In our travels, we rush from landmark to landmark, accumulating photos but often failing to genuinely connect with the space around us. We are collecting postcards, not creating true memories.

As your mentor, I teach that the simple act of putting pen or brush to paper is the most powerful method for embedding a memory. It is the ultimate antidote to the "tourist rush."

When you commit to a 15-minute sketch, your brain moves from passive viewing to active, intentional engagement. You must analyze the light, the angle, and the color. Because you actively process line and structure over time, the memory you create is deeper, richer, and more detailed. The finished sketch is a tangible artifact of that deep experience.

Stop rushing past the magic. Invest in a skill that forces you to pause, observe deeply, and create a truly authentic artifact of your journey.

It’s easy to visit a city as visually rich as Amsterdam and return home with technically fine but ultimately generic photos. The issue isn’t the city or the camera—it’s the vision and the plan. Here is how you can move beyond the tourist clichés and fill your camera roll with striking, meaningful images.

Sub-framing is one of the most powerful compositional tools you have to control where your viewer’s eye goes. In its simplest form, it means using an element already within your scene to create a "frame" around your main subject. This technique immediately draws the viewer into your story, adding layers of structure, depth, and essential context to your travel photographs and urban sketches. While the classic examples involve windows and doorways, your imagination is the only true limit to what you can use as a frame.

Your eye is a muscle—and training it to see light, composition, and authentic human interaction is the single best investment you can make in your travel journey.

Every trip is a complex tapestry of light, activity, and feeling. Yet, it’s easy to return home with images that are flat, one-dimensional, and fail to convey the richness of the moment. You've collected a postcard, but you haven't captured an authentic memory artifact. The secret to moving beyond the generic snapshot is a technique called layered composition.

Bad weather doesn’t mean bad art. Embrace the weather you have to tell the story of your experience.

Passive photos? Lifeless art? This is your call to action! Take control and become the hero of your journey.