The Rest of the Journey So Far
&
Having it All Figured Out
It still blows my mind to think about everywhere MPA has traveled since those early days I wrote about it earlier. We’ve led tours to the ends of the earth literally. This includes the far Arctic ice in the North and the Antarctic peninsula in the South as well as just about everywhere in between.
Nearly 3,000 people have come with us to see the jaw-dropping beauty this planet has to offer. Every trip brings back a flood of stories. If I wrote down everything we’ve seen and done, I could fill a whole library.
Japanese Maiko – 2026 – David McKay
Right now, we’re deep in the middle of three photography tours running one after the other here in Japan. The culture, the people, the traditions—they’re all so alive and stirring something inside me. Tonight, as I sank into a warm, soothing Japanese Onsen, I found myself reflecting on how much travel has reshaped me. Not just the places I’ve seen, but the way I see the world and how it stirs my heart.
For the longest time, I believed I had life’s big questions nailed down. Not everything, but when it came to faith, politics, and my moral compass on social issues, I was certain I had it all figured out, at least for over forty plus years. Then something changed: I started traveling.
You’ve probably heard the saying that travel changes you. It forces you to confront your beliefs, your assumptions, and even your feelings in ways you never saw coming. I’d heard it too. I’d traveled quite a bit, but it wasn’t until I ventured beyond the borders of Western culture more and more, that the real challenges hit me, and hit hard.
What happens when everything you thought you knew about a people or a religion is turned upside down by firsthand experience? What happens when you’re convinced your way is the right way, only to realize your worldview is surprisingly narrow? For me, it was a slow, persistent unraveling. In religious circles, they call this process “deconstruction”: tearing down what you thought was solid, questioning it deeply, and then rebuilding your understanding on a new foundation.
A Tajikistan village woman that had nothing to give us in food or finance so she gave what she could, a blessing over us with a beautiful prayer. – David McKay
I never imagined my career as a photographer and tour leader would become the catalyst for such a profound shift in thought. The beliefs I held most dearly, my faith above all, was the one most shaken. But looking back, it makes sense.
Meeting countless people across the globe, witnessing the rich diversity in how they live, worship, and see the world, challenged my long-held assumptions. As a conservative Christian for most of my life, encountering people who had only known their own traditions and ways made me realize how arrogant it was to think I had the whole picture. That I had it all figured out. Just writing that feels like admitting a kind of blindness.
Photographing these individuals and their families, hearing their stories, sharing meals with them, what I call “breaking bread”, changed me deeply. Maybe not everyone agrees with where I am now spiritually, but I carry a sense of peace about it all.
Buddhist Monk – Cambodia 2025 – David McKay
Mongolian Shaman – Calling on his Ancestors – 2024 – David McKay
Here’s what I do know: at the core, most people everywhere are kind, decent human beings. We all want similar things, steady work, a safe place to call home, and above all, a better life for our children. Most crave peace.
Sure, radicals exist everywhere, bent on chaos and destruction, but they are the exception, not the rule. The reality is that everyone is dealt different cards in pursuit of those basic hopes.
My wife Ally and I, as well as our MPA team, have met the poorest of the poor and some of the wealthiest people on this planet. Yet, no matter where they come from, they want the same things. And I’ve witnessed those with great wealth give generously, not just money, but their time and hearts, opening schools, supporting children, funding projects to lift entire villages. Often, these moments happened simply because they were on a photography trip.
Pretty soon, as part of this series, I’ll be sharing some amazing stories and moments that have sparked real change in people’s lives, all because someone on an MPA photo tour felt a little nudge in their heart and decided to act. Literal life changing moments.
Our dear friend Dimitris Kolioussis – The Famous Icon Artist in Greece whose work is around the world not only with collectors, but in places of worship including the Vatican. 2024 – David McKay
Photography hasn’t just shown me the world; it has opened my mind and soul. It challenged me in ways I never thought possible, reshaping not only how I see the world, but how I understand myself within it.
