Mirror Images

August 26, 2011

There is something about those roadside mirrors ... it's hard not to stop and take your photo. You know the ones I mean. The big circular mirrors placed on the road so that motorists can get a view of traffic before they pull out or go around a blind corner? They are not that common in the U.S., but I've run into them (though not literally) around the world.

Why can't I pass one without stopping and snapping a few shots? Maybe it's the realization that after all the dreaming and scheming and planning, we are finally there. In some magical foreign place, filled with new sights and sounds and smells.

I always feel a bit silly trying to focus my camera on the mirror and getting it just right to include the background, our bikes, and us in the photo. But I always laugh and smile as I realize that I'm fortunate enough to have the time and health and good fortune to be able to travel this way.

So I'll continue to snap these silly little portraits for as long as I am able.
 

Photos by Willie Weir

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SIGHTS AND SOUNDS is posted every other Friday. Willie Weir is a columnist for Adventure Cyclist magazine. His books, Travels with Willie and Spokesongs, will inspire you to hit the road, and might change the way you approach bicycle travel. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kat. You can read about their adventures at http://yellowtentadventures.com.