Sometime early last year I was looking at making a move out of the city. I had called Manhattan home for the last 12 years, and being raised just across the river in New Jersey, the familiarity of the region left me in a space where I was ready for a change and in search for some new inspiration. So, I took a job teaching overseas at an American international school in Singapore and made the big leap with a few ideas in mind.
At the top of the list was traveling + shooting throughout Asia and those regions of the globe that are just so far from New York that it’s a challenge to just up and go when you want. I have been to several countries in the region since July of last year, but Indonesia has been my most frequented. Bali is just a two hour flight from Singapore so it’s easy to bounce back and forth on weekends or when the swell is up. There also are a ton of islands around where I am based in countries like Thailand and Malaysia that offer up some pretty sick setups so I have been trying to hit up as many locations as possible. Living over here has been an amazing experience and stoked to ride this out for another year.
This gallery is representative of two four-day stints I did last month on the Bukit Peninsula and a tiny island in extreme southern Thailand called Koh Lipe. I have been spending the majority of my time flying the drone I bought back in December, and have really come to appreciate the view from above. I am still stoked on shooting water, which is where I was focusing my energy back home, but the drone has been a game changer for me. It has revitalized my passion for creating images and I’m just stoked to share what I capture from these new angles.
Keep up with Mike and his A+ views/travels via his Instagram (@M__G__V) and website.
