The idea of this project began in one of my favorite restaurants in Charleston SC, Blossom. I was headed to the restroom where this bizarre lady came out, wild red hair (right out of the box) where she obviously felt compelled to let me know that she was so moved by the downtown that she thought she “just had to move here”! Having already lived in Charleston many years ago I understood the allure, but was standing there really taking her in and all of her weirdness I guess.

As I sat back down at my table I thought more and more about the people I had met along this road trip that I had just taken leading me here. They had made an impact. They made me laugh. They made me stare. They made me question. They made me interact…. I wished I had photographed all of them. So I secured the domain name peopleimetalontheway.com right then. I had an idea…

Mind you, this website is still not the end result. There is so much more to be done, but what I have to start with is what I have done in my past. So, I give to you four years of my life where I did have my camera in hand. Where I did meet the people that inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, dance, frighten me, anger me, made me feel love and change me in the long run. What I have is a time when things stopped for four years of my life, as I decided to jump aboard a 46 ‘ sailing yacht and sail halfway around the world with only one other person on board.

I started my journey in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, headed to Sicily, wintered over in Corfu, Greece for a bit, then it was off to the Red Sea for the filming of a self produced documentary film about living aboard a small vessel and sailing to unknown places that others just do not travel. These photographs are of the people I met along the way during that time.

Flip through this online coffee table book and take a break from Netflix for a moment. You will find some interesting moments (I kept it brief) – now that was part of the idea. Meet these people. Get to know their story, but don’t waste your time. We all have more important things to be doing like meeting our own people along the way….