Me without my camera

Camera equipment is one of essentials while I'm travelling. For a decade since i turned into a shutter bug, I've never been anywhere without my camera. Most of the times, i pick on places to visit, based on what photo opportunities they have to offer. A few days back, a thought crossed my mind - was i more engrossed in caturing nature, looking at it from a technical perspective of aperture, shutter speed and iso, rather than feeling and living it, at that moment ? Was i busy trying to define light in terms of certain numbers and feeling elated that i could twist those numbers and create a light effect that's just close to what already existed, rather than admiring the beauty, the harmony of colors present at that moment? Was I missing something ? How would it feel to be on the other side of spectrum ?

My team planned for an outing to Coorg and i decided this was a great opportunity to explore how it feels like to see Coorg, with my eyes rather than from a view finder. And to my surprise, I was more lively and more involved with people around me. I never knew i could talk so much. I actually posed for the camera, which is a rarity. I admired the sunset, the tiny bulbs in pitch darkness from my balcony, the sunrise from my bed when i was half asleep and still dreamy. And believe me, when beauty is not translated into numbers, it is more lively.

So will i give up photography? NO, not at all. But, I guess, I will not mind travelling without a camera once in a while.