Naked Odyssey 2020
Inspired by participation in nude outdoor photo shoots for Spencer Tunick, Matt Granger and Natansky – some pre-organised, others guerilla-style – I resolved that, from 2016, impromptu naked photography would be a part of all my world travels…
Albania in February and March
For our trip to Albania, Esther and I stayed in Tirana and visited the coast at Durrës. We loved its relaxed pace of life, good fresh food and an apparent absence of multi-national corporations. Then, just eight days after we returned to London, WHO declared a global COVID-19 pandemic and the world locked down.
By the lake of Grand Park, Tirana – location map.
In the Roman amphitheatre at Durrës – location map.
England in July
By pure luck, a week-off arranged last year just happened to coincide with the first week in which holidays were allowed in post-lockdown England. We duly spent 9 nights in Kendal, Cumbria and enjoyed masked travels in the Lake District and surrounds, taking in lakes, rivers, stone circles, megaliths, peaks and bays.
With Long Meg and her Daughters, near Penrith – location map.
Along Long Meg – location map.
Mayburgh Henge at my back, even nearer Penrith – location map.
In Windermere – location map.
By Windermere trees – location map.
Wind-blown at Castlerigg Stone Circle, close to Keswick – location map.
Mid-air at Morecambe Bay, by Ulverston – location map.
England in August
With options for travel abroad still highly limited and bound-up by restrictions, we veered to the UK’s south coast. Obvious destinations were overbooked or overpriced, so we took the path less travelled, to Havant. From there we walked three islands: Hayling to the south, Thorney to the east and Portsea to the west.
Hayling Island west, on the beach – location map.
Thorney Island south, on the defensive – location map.
Portsea Island south, on the shoreline – location map.
Hayling Island west, on the fallen tree – location map.
Italy in September and October
This was meant to be a holiday in Prague but when coronavirus travel restrictions end those plans, a new fantastic opportunity emerged for visiting Naples – a long-time dream destination for me. With few tourists around, trips to Herculaneum, Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius and the island of Ischia were uncluttered bliss.
In Naples, with volcanic Vesuvius looming large – location map.
In the Building of Eumachia, ancient Pompeii – location map.
On the Aragonese Castle at Ischia – location map.
England in December
Coronavirus thwarted our last efforts at foreign travel in 2020 as planned trips to Sicily and Athens both fell through. Instead we went to Penzance in Cornwall and had a magical time. Twenty months and four days from leaving John O’Groats, we finally reached Land’s End. Most joyful were the ancient sacred stones.
Support for Piper I megalith – location map.
Sun worship with The Merry Maidens – location map.
In alignment at Boscawen-Un stone circle – location map.
steve ritter 