During my childhood, I grew up influenced by the opinions of other kids that were not happy to live here.

"I hate it here, there's nothing to do...", "I can't wait to move out", "What were our parents thinking...?"

"Why would anyone want to live here?"
I struggled with the idea of living here, too. I hated it because everybody else in school did. There's no huge grassy fields, no beach 20 mins away, no water park. I thought they were right... what is there to do?
Everything looks the same, just flat fields and dirt. I did what everyone else thought was the best idea to do, which was to move out. For a moment I believed that I had it all under control and had a new exciting start for my 20's.

But can I tell you something?

I truthfully never expected that a piece of my heart was going to remain here and beg for my return.
I missed the quiet and the odd. The carcasses of the abandoned warehouses out in the middle of nowhere. The natural color palette and early sunsets. The heat that nearly passes you out at times, which can be quite laughable when you look back. The more I'd come back to visit from time to time, the harder it became to leave back to reality. I didn't realize what a true treasure this place is. 

I had to leave San Diego due to the to the current state of our world. 


The desert was waiting for me with open arms. 
When people think about the desert, they think of the typical rocks and monumental cliffs that other photographers have discovered through adventure and photographed for decades. But they don't know about this vast, silent gem of a place. 

Lands that captured the sun. Where it resides in the winters and the summers burn our skin.

This is what the land makes us endure and we call it our home.

This is the other side of the desert.