Meeting new people, exploring the city and beyond, doing new male model photoshoots, seeking out urbex adventures - my first 2 months in Tbilisi have been pretty full on. And intoxicating.
First of all, hullo and welcome to my latest attempt at some sort of commitment - a blog! Some of you (very few - in fact maybe just a couple friends and a few obligated family members) may recall I briefly had a blog several years ago. I think my last entry was Christmas in Cuba. Coincidentally, here it is Christmastime once again - though not in balmy, sexy Cuba, but in cold, grey, brooding Georgia.
I want to legitimately give this blog a chance and ideally it's something that I can update frequently enough with either the latest 'what' and 'where', or also to share past stories, adventures and whatnot. I'm not here to offer any sort of life plan, product, advice or to talk about how fascinating and glamorous my life is('nt). In fact, while it'll be entertaining and an incentive for me if others read this - sometimes the photos I take and the stories I type are just for me to look back on when I forget (more and more these days) - to remind myself of a moment, a wild experience or just a feeling.
All that being said, the last several weeks here in Georgia have offered me a TON of new material to satisfy all of the above!
Not from 'round here.
I decided to try something new prior to even arriving in Georgia. I joined a couple different Facebook groups for foreigners living or visiting Tbilisi as a means to meet others who were sort of doing what I'm doing, both for friendship and networking. Usually when I go abroad long term or short term, I really only focus on meeting the locals, which of course is the best way to learn about a new place. That's still definitely the case and I've met some great ones here, but for the foreigner community and experience I just feel it's more vital than before for me. My plan is to stay long(er-ish) term here and that'll be a helluva lot more feasible and easier if I can learn from others doing it and develop that sense of community and support that is so important for a life abroad. I had it in China and it was invaluable, but the majority of foreigners I knew there were colleagues I worked with. Here in Tbilisi I've met people from all over the world working in a wide variety of fields and when we're all together at a bar or restaurant or someone's apartment and the wine is flowing, we're all just a bunch of foreigners swapping stories far from home.
Say what?
So that was an introduction. I should note that I'm aware my photography doesn't fall squarely with one type of viewer or audience. My travel-cultural-street-architecture-abandoned genre that I've tried to promote for years is as flat-lined as ever and that's ok. I've accepted that anyone with a smartphone camera and a plane ticket can call themselves a 'travel photographer' now. Good for them.
On the other hand, my scantily clad male portraiture is still the big draw and gosh darn it, I enjoy doing it (surprise!). Therefor, I'll write about both of them and if the thought of a hot guy wearing very little in a dilapidated setting doesn't tickle your feathers, then by all means skip over to the next post and I'll still call you my friend ❤️