Stromboli

I visited Stromboli, and from the moment I arrived, I was excited. The volcano erupts every twenty minutes, and seeing that in real life was incredible. Each eruption lit up the sky for a few seconds, and at night I managed to take some really nice long-exposure photos. The sound that followed each burst was deep and powerful, and it echoed across the island. You didn’t just see the eruptions...you felt them.

I had planned to stay two nights, but I ended up staying three. I liked it so much that I couldn’t bring myself to leave just yet. I wanted more time to take photos and to just be in that space a little longer.

Sleeping on the island was its own experience. At night, the volcano kept going in the distance, and hearing those sounds while falling asleep felt surreal. The whole island has this wild, untouched energy. The beaches are black, the sand is dark and soft, and the volcanic rocks give the place a rugged edge that I found fascinating.