I found this picture today as I was searching for a travel photograph to call my favorite.

It was Ittybit's first plane ride. We were going to Boulder, Co. to meet her new cousin. The young man in the picture was traveling alone and had what some might think of as the misfortune of sitting next to a baby on the plane. I don't think he minded.

People can surprise you if you let them.

I have to admit, even to myself, travel photography isn't my favorite. No matter where I go or what I do, the pictures I take might have been taken anywhere: A street scene in New Zealand could be one in New York City for all the details my lens leaves out.

There are brief moments of awe, of course, just as there is an infinite number of interesting places we can go, and people we can meet once we get there.

But once we get our photos printed and organized, they're never seem as brilliant as the memories we were intending to capture.

Trees aren't as lush. Mountains aren't as majestic. Oceans aren't as deep.

For me family always ends up the focus, while the travel becomes a prop or a blurry backdrop. Places, I think, need people.