A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend a long weekend in Zanzibar by myself. Recently, I have been pushing myself to travel more alone. I know it must sound crazy, after all, I live abroad, but I rarely go out of my way to go see places on my own. Since I was on my way to Tanzania for work and it was a long weekend, I decided this was an opportunity to see something new and also to push myself as a photographer.

Zanzibar is a Muslim protectorate off the coast of Tanzania. Since the long weekend was Eid, I thought that it would be an especially appropriate place to celebrate along with the local people. And I was not wrong! On the day of Eid, I basically spent a day wandering along the streets of Stone Town taking approaching people for portraits. This was not easy. I am naturally shy and find it difficult to talk to strangers. However, this was a great exercise because the vast majority of people were extremely welcoming and it also made for a great way to experience a new place and to get to know it a little bit more intimately.