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Lens-Artists Challenge #374—On the Move!

My favorite cruise ship

Do you love to travel—or just tolerate the journey when you have to? Whether you’re chasing adventure or simply getting from point A to B, this week’s theme is all about movement. From cruising in ships to rolling on trains, soaring in planes to road-tripping in cars, your mode of movement tells a story. Do you stay close to home, visit family and friends, or venture far and wide? Maybe you’re drawn to classic vehicles or museums that exhibit bygone ways of getting around.

From spontaneous road trips to scheduled flights, from scenic strolls to vintage rides—show us how you get there. If you’re not into photos of your rides, you can share pictures of the places you’ve discovered or the snapshots of the journey itself. Let’s celebrate motion, memory, and the paths we take. In fact, as this post goes live, we’re just returning from a month-long adventure: a road trip across parts of the southern United States!

For my opening photo, I’m sharing an image of the Norwegian Bliss—my favorite ship, and my favorite way to vacation. We took our first cruise back in the 1990s and have been regular cruisers ever since. Retirement has given us even more time to sail, and our next cruise is scheduled for February.

Hector International-2
Allegiant airliner arriving at Fargo

I love flying—but I only tolerate the crowded airports and packed airliners as a necessary means to reach our destination. I’ve spent more time than I care to admit at the small park just outside Hector International, photographing arriving aircraft. On any given evening, we might catch commercial jets, military cargo flights, or small private planes taking off and landing.

Hector International-8
National Guard C-130 departing.

The Minnesota National Guard utilizes Hector Field in Fargo to provide pilots with the necessary flight time to maintain currency. One evening at the park, we watched a C-130 cargo plane perform multiple takeoffs and landings—each maneuver helping the crew log proficiency and stay mission-ready.

Durango RR Excursion-14
Durango-Silverton Steam Train

Lynn and I have only taken one scheduled Amtrak trip—a ride from Portland, Oregon, back home to Fargo, North Dakota. But we hop aboard vintage trains whenever we get the chance. My favorite steam journey was the Durango & Silverton run in Colorado. We did it once, but the line offers daily service through some truly magnificent mountain country.

Family Road Trip
Family Road Trip

I found this photo from the 1970s, scanned from an old print. My sister joined our brother and his sons on a road trip to northwest Iowa for a visit. Road trips have been a tradition in our family for many years.

Josh-Carrie First Flight
Son and daughter’s first flight

In 1997, I achieved a long-held goal: earning my private pilot’s license. Naturally, I had to bring my two kids along for their first ride in a small plane. It wasn’t a long flight—only about 30 minutes each way from Fargo to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Jack and his MGB

Jack and his MGB

Regular readers know of my affinity for classic and sports cars. At one point in the 1980s, I had a burgundy 1971 MGB. It was a project car that I never quite finished, but I had lots of fun driving it around Fargo and the surrounding area in the summertime. I couldn’t find a photo of my MGB, but my brother-in-law, Jack, had an almost identical model year to mine.

2004 Mustang-1
40th Anniversary Mustang

About a decade ago, we decided to buy a convertible to take with us to Arizona for the winters we spent there. A friend was selling a very nice 2004 Mustang, the 40th Anniversary model year for the breed. I snapped it up, but when we sold our property in Arizona, we sold the Mustang along with it. I still miss our drives with the top down in the Arizona desert.

Mustang Model
My current Mustang

When a friend of mine found out I’d sold the Mustang, he presented me with a model of that series—the New Edge-generation Mustang. My 2004 Mustang was the final model year of the New Edge design before Ford transitioned to the retro-styled fifth-generation Mustang in 2005. I’ve posted this gallery of images on my Flickr site in 2K HD here, for those who like to pixel-peep or check out the photo metadata.

How do you travel? Where do you go? Share photos of your favorite ways to be “On the Move!” Be sure to link your response to my post or leave your link in a comment below. Also, use the “lens-artists” tag to help people find your post in the Reader. To find out more about responding to Lens-Artists Challenges, check here.

Thanks to Egidio for taking us back to Lens-Artists Challenge #31. His “Looking Back” theme allowed me to share landscape photos from our most recent journeys. Next week, it’s Patti’s turn to host the challenge, which will go live on Saturday, November 22, at noon Eastern time. Be sure to follow her Pilotfish Blog so you don’t miss her challenge post.

John Steiner

127 comments

  2. I’ll try leaving my lengthy comment again. Roughly 1/2 of the sites I frequent with Lens-Artists I have difficulty commenting, but only 1/2. Anyway: Wowwww. GREAT theme. Very thorough presentation too. The BLISS! We’ve been on the Viva and the Prima in the last year, and are booked on the Jewel next October. We are segueing to cruises so we can take our hotel with us, though we just did an 8 night eastern Canada bus tour this October. It was a great trip and we survived.

    Reply

    • “I’ll try leaving my lengthy comment again. ” Oh, don’t I know the feeling, John!
      Thanks for the compliments. We’ve never been on NCL’s newest ships, but they are ones we’d like to try if our schedule and NCL’s ever merge.

      Reply

    • They are enormous beyond belief, Dawn. The logistics are amazing when you realize it’s a floating hotel with all the amenities, and your room travels with you to exotic places (and, I’ll admit, some tourist traps.) 🙂

      Reply

  7. John, you enjoy your travels no matter what your mode of transportation! I love the old family photos. They remind me of the family road trips we took when I was a child and the ones we took our kids on. I also love the old cars. Great challenge!

    Reply

    • Thanks, Beth! Our family only did a handful of road trips when I was young, and when I was old enough to have our own family trips with the two kids, we did more, but life and work got in the way. So… I retired a couple of years early and haven’t stopped traveling since!

      Reply

  9. You certainly get around, John. I wish I had a partner who was half as keen. I love boats but don’t really fancy the cruise experience. They go to amazing places, but the lifestyle doesn’t appeal. I always fancied the Venice-Simplon. Maybe if my fairy godmother is feeling generous next year? Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy your travels xx

    Reply

  10. Wow, John. I’m amazed at so many forms of transport. My father was a vintage and veteran car fan and restored a 1950s Riley and 1937 DKW. I think there were only about 5 DKWs in Australia at that time. I used to go to all the car meets and shows with him when I was a teenager. I wanted an MG for my 21st birthday (but never got it). I can relate to your love of cars, even though I’m not interested now.

    Such an interesting post and an incredible number of examples.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  13. A wonderful theme this week that I managed to make work with my color challenge, John. I know your love for classic cars and cruises! That ship is immense. We bit the bullet and booked a Viking River cruise through Germany next October. Can’t wait!

    My link will go live tomorrow!

    Reply

  15. Thanks for the fun challenge John. You certainly have given us a fun and diverse look at your transportation modes. I’ve never been on a cruise ship. Maybe it’s time. I wouldn’t mind either of your convertibles either!

    Reply

  26. Wonderful! I wish I could travel as much as my heart desires! Never have been on a long cruise until now but I wonder if I would survive the confinement! May be with the variety of things on offer such a cruise as you describe, I could have fun. Let’s see when that happens.
    My entry here:

    Lens-Artists #374 – On the Move

    Reply

  32. I think you know I’m not a fan of those huge cruise ships – or at least, the thought of them doesn’t appeal. But that is a great photo for showing the scale. The road trips appeal to me much more, and I also love the look of the steam train.

    I’m still think how, if at all, to respond as it doesn’t seem that long since we did a similar LAC!

    Reply

  33. I’m not a fan of cruise ships but they do help people see many corners of the planet that they probably wouldn’t otherwise get to. My preference is trains – I had zero options when living in the US midwest but have made up for that gap since relocating to Europe. I do fly often and as a lover of mountain settings, never tire of seeing peaks stabbing through the clouds to make their presence known. An illustration of that, over Slovenia’s Julian Alps, is my contribution this week.
    https://www.bobramsak.com/in-transit-zurich-to-ljubljana/

    Reply

    • I share your love of seeing mountains from above—especially when they break through the cloud tops.
      Regarding cruising: Honestly, I’d never have seen Europe or Brazil if not for cruising. Sure, the tours can be a bit touristy and time in-country is brief, but I try to find excursions that take us inland to explore. One of my favorites was from Vigo, Spain, where we visited the border cities of Valença and Tui. What we saw and learned there was truly amazing.

      Reply

    • Thanks! Oh yes—do try that small ship river cruise. It’s still on our list, so be sure to share your story when you go! We’ve done a few drive-and-stay trips, but we usually prefer to keep moving—short stops, lots of places, and plenty of stories along the way. That said, we’ve surprised ourselves with three ‘stay awhile’ journeys over the past two years—a bit out of character for us!

      Reply

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