Autumn. Words can't describe how much I love this season. 

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I recently got a car and I've been debating for years whether I really needed one. I work/live in the city and next to the metro, and uber/lyft would come handy when public transportation would breakdown. So, I kept going back and forth, was it really worth all the additional expense? 

Yes.

Getting a car opened my eyes and it honestly felt like I inherited wings. I love how I can freely go wherever I want, whenever I want -- my options are endless (aka I can now get good Asian food whenever too). 

But it's not just this new freedom I love. 

Over the past year or two, I started to feel suffocated living here. I still found this city beautiful but it just didn't excite me as much as it used to. I had this urge to get out and thought maybe moving to a new city would be a good solve, but once I got my car, this feeling I had started to change its course.  

I forgot how much I love being encompassed by nature. 

There's a lot of greenery in MD/VA and a lot of parks/hiking trails. Having a car now lets me go on these spontaneous trips and surround myself with nature. The DMV lets me stay close to both nature and the city. Does this mean moving to a new city and starting a new chapter is off the tables? Absolutely not, but having this car has helped me fall in love with this area all over again.  

It's finally starting to feel like my favorite weather! Hello, Autumn. 

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Whenever I go on these mini photoshoots, I like to return the favor to the friend who's taking my photo by taking a few photos of him/her. During this photo op, the friend I was with asked me what I would do and who I would be if I didn't have my camera. My response?

"I wouldn't be me." 

Being able to view the world through my lens and capturing moments is one of my favorite activities and something I've always cherished doing. When I was a kid, I loved going through old photo albums and watching old home videos. It would puzzle me that I couldn't recall some of the events that were captured on film even though I was in the frame.

The way our brain works and the way we're able to retain (or forget) things is so complicatedly interesting.

Once I got my hands on my first camera, I couldn't stop taking photos, not only because it was "cool" to take awkward mirror selfies with your BFF and post them on Myspace afterwards, but also because I couldn't trust my brain to remember everything. I wanted to capture these moments to look back to. 

I always joke with my friends that my camera is an extended part of my body.

I know I'm not a professional photographer and I don't know every single thing about photography, but this is just a hobby of mine I enjoy and helps me hit pause in life to appreciate my surroundings.