Photographer to travel the world
GNWT perk affords employee time and funds for year-long adventure
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, April 6, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Born-and-raised Yellowknifer Tawna Brown is taking a year off regular life to tour the world in an epic photography and travel journey.
Tawna Brown is leaving this month for New Zealand, the first stop on her year-long world tour during which time she plans to write and photograph her journey. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo |
"I'm just going to leave and live a different life," said Brown, who has travelled before but never to this extent.
She's going solo and looking to take her photography and travel writing, which have already earned her a few gigs, to the next level.
"I'm putting myself to work while I'm doing this, but at the same time I want to be able to relax," said Brown.
Anyone who knows her can attest to the fact she's been obsessed with this trip in the years leading up to it. She's changed departing tickets three times already and is brimming with excitement.
New Zealand is her first stop, solely for a four-day photography workshop with one of her favourite mentors in the industry.
"I'm starting off on that side of the world just because of this four-day workshop," she said. "As a result of that, then there's Bali, Australia, India. I get distracted very easily. I get on a map and look at all these different islands I have to stop somewhere."
As it looks right now, the general route is east to west, with stops in South Africa, Europe, South America and Mexico. She will be renting a house in Italy and using that as a quasi home-base.
"If I stuck to all of this plan, the only continent not on this journey is Antarctica," said Brown, who hopes to score a job for a tour or magazine company and take a cruise to the southern-most continent.
"That would top it all off. That would finish the true around the world story."
She hopes to write a book about her travels. Her photography focuses on landscapes and sense of place, but one of her themes for the trip is connections. She has no hotels booked and plans to stay with people she knows in different countries.
Leaving Yellowknife for good isn't in the cards, though.
"I don't just like it I love it here," she said. "Yellowknife is like no other place."
On her journey, Brown plans to keep her photography website and blog updated bi-weekly.
"I could be lonely at times and it would be really nice to have company by people joining me on my blog and interacting with me that way," she said.
Tawna Brown doesn't have to worry about money or employment while travelling, thanks to a perk from working for the GNWT.
She signed onto the deferred leave plan, which takes 20 per cent from her salary for four years and places it in a trust account.
After four years, she can take a year off and get paid the salary back. Her job will be waiting for her when she gets home and her health benefits continue.
Another option in the GNWT's deferred leave benefit is taking 10 per cent off salary for four and a half years to cover a six-month vacation.
