The Trip Of A Lifetime

Travel is a contradiction.

- David Fuhrmann-Lim

We drive to a grand canyon or climb a mountain to see how immense the world is, only to be reminded of our inadequacy. We photograph the great beasts and immerse ourselves in indigenous cultures, only to realise we are all stardust in the end. Yet something compels us to see the world, its blinding beauty, taste its feral food, buy its winsome wares, touch a life and hold our breaths.

For the travellers featured here, the impetus ranges from a desire to record ancient monuments, dance in the desert, discover the inner truths of buildings, or simply be at the top of the world – budgets be damned and boundaries be doomed.

Each trip is unique in its own way – epic, elegiac and unforgettable. Each journey mattered, because everyone travels and carries their baggage with them and then they hopefully find something. You hold that in your hand and your heart, and you return a little bigger than before you left.

Germaine Lim

Partied at Burning Man, Black Rock City, Nevada, USA

In 2010, Germaine heard about the countercultural event, Burning Man. Though the idea of living in the desert for a week with a scarce supply of food and water wasn’t alluring for this city girl, it was a spectacle she wanted to experience, as the epic trip would combine her love for music, culture and landscape. And the idea shot to the top of her bucket list.

Burning Man is a festival that fosters creativity, cultural exchanges and ‘radical inclusion and self-expression’. Burners (that’s what they’re called) go and create and experience art in the desert in late summer.