About Me
The short version:
I’m Stephanie, and I am just trying to live my best life.
The long version:
I’m Stephanie, and Finding Myself on Backroads is about my life and my travels. None of us get to where we are today without a series of events, positive or negative. My experiences have led me to find myself driving on the back roads seeing new sites, taking pictures, and trying to be the best version of myself.
Me with blue hair circa 2017
I have always enjoyed the cliche “Sunday Drive”. I remember backroad drives with my father and mother usually from central Connecticut to the seashore. Those weekend afternoons instilled a deep love of travel. The tradition of weekend jaunts has continued whether it has been with family, friends, or most recently, my dog Betsy. Experiencing new sites invigorates me.
Like travel, photography has been one of my passions since I was a young girl. I remember getting a basic point and shoot camera when I was 12. It was the 80s, so that meant lots of film rolls sent out by mail while I eagerly awaited the arrival of my handiwork. One of my favorite pictures was a mistake. I took a picture of my feet, but I had been leaning against something, so the photo started with my knees and angled down to my feet. I am not so sure why that photograph out of the thousands I must have taken stays firmly in my mind’s eye, but I have never forgotten it despite it being lost forty years ago. In highschool, I seriously considered pursuing photography as a career, but I was dissuaded by well intentioned parents and convinced a practical job was better suited to my life. Almost 10 years later, I was reminded of my love of photography when I became a high school yearbook sponsor. I picked up a camera again, and as my family will attest, I never put it down. It is with me almost always.
This leaves me with the explanation of “finding myself”. Like many people, I suffered a horrific tragedy, the loss of my only son. As a means of survival, I tried to capture the tiniest moments of happiness and joy. Sometimes it was a visit to a special place; other times it was attempting to seize the moment with a photo, which led to a rekindling of my love of photography.
Once I moved past debilitating grief, I started a new emotional journey. I realized that my loss gave me the opportunity to reset. I could become whomever I desired. I decided I wanted to be the best person I could be: kind, compassionate, authentic, courageous, artistic, adventurous, and true to the core of my being.