffalo. One last stop in Albany, NY, and we had to head home to Boston.

All in all, it was an unforgettable trip. So much so that we decided to do it again in 2005 when we were married as our honeymoon vacation, this time taking 6 long weeks to scour the country!

Me reading a road map on our biggest road trip in 2005.

It may come as a surprise, but no, I'm not from New Zealand...which you maybe a few hints were given as I've written lens after lens of U.S. road trip themed lenses. The origin of the name "Kiwisoutback" came from my eBay store that I had (my wife and I ran it together). We were looking for a mascot for the store, and decided the kiwi was as good as any. It was an animal you never heard much about in the U.S., and we thought it would be the perfect image to brand our store. Looking back, it doesn't seem the right fit.. a clothing and accessory ebay store with a kiwi, from a U.S. based store..how does it relate? Still, people liked and trusted "the kiwi."

Later on, I got to put the kiwisoutback name to good use on CafePress. I decided that's where I'd give the kiwi it's fair shake. I had already created plenty of variations of the logo, so I had those on hand. A New Zealand and kiwi themed store seemed appropriate. I had already opened the "kiwisoutback" Squidoo account to promote my eBay store, so it came natural to promote my CafePress items there, too.

200 lenses later, the name has stuck!

I was lucky enough to become one of the Giant Squid 100 club members in January of 2009. Are you a Giant Squid and have 100 great lenses of your own? Find out how to become one yourself on this lens. First, you must become a Giant Squid before a Top 100 Giant Squid. Stop by the Giant Squid Community Showcase to see who has been featured there recently, and what tips you can learn from other lensmasters!

Me on the Oregon Coast in '05.

I'm also a landscape and seascape oil painter in Massachusetts. You can see examples of my work below.