When we travel, we make connections all the time: with our seat mate on the airplane, with the waitress at the restaurant, with the fellow traveler who offers a great suggestion. But how often do we really deeply pay attention?
The photo challenge this week over on Wheres My Backpack is Connections. What fun to look at my travel photographs with this objective in mind. I chose 3 photos that are a little unremarkable for their photographic composition, but I think they each authentically answer the challenge. It’s a good reminder to give my attention to the connections happening all around me; the world feels less fragmented when you notice how many people are holding hands.
This photo was taken during a festival in Oaxaca City, Mexico. The costumes root it in a specific place, but the scene is universal. You can hear the kindergarten teacher’s voice: “Are you holding onto someone? Who are you holding onto right now? Is EVERYONE HOLDING ONTO SOMEONE???”
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These were two of my female students at St. Michael’s Nyandema Secondary School in Nyanza Province, Kenya, back in 2004. The girls faced unimaginable obstacles just to stay in school, and they depended on each other to keep their secrets and their sanity.
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After a tough hike on a very cold day, the pups made a pact: you be my pillow, I’ll be yours, then neither of us has to sleep with our head in the snow.
baD.I.N.K.adink 
Wow!