Welcome to one of my little corners of the web BatteredLuggage.com. I have been posting up until recently, whatever came to my mind over at my personal blog IPBrian.com. This was convenient for me, but when people asked me what my site was about I had a really hard time explaining it. Well, I post my photography (personal work and travel work), I post about technology, oh and frequent flyer stuff occasionally, and…well you get the idea. It was just too much.

What I decided in the end is that I needed a real home for my HDR Travel Photography. I was doing more and more HDR photography and finding a real comfort in that work. More over, it really was a different sort of work than my personal photography, and for the simple purpose of trying to explain to people what I do, I thought it best to segment this work off onto its own site. Thus…Battered Luggage was born.

Where did the name come from?

lug·gage \ˈlə-gij\ n. : something that is lugged; especially : suitcases for a traveler’s belongings : baggage (source Webster, not from the TV show)

When I travel, I end up lugging around a ton of stuff. I always try to minimize what I bring, but inevitable, I end up with 50lbs of equipment. If you are into photography and I assume you are (unless you are my Mom), you know exactly what I mean. Why oh why cant someone come up with a magic, stable tripod that shrinks down to a normal sized bag!

Anyway, the stuff I lug around tends to see a bit of wear and besides I think and old beat up suitcase has a certain charm. It’s been places…seen thing…maybe more so than you…maybe you need to plan that trip you have been putting off. You know I am right!

Luggage is also as we see above…Baggage. In the process of travel we end up beating our prejudices. We can’t help but open our eyes to the reality of other cultures and the plights of other peoples. We, through travel, are forced to question all of our assumptions about the world and ourselves. This is something I need more of in my own life.

BatteredLuggage is also an excuse. It is an excuse to do two of my favorite things. The things that if I won the lottery, I would spend all my time on. Travel and Photography. I love both. I love seeing new and different places. I love the smells, the sights, the superb food and I love to document all of it for those who haven’t been so they hopefully can get a glimmer of the experiences I love.

A number of years of my life have passed where I didn’t travel. I think it’s rarer for us to regret the things we do, but more common to regret the things we didn’t do, didn’t say. Whatever your passion, don’t wait for the right day, it will never come. Go out and make it happen even if you are the only one that cares!

W Brian Duncan