Wherever I Go, PEN Goes with Me

The idea of traveling around the world first took hold during the New Year holidays of my second year at work, when I invited a friend to join me in Yellowknife, Canada, to see the northern lights.

Travel had been part of my life since childhood. My family often took me to the beach or camping, and I loved watching TV programs about breathtaking scenery and imagining what it would be like to see those places for myself.

The northern lights are not something you often see in Japan. And even if you travel all the way to see them, there is no guarantee: the weather, timing, and other conditions all have to come together.

I was only in my second year of work and did not have much money, so I had saved up for the trip. After several days without seeing the northern lights, I was also starting to worry that we might not see them at all. When that dream finally came true, all of that made the moment even more overwhelming. It may sound a little dramatic, but I remember thinking, "I'm so glad I'm alive."

That experience left me with a simple thought: you only get one life, so if there is a view you want to see, go and see it now. A year later, I left my job and set off on a trip around the world.

If I was going all the way around the world, I wanted to come home with beautiful photographs. So before I left, I bought my first camera: the TG-4.

I had not even taken a camera on my earlier trip to see the northern lights. I already enjoyed photography at the time, but I was not yet particularly interested in taking the photos myself. So I used a local souvenir photo service or asked my friend to take pictures with their camera.
This time, however, I was traveling alone. If I wanted to preserve my memories of the journey in photographs, I would have to take them myself. So I decided to buy a camera.

I was traveling as a backpacker, with one large pack on my back and another in front, so keeping my luggage to a minimum mattered. I chose a camera that was small, tough enough to withstand an occasional drop, and able to shoot underwater because I knew I would be spending time in the ocean as well.

Flying eastward, I traveled through 15 countries in four months, including Bolivia for the Uyuni Salt Flat, Peru for Machu Picchu, Mexico, and the United States. Smartphone cameras were not nearly as capable then as they are today, and whenever I look back at those photographs, I am glad I had a camera with me.

By the time I returned from my round-the-world trip, something had changed: I wanted to take a much wider range of photographs. That led me to the PEN E-PL7. The journey had shown me how important a small, lightweight camera was for travel. Most of all, I loved its cute design and how easily it fit with what I wore.

Many of my friends already used PEN cameras, which gave us a reason to say, "Let's take our PENs on a trip!" Traveling together brought us even closer, and that became part of what I loved about the camera too.

Since then, I have upgraded whenever a new PEN model was released, and so far I have traveled with four PEN cameras.

More recently, I took OM SYSTEM PEN on a two-week trip to New Zealand. The viewfinder makes it easy to shoot even in strong sunlight, and I also like how neatly it fits within the camera's boxy shape, making the camera easy to slip into my bag.

I often travel to places surrounded by nature, so the dustproof and splashproof performance gives me peace of mind when rain or snow starts to fall. I also like being able to take it hiking without hesitation. The trip reminded me once again how well PEN suits the way I travel.

I love looking at the stars, so I return to places such as New Zealand and the remote islands of Okinawa almost every year.

I enjoy photographing beautiful architecture in cities too, but there is something different about a natural landscape that can only be encountered on that day, in that place. Seeing one can make me so happy I could cry.

This year marks ten years since I left my company. Today, traveling and sharing information on social media have become my work. I receive comments from followers such as, "I had no idea a place like this existed!" "Now I want to go!" and "We went there for our honeymoon." Those messages genuinely make me happy and encourage me to keep going.

The world is vast, and there are still so many places I want to visit and things I want to try.
The Dolomites in Italy are next, and someday I would love to go to Antarctica.

One thing I want to try now is photographing the northern lights with PEN.
The last time I photographed the northern lights with the OM-3, the temperature was -25°C, far below the camera's specified operating temperature of -10°C. Even in that severe cold, I was still able to shoot.

Now I want to return to the northern lights - the sight that changed my life - and photograph them with PEN.
If more people know that PEN can be used to photograph the northern lights, I think it will inspire them to give it a try. I would be happy if I could help provide that inspiration.

Photography by AYUMI
Written by AYUMI
English translation by the OM SYSTEM team