My name is Joel.

By night, I am an international cargo pilot for a US-based airline. By day, I set off to photograph wherever my employer decides I’ll be going this month. My layovers are opportunities to explore unfamiliar cities, new cultures, and local foods—be it halfway across the globe or closer to home.

As a child, all I wanted to be was a pilot—spending countless hours absorbed in National Geographic— imagining life outside the Midwestern United States. Imagination gave way to reality when my family moved to Central America during my teenage years, pushing me outside of my comfort zone and shaping my perspective of the world. Aviation might have always been my goal; but what I didn’t realize at the time is that what I really wanted was adventure.

When my airline career took off(no pun intended) and international travel became routine, I bought a camera and decided to see what was out there. It quickly became a way to explore beyond the confines of hotel rooms, to engage more deeply with the people and places I would encounter, and to remind myself of what I experienced through some serious jet lag.

I started an Instagram as a way to connect with people I met throughout my travels. Then I set up a website to preserve that sense of wonder I felt as a child—dressed in a flight suit costume, traveling to unfamiliar places through the pages of a magazine.