I am Barry Thomson. I was born in Bozeman Montana in 1961
Hey, putting together a Bio Page is rough. How does a person define their life in a few paragraphs? Maybe people just want to see the highlights. What makes you successful, what makes you different, give me a reason to read this and care.
The truth is that I am a little different. Not special, I had some opportunities and made some interesting life choices. The ones that led me to live out of a backpack off and on for over nine years kind of set me apart.
I would call my Auntie Lucy up from various parts of the world, Brazil, India, the Samoan Islands, and I would tell her my stories and observations, even some of the more risque ones. She would laugh, tell me what a fantastic life I had and that I needed to write them down. “People would love them, I do,” she would say. As I continue to travel, meet new people and tell my tales, I hear that a lot.
So here we are. When I first started to travel in the late nineties, cell phones and the internet were still just emerging. I remember traveling in the remote villages of northern Thailand as the villagers discovered and were fascinated by their first TV. Very few people, even in Europe spoke English and digital cameras were still science fiction. I did not get my first smartphone until about five years ago. I needed the GPS as they quit selling maps in stores.
I learned somethings after all of these years on the road. The most important; that sailing the oceans, climbing the Himalayas, walking the streets of Calcutta India make up the backdrop. It is really about every day people wherever we are, living our lives. More importantly, we are all living, breathing stories. And whether we are with family or friends or with seeming complete strangers on the internet, sharing our lives, sharing a laugh, crying a little, brings us closer together. We are all so very different, yet everyone loves a good story.
I many times found myself alone, standing on a street corner in a strange country and I began to take some pictures. I started to scribble down some of my observations and last year I went to film school in Berlin Germany to study documentary film making. I became aware that a camera was a great tool to break the ice and that people really liked talking about their stories and sharing their passions on video. I spent months creating this website for just that reason. To share some of mine and create a space where others can share their ideas. It is a little rough but it is a beginning.
