If I’m being totally honest, I was very nervous about this trip. I was nervous about turning 32, I was nervous about my expectations, I was nervous about the weather and the fact that I only had dresses packed in my suitcase, but I was mostly nervous because the day we left, I found out that I had something wrong with my right eye. I knew there was something wrong before but I thought after receiving medicated eyedrops to help my cornea, my vision would return fully in my right eye immediately. I still went and enjoyed my birthday weekend and I’m really glad I didn’t give up on taking photos, even if it felt like the universe was telling me to stay home. I may be a white girl with a nose ring, but I rarely listen to the universe.

The getaway was different from what I expected—there was no golden hour, we had to make some pit stops so I didn’t get to go to the parks I planned on going to, the day of my actual birthday it rained so hard we didn’t even want to be outside, I didn’t get a ring.. but I’m really glad I followed through with the trip. Despite everything that went “wrong” I genuinely wouldn’t have wanted the weekend any other way. I mean, maybe not a broken cornea? But what’s a girl to do, really? Sometimes the timing is off and you go into a new age with impaired vision.

I was so focused on what I didn’t have, and don’t get me wrong, a bitch can want things on her birthday and be disappointed when it doesn’t happen. But I wasn’t paying attention to what I already had. I made it to 32, successfully, I might add. I was enjoying a coastal getaway with my partner of nearly seven years and like, we still really like being around each other. In fact, we actively choose it on daily basis. We went to a softball game in the middle of the weekend because I have a kid in my life who trusts me to be there, because I have been there, even if I’m not her mother. I was on the Oregon Coast to take photos because that’s how I wanted to spend my birthday. I quite literally wanted to do my job on my birthday because I love it. Not many people can say that.

And it’s just really hard to ignore all of the good things when it comes down to it. Even with a messed up cornea. But this is a photography blog post first and foremost, so let’s talk about having blurry vision in your right eye as someone who exclusively uses her eyes for her job. In fact one could argue that a photographer’s biggest asset is their functioning eyeballs. Let’s break it down.

I went to the eye doctor only an hour before we left for the coast. This getaway was a trade, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t do them a lot but the Adrift was my very first hospitality client/opportunity and they hold a special place in my heart. Not to mention, I’m kind of cheap when it comes to the stays I choose, mostly because I’m the type of person to just use a hotel to sleep in so I can spend most of my time exploring the town I’m in. The price is right though when they value my photos and I value their space, and their spaces are always amazing. They may have even changed my mind about choosing boutique hotels rather than clicking the filter on Kayak to lowest to highest price and picking the first on the list. Ok, ok, back to the eye doctor thing.

The day before we were leaving, I woke up and physically could not open my right eye because of the pain. I used eye drops throughout the day and did the whole hot/cold compress thing. I took a 3-4 hour nap. Nothing was working. I still couldn’t open that eye without feeling a horrible gritty pain, definitely a pain I’ve never experienced before. Knowing that I was just about to leave on a trip where my eyesight was required, I started spiraling. My partner took me to our little weekend walk-in clinic but they were closed. I thought about going to ER but then I thought about not having health insurance and that pretty much ruled out going through those doors. I waited until the next morning and called an eye doctor that wasn’t even my eye doctor and asked if they could get me in that day. 5pm, they said. I took it. That was over two weeks ago and if I’m being totally honest, I don’t know what was wrong with my cornea. I was given two different eye drops, I had to put them in four times a day, I couldn’t wear my contacts, I couldn’t even really see much at all until after almost a week, and the vision in my right eye is still a little impaired. But here’s the thing, I put my left eye up to my viewfinder.

So now, if you’d like, check out some of the images I took on my Manzanita, Oregon trip! We also explored Astoria, of course, Seaside, and Cannon Beach. We indulged—we ate too much, we drank too much, we had a good time. I’ve always been bad at conclusions, even way back when in my early twenties when I was a published writer, my editor had to help wrap up my writings. But now my main gig is a photographer so I can just shove some images in your face and call it a day. Thanks for reading! I’ll post links at the end of all the places we stayed, ate at, drank at, etc. at the bottom. Essentially forcing you to look at the photos I took.

xoxo Chelsea