The idea of sitting in the car for hours on end has never been appealing to me. It feels suffocating and I get restless. I am also a bit of a planner. So why did I decide to go on a 10-day road trip where the only things planned were the flights there and back and the rental car? Because adventure, photography and love. I want to always try new things, travel different places and challenge myself. Also, if you know me, I am obsessed with the West Coast. I probably couldn't have done this with anyone other than Atif. :) We tend to enjoy similar things and share a style of exploring. We're always curious, talking to people, documenting, and seeking the story.

We rented a convertible, didn't book any hotels and decided we'd just drive. It turned out to be a pretty amazing adventure. I'll share some photos here each day for each day of the trip with a little bit of story.

Because of some complication with getting the car we wanted and at the price we wanted, we started our trip separately. Atif flew to LA a day before I left just to grab the car and drive it 16 hours up to Seattle! Clearly he doesn't feel the same way about long drives as I do. The next day I flew into Seattle. Throughout our journey it seemed that everyone was doing this drive S to N. I'm still not sure why, anyone know?

He picked me up from the airport and we drove to Inn at Queen Anne- a hotel I found on hoteltonight.com while I waited for him at the airport. It's an app that gives you hotel deals for night of and up to 7 days out based on your location. It's pretty sweet and efficient. We get to the Inn to drop off our stuff and it sort of smelled funky but it worked. Location was sweet. We walked to the needle then hit up Pike Place Market. Seafood on the West Coast is it, seriously. Ate a delicious Pumpkin cookie which was actually like a mini cake, imbibed, saw the disgusting gum wall (why is this a thing?), and took a ferry across the water and back just to see the views. Had pre-dinner drinks at the restaurant/bar Pesos, which the hostess said is the hottest single scene in the area. So of course we observed. America inside and outside of the NYC bubble is fascinating. Especially our society's obsession with romantic companionship. Had dinner at Toulouse Petite. It was like having dinner at a club- sort of weird but awesome people watching. The DJ was blasting all sorts of music that didn't seem to go together and a lot of people were dancing in their seats or actually dancing. Is this a form of nightlife I've never seen before? They were doing that at Pesos too.

Atif had been awake for a really long time and had consumed more Red Bull and coffee than anyone should. This combination of events is not ideal. So we called it a night.

So many selfies.

Photos of me taken by @atifateeq

Went out on a hunt for magical photos. This is what I came back with.

I have a 3-year old niece and a 3-month old nephew (and a super close sister and rad brother-in-law). Me living on the East coast and them living on the West coast is hard. So I try to make up for this by visiting every few months. I literally just spend my days doing simple Aunty things and I love it! I try to capture their energy.

See why I'm obsessed with the sky?

I told her to pose and this is what she did.

One of the bull's names was Border Patrol. That sort of sums up my experience of watching a bull ride competition last night. It was one of the most interesting experiences I've sought out, because I was a total outsider. I felt a little uncomfortable, very curious and generally astounded.

Things to note:

1) A bull named Border Patrol.

2) Cigarette smoke getting blown into kids' faces.

3) A woman yelling at her kid to "stay sitted".

4) The announcer joking that making the young kids ride calves was indeed not child abuse... they should have cleaned their rooms this week. Almost every kid got up crying and holding their injured body parts.

5) Old cowboys regulars at the bar - this was actually kinda rad.

6) A very Christian prayer/invocation pre-competition in which all were asked to participate.

7) My sister and I were 2 of 8 (2 of which were employees) non-white humans present.

Had fun shooting Refinery29's pre-release screening of DOPE the movie last night. It releases on the 19th- it's funny, watch it! My girl, Gabi, put together such a great intimate screening. There were mini bags of popcorn on each seat, 90's snacks and candy, and booze. Two of my favorite reasons to watch movies in a group: public snacking and group reactions. Both of which were completely fulfilled.

Butt Day = Buttsaab's birthday. I had the pleasure of documenting Ali's birthday BBQ this past weekend. Any chance I get to practice, I take! I'm realizing that I'm much better at staging photographs than I am at capturing movement. I think maybe it's a combination of the fact that the DSLR is so much larger than the point and shoot I used to use, and that I'm not fully comfortable being so aggressive about getting the photo. Shoving a camera in people's faces totally doesn't come naturally to me. That's the shy in me coming out. Gotta work on this.

No, I don't call my parents by their first names. But we are super close. I love hanging out with them- I sort of always have. I remember when my friends were taking trips in college I would always go home just because I wanted to. 

My father had business in the city last week so they chilled through the weekend and we galavanted. A few highlights: dinner/drinks at The Gorbals, walking the BK Bridge Promenade, fancy cocktails at Dear Irving. 

As I've gotten older my relationship with them has really evolved beautifully. They guide me when I need it, but they recognize and respect me as an adult. And they're always down for some good fun!

The season of weddings. My friend, Fatima, got married this weekend. It was hands down one of the most tasteful traditional Pakistani weddings I've been to. The decor and the food was phenomenal. I'm not one for the traditional South Asian wedding, but if you're going to do it do it like this. 

Here's the best of the 4 photos I took that night....!!! Total fail, I know. I do see the world in pictures, but I'm still getting used to actually remembering to take the photos. The University Club told everyone to put their electronic devices away, aka no phones. Really? We all cease to exist when that happens. Not possible. Except for me, who forgot she had a phone or a camera.