To experience Hanoi is to love it

© David Hobby / X-Peditions

AI has opened up a world of creative possibilities, but it hasn’t — at least not yet — replaced the experience of traveling somewhere and immersing yourself in a different culture.

It can generate stunning imagery but it can’t recreate the wonder of being there: the sounds, the smells, the sensory overload that greets you around every corner.

Since 2019, I’ve organized travel photography workshops in Vietnam, and before that, for three years, in Cuba. The most meaningful part of these trips has never been the photographs, themselves, but the experiences you carry home.

AI can produce a convincing image of a chaotic street scene in Hanoi but it can’t make you feel what its like to step into that river of scooters — where crossing the street requires equal parts confidence and blind faith. It can’t capture the joy of claiming a balcony seat at my favorite bún chả spot in the Old Quarter and savoring one of Hanoi’s most iconic dishes as the city moves below you. With its restless energy and constant motion, Hanoi is a street photographer’s dream.

This fall marks our 7th workshop in Hanoi, a city we’ve truly fallen in love with. We’ll make an early-morning visit to the bustling Long Biên overnight food market and spend time in surrounding villages where artisans craft pottery, drums, and rice paper using centuries-old techniques. We’ll also venture overnight to Tam Cốc, a rural area outside the city, where we’ll climb Hang Múa Peak and glide through caves and waterways on small paddle boats.

X-Pedition Hanoi 2023. We promise, you won’t go hungry while you’re in Hanoi.

And this year, for the first time, our visit will coincide with Halloween celebrations in Hanoi’s Old Quarter — adding another layer of color, creativity, and surprise.

This year also marks a transition. Veteran photojournalist and photography educator David Hobby — my collaborator on seven Hanoi workshops and two in Havana — is retiring. David and I go back to our days on the staff of the Independent Florida Alligator, the University of Florida’s student newspaper, and his influence on these workshops has been immeasurable.

Stepping into the lead role this year is Ibarionex Perello, a Fujifilm creator best known as the producer and host of the long-running, acclaimed photography podcast The Candid Frame.

I first met Ibarionex when I invited him to teach and speak at a photography festival I organized in Washington, D.C., and I couldn’t imagine a better person to carry this workshop forward. Like David, Ibarionex shares a deep passion for helping others see the world more clearly — and more thoughtfully — through photography.

Registration for our fall workshop is now open. Join us in Hanoi for an experience unlike any other. Sharpen your photography skills, learn to approach travel photography with a photojournalist’s mindset, and create images — and memories — you’ll carry with you long after the journey ends.