the world according to Will

Dark side of the moon. facebook.com/willsophoto

Thu, 02 May 2013 01:03:39 -0400

Dark side of the moon.

facebook.com/willsophoto

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:40:07 -0400

facebook.com/willsophoto

Photo

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 03:37:28 -0400

Griswolds @ UOW Garden Party www.facebook.com/willsophoto

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:35:12 -0400

Griswolds @ UOW Garden Party

www.facebook.com/willsophoto

Drapht @ UOW Garden Party www.facebook.com/willsophoto

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:33:58 -0400

Drapht @ UOW Garden Party

www.facebook.com/willsophoto

Portrait of my friend Andreas www.facebook.com/willsophoto

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 03:32:00 -0400

Portrait of my friend Andreas

www.facebook.com/willsophoto

kathryn-sander: 5 friends. 5 amazing travellers,...

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 03:11:15 -0500

kathryn-sander:

5 friends. 5 amazing travellers, philosophers, thinkers, drinkers and dancers…5 sets of thoughts on 1 question. Which way is home?

Will So

Will grew up in Wollongong. He recently spent 2 semesters studying in America. Will took up photography just before leaving, and I was able to watch his skills develop through a blog. Will’s determination to excel in photography symbolises Will as a human being; ever determined to find the best and find the fun in life. Wollongong, to Will, is home, “a place of peace and quiet, a place to return to.”

“Home is away in the opposite direction to where you want to go. It is where you leave to experience something new and different. It is where you leave to feel free, lost, confused, clear, scared and happy all at the same time. It is the place that no matter how bad things get, you can always go to and know that everything will be alright. It is a place that you leave because you are bored of but love to come back to for some peace and quiet.”

Ben Fowler

Ben I met in Tahoe. Ben is infamous in my mind for his ridiculous stash and such philosophical statements as “I don’t wear shoes in the real world”. I’ve seen Ben scrapping a trailer home for coins to buy cigarettes with. I’ve seen Ben smile with all his heart as an awesome Silly Sally learns to ski on her own. Don’t let first impressions fool you. Ben’s heart is genuine, and I only hope one day he fulfils his dream to call Australia home for a short while.

To Ben, home is “more of a feeling than a place. I think the feelings one should get while at home is: safe, happy, comfortable, loved, trusting, and welcome. For me, those feelings are something that I have felt in many places on this earth. Whether I’m with my family in San Jose, or with new and old friends in Tahoe, I have found myself experiencing the essence of “home”. Home is where you’re in good company, drinks are flowing and the good times are rolling. All of the aforementioned can happen anywhere. Home is where we are now. Home is where we’re going next. If you are at peace with who you are, and love and accept life for what it is, than you’re already at home.”

Rachelle Balez

Rachelle has the world wrapped up inside her: a creatively minded, highly intelligent human being who cannot help but seek out the outer edges of life. After a stint living in Alice Springs, Rachelle recently returned from a year overseas in which she slept in 72 hostels, 8 campsites and 3 airports, took 29 flights, 19 trains, 34 buses, 7 boats and hired 6 cars in 26 countries across 4 continents.

“For the first time at the start of a big trip I was feeling melancholy. It wasn’t because I was sad to be leaving home, but because I realised I didn’t have a home to be leaving. After a year living in Alice Springs and a year on the road ahead of me I had no definite place to call my own in the near future or upon return. I adjusted to the situation and like all long term travellers home existed as a dynamic state, each new hostel bed, campground or house I stayed at.

Living for such a long time without a home, I began to realize my home was always around me. It was no longer a static place represented by a fixed destination where I rest my head at night, but was made up of the small things in the world around me. An Aussie accent, a beach, being around people who knew and loved me…or simply the taste of Vegemite on the end of my finger. These things are home. A huge part of finding my home is figuring out who I am and where I come from.”

Joel Ebsworth

Joel, I went to high school with. Over the past 18 months Joel and I began to find great similarities between our values and ideas towards travel, adventure and sense of place and community. I have greatly enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy, watching Joel’s beliefs develop as he strives to find his place within this world.

“Where is home? Better yet, where do you find yourself most inspired? What people do you find yourself most inspiring to be around? Where do you feel most powerful? My recent travels had led me to these very questions.

I, for a long time, had no idea of the importance of community. My “home”, in the general sense, did not feel like my community. I often felt lost, different in so many ways. Maybe my home is where I feel the most supported. My ideas can flourish. My opinions are well received. My characteristics are authentic and there is no need to use an ego as a mask.

Home to me is not where the heart is, but where the heart flourishes. Supported by like-minded people. A perfect balance of give and take. Intuition has led you to this place. Love keeps you here. We still have that urge to travel, but we know where we want to return.

Home…”

Joshua Scully

I will never work with so many like minded travel people as I did at UniAdvice. I could never count on one hand the number of UniAdvice crew living and travelling outside of Australia at any given point in time. I remember sitting on the duck pond lawn with Scully both planning out our trips to America at the same time…both back in Wollongong now.

“I think it’s hard to know what direction home is until you leave. Even just for a short time. Leave so that when you return you see things differently. For me ‘home’ has had more meaning since I’ve travelled. It’s less a place, less a point on a map. Home is a feeling of belonging. I’ve moved around from Bathurst to Melbourne to Narrandera to Albury to Wollongong, but ‘home’ is about people. Home is Christmas Eve; Nanna’s desserts, Pop’s BBQ, Grandad’s pies, not laughing at Mum’s jokes. It’s the boxing day test next to Dad on the couch.”

Can't keep silent anymore

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 03:46:05 -0500

Gun control. The most controversial topic right now and what America really needs. I know everyone has their own opinions and this is mine and those who are pro-gun, i beg that you hear the other side of the story and don’t jump to conclusions so quickly.

For the record, I am an Australian, i live in Australia and we have very strict gun laws. Furthermore, I lived in the US for a year, seven of those months in Connecticut, I have many close and dear friends still living in the state that i worry about, I have friends there who own guns and I have also fired several rounds of a pistol. So before anyone says i’m preaching about what i don’t know of, i hope the few sentences above give me some sort of credit.

My experience with guns is that they are much too relaxed about it in the U.S. I know it’s a part of the culture and what is diversity without culture but when lives are at risk, measures need to be taken. I’m not saying ban guns completely, i’m saying control needs to be turned up big time. My first experience with guns in the US is when my floor mate was browsing online catalogues for pistols. He proceded to inform me that there are several guns in his family home and him and his father love the hobby and go out to shooting ranges regularly. However, i have learnt that the primary reason they have firearms is for protection. My initial thought is that they are an upper-middle class family living in a predominantly white, upper-middle class neighbourhood. Why would you need a gun?

I travelled to Phoenix, Arizona and decided it would be a good experience to shoot a gun. When i walked into the store, a very professional, safe-looking store, i was blown away by the amount of firearms and various other weapons. Everyone inside was busy browsing and a scary number of people had pistols holstered to their waist. I’ve never shot a gun before and all it took was a two-minute video before they let me take a pistol of my choosing into the range. No instructions on how to hold it, how to fire it or anything else despite my friend and I informing them that we have never held a firearm let alone fire one. Really? you all are that relaxed about guns?

The first common argument of why ordinary citizens should be allowed guns is Americans “have the right keep and bear arms” as stated in the Second amendment to the US constitution. My first question to this argument, this amendement was adopted in 1791 when knives and other “less-lethal” weapons were the main source of “protection” and not the high-powered automatic weapons that have been used to massacre countless innocent lives.

The second common argument and the one that i am hearing many pro-gun citizens use in opposition to strict gun laws is that to protect oneself from a crazed shooter is to have a gun yourself and shoot the person. I’m sorry but what the fuck! Honestly!? If there were strict gun control, the shooter wouldn’t have had such easy access in the first place. Using the recent Newtown shootings as an example, the shooter took his mother’s firearms then proceeded to do his unimaginable crime. He simple took the guns that were in his house and killed over 28 people. If there were stricter gun control, his family would have a significantly less chance of having firearms in the household in the first place. If the shooter didn’t have guns, there wouldn’t be the need to shoot the shooter. So how can the answer be to have a gun yourself and shoot them? Sure, it is, for lack of a better word, better to kill one person to save many others but can’t we avoid that whole situation in the first place? How can the answer be to have more guns? After much research, i have yet to hear a convincing follow-up argument by these pro-gun activists.

Travelling Routine

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 22:08:00 -0500

Everyone has heard of, or even know of that one person who is spending or spent several years on the road. That one person who goes from place to place and not staying at one place for more than two or three weeks. That one person who seemingly does not need a routine and always seems to have the energy to just keep on going.

Pretty much everyone i’ve talked to about such a way of travelling have all said they couldn’t do it. They couldn’t spend three years on the road and not have a base. They couldn’t stay in a place for no longer than a few weeks. Basically, everyone i’ve talked to about it has said that they could probably do a couple of months but would then need a base for a month of two just to have a bit of down time and normality. Basically, everyone i’ve talked to knows that they will succumb to the basic human need of a routine.

I formerly categorised myself in this category. I did not think that i could even come close to travelling for so long. I, like many people that i talk to, would definitely need a base at some point just so i don’t have to worry about where i’m going to sleep tomorrow, what to see, where to eat and how much longer i can wear the same shirt without washing it (judge me all you want, but travelling is the best excuse for not washing my clothes :-P).

However, during the last leg of my road trip around the U.S before coming home, a few completely foreign thoughts entered my consciousness. I woke up in a motel that was nothing short of the cheap traveller stereotype. The walls were old and stained, the shower head dribbled ever so softly, the carpet must have not changed since the 70s and the whole room smelt of cigarettes.

I come from a middle class family in a white, wealthy neighborhood and i have a borderline OCD, clean freak of a mother. One would assume all these factors means that i would want to stay at places that have smooth, running hot water, clean amenities new carpet and a fresh scent instead of the fragrance of cheap. But, i loved that motel. Everything about it reminds me that i’m on the road, i’m experiencing and that i’m simply doing what i love and that is travelling.

The second thing that happened was what made me believe that i could probably be one of those people that can travel for a few years straight. After soaking in the dilapidated atmosphere of the motel, i took a shower (or at least tried to), packed my bags, checked out and left without thinking twice. It wasn’t until lunch that i realised something big. The traveller’s reality of not having a routine is, more or less, a routine in itself. At that point, i was a few weeks into travelling and haven’t stayed in one place for more than two nights. Yet it felt so right, so easy and so usual for me to get up, squeeze everything i had into a 40 litre backpack and move on. Even after doing that for a while, i didn’t feel annoyed that i had to pack basically my whole life into a bag everyday, i didn’t feel scared that i need to look for somewhere else to stay tonight, i wasn’t worried about how i’m going to get there, and i couldn’t wait to plan what i’m going to go do that day. Everything about travelling was routine.

Now i know that many things are easier said than done but i genuinely think i could travel for a few years straight. And that’s quite a claim coming from someone who appreciates the standard definition of “routine”

Back to basics

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 01:22:36 -0500

Whatever hobby, job, interest or anything that you might do, you will eventually invest more and more time and energy into it and it would get quite complex. Writing and photography are the loves my my life that i hope will always be there (considering i’ve spent quite a bit of money on my photo gear). I couldn’t begin to tell you the time and energy i’ve spent researching and understanding both crafts and practicing it. Needless to say, i’ve gotten quite in dept and complicated with both and no doubt everyone else will find/have found themselves in a similar situation.

In the past few months, i’ve encountered a serious lack of motivation to write and take photos. I admit that it is definitely part laziness but i also felt somewhat confused by it all because i have researched into both so much. Being a journalist is my ultimate goal in life. I’d love to be part of an article, a news piece, a documentary or any other journalistic form of presentation in one way or another. However, journalism graduates are thrown into a super competitive environment and many will get jobs that won’t have anything to do with journalism just because it is that competitive. Another reason i haven’t been writing.

A few weeks ago, i took some high school students to different presentations on campus as a part of my part time job. One of the presentations was given by Eric Loo, one of my first year journalism teachers and someone i look up to quite a bit. Being a group of high school students, what Eric talked about was very similar to what was said in that first year subject during the first week. And it spoke to me.

Since completing that first year subject, i have learnt a lot more about journalism, read and wrote a lot more, used new technology as a form of journalism and basically reaching the aforementioned level complexity. What Eric said during the presentation was very motivating. He said that the most important thing for a budding journalist to do is to continue to write and not necessarily worry about job prospects and such. He said that we have it very easy today in the sense that anyone can be heard thanks to the internet. He said we all have experiences and that stories can come from everywhere. He said a lot more but to summarise Eric, he talked about the basics.

Whatever we do in life, sometimes we just need to go back to the basics. Go back to why we do that in the first place and just revisit the simplest things within that craft. I was lucky enough to live overseas for a year and experience a billion different things. Looking back, i did not do myself justice due to the lack of communicating said experiences. Even just waking up and going to work, i think about and experience quite a lot. So here i go, back to basics. Back to writing for the love of it. Back to sharing my experiences and back to perfecting my use of the english language. Back to basics of journ101 in the attempt to become William So, New York Times journalist :-P

Video

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 19:49:01 -0500

Video

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 21:13:55 -0400

random thought

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 01:28:20 -0400

I really don’t understand when people have tv show/movie nights. In my opinion, when i hang out with friends, i want to talk about random topics, laugh at silly memories and plan adventures. Not sit around and watch five episodes of Community. I feel as though if i wanted to watch something, i could just stay home by myself where i could watch whatever, pause whenever and change shows if i get bored of it. But that’s just me.

A bunch of bored retirees

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 04:35:00 -0400

Opinion

One would think home is a place you can go after a long day at work or, for myself, a long day at work OR uni. As of recently, home (my parent’s house for the time being), is not at all inviting thanks to a bunch senior citizens living in the same complex as I, who decided to bully people around simply because gardening and watching cooking shows isn’t exciting anymore.

The self-proclaimed “executive committee” has recently began to exert their power in a rather negative way. I won’t say where this complex is situated for the fear that it will affect the market value of my parent’s house when they decide to sell and leave this once beautiful set of houses.

The catalyst for this hate-fueled blogpost comes from a situation my close friend’s family (who previously lived in the same complex) found themselves in. They are facing a hefty fine for parking one of their cars in front of their house in a completely out of the way spot. The fine is on the basis that no cars are to be parked on common property as stated in the strata by-laws. We as a family can empathise completely because we own three cars in a house that only contains two parking spots thus one of our cars also ends up on “common property” in a completely out of the way area.

However, i believe my friend’s family is facing this fine due to strong animosity between them and the executive committee. They had a rather large disagreement that required mediation and as a result, my friend’s family moved because they could not put up with evidently bully-like behaviour.

My family have been politely told that such a rule exists but nothing more has eventuated, until now. A string of emails started by my friend’s mother was going around asking for each individual’s opinion about parking on common property. We as a family, that can complete empathise, took the side of my friend and his family. the voicing of our opinions was this,

“I strongly agree that parking around common property isn’t an issue so long as it doesn’t impose any immediate danger, is not parking anyone is and is clearly visibile for everyone to safely drive around. I don’t believe it is something we need to get worked up over. “

This evening, i read a reply email stating that our opinion is unacceptable and that we are out of line by parking one of our vehicles on common property. I stress the fact that before we took the side of my friend’s family, we have not had anymore than a simple notification of such a rule existing.

Is it coincidence that once we jump on the opposition that they would suddenly try to put us back in line? Furthermore, is parking on common property that is out of the way, visible and doesn’t impose any danger really something to fine people over? I stand by the title of this blogpost that these bunch of retirees are just bored and wanted to go on a little power trip. We as a family have enough to worry about. Both my parents work the extremely demanding job of running a restaurant and i have the pressures of a forth year uni student and a part time job. We have much more important shit to put up with.

As for compliance with the by laws, I guess that’s the first time someone has broken the rules…

“All my life, I thought i was a suit trying to be a hippie. But recently, i discovered that...

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 07:16:59 -0400

“All my life, I thought i was a suit trying to be a hippie. But recently, i discovered that i’m a hippie that tried to be a suit”

Real life can wait...

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:41:00 -0400

I often find myself in a very familiar situation and i’m sure many of you out there will get the same feeling every now and again. I always seem to wonder what exactly i’m doing with my life. It really is an all too familiar feeling.

In the past few months, I have managed to do those things that would definitely make parents happy. I got back from exchange, went straight back to work, double checked with the academic staff that i’m on track to graduate mid 2013, found an internship and am currently juggling two days of it and one day of uni. Seems very responsible (to me at least).

I think for someone like me, it’s extremely difficult to know what you want to do for sure. I’m quite indecisive, i think about “what if” a lot and i want what i don’t have a little too much. I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps instead of working out what i should be doing, i should narrow down what i shouldn’t be doing and what i should be doing also really depends on the time of my life.

I’m currently working as a marketing intern for two days a week, from nine to five. And i’m not exactly enjoying it. How could i do this five days a week if i’m already complaining when its only two days. However, what i am loving is the uni student lifestyle of meeting new people, making new friends, talking about travel and exchange stories. I’m loving being young enough to go out, drink lots and back it up the next night. I love having days where i can just sit there on facebook and look up funny shit on YouTube. I’m loving being immature and i still think drawing penises on random surfaces is entertaining. I’m loving o-week and week 1 of uni when no one has anything too serious going on.

I guess my discovery is this. I’m nowhere near ready to work full time. I need to be the young kid. I need to have nothing going on in my life. I want to save all my money now and leave the country when i graduate. I want to not come home for a few months or maybe even a few years. Not until my hair is halfway down my back and i’ve mastered the ability to grow a beard (yeah right). I want to live on a budget of two dollars a day and find the cheapest hostels that provide breakfast and free wifi. I want to meet locals and other travellers who have very interesting stories as well. I want to work a ski season and a summer camp. I want that feeling of going to a place for the first time and exploring its streets, parks, buildings, bars, food, music, quirky neighborhoods and funny people. That’s what i want and that’s what i’ll do. Real life can wait.

Photo

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 04:02:05 -0400

Photo

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 03:58:43 -0400

The other night, i got to photograph Simple Plan and their...

Sat, 09 Jun 2012 01:44:18 -0400

The other night, i got to photograph Simple Plan and their supporting bands. Shooting a punk concert is probably one of the hardest things i’ve ever had to photograph but it was so much fun.

See more at facebook.com/williamsophotography

Yosemite, the most breathtaking place in the world

Sat, 19 May 2012 04:05:07 -0400

Yosemite, the most breathtaking place in the world