Updates from the East of Spain

I’m now one month into #vanlife, I’m not certain I officially qualify for #vanlife as my ‘van’ is over 7 metres long. These past few weeks have flown by, I can’t believe how fast the days are passing. With winter approaching the days are definitely getting shorter, but it’s not that. I think it’s more to do with the style of life I’m now leading, I think I’m enjoying my time so much that it’s just whizzing by – I hope it slows down soon because at this rate I’ll be an old man in no time.

I’m currently parked up next to a beach, just north of Valencia, and listening to the gentle waves of the Mediterranean Sea. The sun is getting low in the sky and I feel like I should be out taking photographs – but I really wanted to write this post, it’s long overdue.

I’ve spent a lot of time recently visiting small rural villages, Spain has literally thousands of beautiful village with old stone walls and cobbled streets, which makes it an excellent place for photography. Many of these villages are sparsely populated and sometimes finding inhabitants can be difficult, which is a shame, but that’s also part of their charm. There are also many abandonad villages that I hope to visit later in the trip.

Amongst these small villages I’ve also discovered several ancient Catholic monasteries, while it seems impossible to gain full access to these places in order to shoot the images I really want to, they are still stunning structures. beautifully preserved in an authentic manner.

I would have loved to have been able to spend time photographing the nuns and monks who live there, for me that’s where the real beauty is, but somethings in life are just not possible and I’m going to have to settle for what I have.

Buildings like this, and religion in general, really does interest me. The work and craftsmanship that has gone into every detail, every corner, is a sign of devotion and dedication.

I promise you won’t have to wait so long for the next update.