instagram 2015 best nine

2015 Instagram Best Nine Photos

There's an end-of-the-year meme going around that generates your nine most popular photos posted to instagram. These aren't my nine most popular - but they are my nine most favorite. They represent an otherworldly, incredible travel year to more than 26 countries - 10 which were lifers!

The photos, from left to right represent: Amman, Jordan; Quartz Mountain, Oklahoma; Kandalama, Sri Lanka, St. Petersburg, Russia; Toronto, Canada (Pan Am Games Opening Ceremony); Kona, Hawaii, Cape May, New Jersey; and Pico Bonito, Honduras. Although Australia was the last country I traveled to in 2015 (still here as I write) - travels to Honduras in early December brought me to my 120th country (not that I am a lister!). 

And since I am fairly certain no one reads my blog anymore - I might as well go ahead and post my travels from 2015 - because they were pretty mind-blowing:

January

San Antonio, Texas (Alamo Bowl)

Palau (#110)

South Korea

Seychelles (#111)

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

February

Cartagena, Colombia (#112)

Lake Tahoe, California

Tucson, Arizona

March

Joshua Tree National Park

Sydney, Australia

April

Madagascar (#113)

Kona, Hawaii

May

Honolulu, Hawaii

Toronto, Canada

Rome, Italy

Lisbon, Portugal

La Coruna, Spain

Bilbao, Spain

Bordeaux, France

June

London, England

Amman, Jordan

Beirut, Lebanon (#114)

July

Toronto, Canada (Pan Am Games)

a five-week assignment

August

Alaskan Cruise

Beijing, China

September

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

St. Petersburg, Russia

Kona, Hawaii

October

Tonga (#115)

Adelaide, Australia

Sri Lanka (#116)

Madagascar

Maldives (#117)

Bali (#118)

Papua New Guinea

Fiji (#119)

November

London, England (Rugby World Cup)

Yangon & Bagan, Myanmar

December

Honduras (#120)

Port Douglas, Australia

pan amazing - the opening ceremony of the pan am games

bono and the belly dancer

Bono and the Belly DancerU2 Concert
Toronto, Canada
July 6, 2015
Shot with iPhone 6

room with a view: toronto by night!!!

room with a view: sunrise over toronto

À la Vitesse de la Glace

Hockey - At the Speed of Ice

The Russian Olympic Hockey Team

photographed at a low exposure

like an impressionist painting

using life as a canvas

light as a medium

and a camera instead of a brush

I believe if you can make lemonade out of lemons

you can make art out of a hockey game

Life imitates art

here

at the

Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Russia v. Latvia

Morning Commute at the XXI Olympic Winter Games

Sunrise from Downtown Vancouver 

I love getting to work the Winter Olympic Games and these games in Vancouver are no exception.  The days are long but the rewards are many.  It's a ten minute walk form my lodging in Downtown Vancouver to my secret hiding place where, under lock and key and the shadow of a gargantuan safe, I disseminate event tickets to some of the good folk who generously sponsor these Games.

Here's a few shots from my morning commute.  All ten minutes of it.  If I linger just long enough and that Pacific Coast weather is feeling generous - I get a little shot of sunrise - the only light I usually see the entire day.  When I finally emerge from my ticket cave - the sun has long set.

As breathtaking as it is here - I am already longing for my prairie views and looking forward to coming home soon!

The Olympic Flame lights the early morning at Canada Place on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver

Street art near Canada Place Way

Coal Harbour - flushed with boats of all kinds.  Many people attending the Olympics either commute by boat are use them as a hotel.

Crowds gather at a Live Site near Robson Street

all photos©trryan February 2010

Burn it Blue - Sailing through Alaska's Glacier Bay National Park