Today we’d like to introduce you to Priya Vin.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Hi! I’m Priya, a Family travel writer, photographer and blogger balancing her love of travel, art and hot air balloons and life inside the suburbs. Growing up, vacation meant camping trips with my Girls Scout troop and occasional trips with family to visit relatives. I used to collect coins and stamps at that time and dreamt of travelling to these places that were on the colorful currencies someday. When we got married and came to the US, we had a lot of student loans and didn’t want to spend money on our honeymoon. We wanted to pay off all the loans and credit cards before any splurges. Our first trip together was to Clearwater, Florida – not the most exotic location but that’s what we could afford at that time. Even though we have been to BoraBora, Hawaii, many islands in Caribbean. the beaches of Clearwater hold a special place in my heart. These days we don’t think about the finances as much when we travel, it is more about experiences and destinations. We work hard and travel harder…
Please tell us about your art.
I believe travel is not about counting countries or passport stamps but making memories and cherishing them! We live in the suburbs of Dallas going about our schedule of school, work, baseball practices during the week days. We try to break away from the Suburbia every so often sometime it is for a few hours in the weekend to catch a show or a bite to eat outside our normal routes, other times it is a vacation. I write about these experiences. I think exposing children to the world outside the suburbs is key to having an enriched childhood. Otherwise life gets pretty routine and mundane.
There is so much that books teach you but to experience something – visiting a museum, marveling at architecture, learning a few phrases in a new language, trying a new dish, seeing animals in their natural habitat or just being in nature teaches kids so much more – these exposures makes for lasting memories and life lessons. The world outside it limitless with things to do, places to see, people to know, foods to savor… our intent to break away from the known is the only thing limiting us.
In this complex world that is overloaded with information, negative news and xenophobia – I hope to share the sheer joy of travel through stories, photos and experiences hoping to inspire other families to make the trip themselves or just follow along with us for some armchair travel. While I don’t keep a country count checklist, we do have a big fat bucket-list of things we would like to do and places we would like to explore.
I enjoy the inspiration that Instagram provides but we don’t typically go to places to do a photo-shoot but rather to experience a place. So, you will find only authentic travel experiences on our website. I don’t have the luxury of posing with pretty breakfast plates in front of pools or posing in flow-y dresses on the mountain tops (dresses are reserved for fancy dinners or afternoon teas and occasionally beach vacations :)). I get a countdown from 10 to take a picture of the food in front of us before it is not picture worthy anymore. But we do a good job of capturing our experiences and sharing our travel stories with our audience – In the end, our life is just a story… so make it a good one, right?!
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
I’m lucky that we get to meet some wonderful people during our travels and also online through channels like Facebook and Instagram. It is very special when I get to meet the friends that I made online in real life. On our recent trip to Africa, one of the Photographers I had become friends with on Instagram came out to do a family photo shoot. It was such a treat! She even suggested some wonderful places for us add to our itinerary, places I would not have known if not for her local expertise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.OutsideSuburbia.com
- Email: priya@outsidesuburbia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/OutsideSuburbia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/OutsideSuburbia
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/osSuburbia
- Other: www.pinterest.com/outsideSuburbia
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl45zoYAh8L
Image Credit:
Profile Photo by Monica at TheFlipFlopTree in CapeTown, South Africa
https://www.instagram.com/theflipfloptree/
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