Four Years of Vacations
in 20,000 Colors

Shirley Wu

Ever since graduating college, I've made it a goal to travel abroad at least once a year. Over the years, I've accumulated almost 4000 images over the course of 13 trips.

I've taken those pictures and extracted the five primary colors from each, for a total of roughly 20,000 colors. Most of the colors are green and blue - unsurprising, since I love taking photos of scenary (a sunny blue sky never fails to make me happy). But I was quite confused about the abundance of reds and oranges; there was no way I was taking pictures of that many sunsets, and I have very rarely made it out of bed for a sunrise. And that was when I realized - those were all pictures of food!

So for better or for worse, these colors perfectly represent how I travel: surround myself with nature (that fresh air!), and then explore the city for good food. Repeat.

how to read the rings*

Stayed in the same placeLoved something about the dayTraveled with Alex 💖Traveled with/visited familyTraveled with/visited friends
*hover over the arcs for more details
2012Caribbeans
May 19 to May 28
✨
2013Portland
Jun 12 to Jul 25
✨
2013New York
Jun 28 to Jul 1
✨
2013Europe
Aug 30 to Sep 14
✨
2014Seattle
Jul 11 to Jul 12
✨
2014Asia
Oct 22 to Nov 12
✨
2015New York
Feb 6 to Feb 8
✨
2015Europe
May 21 to May 28
✨
2015Hawaii
Aug 2 to Aug 7
✨
2016St. Louis
Mar 26 to Mar 28
✨
2016New York
Apr 16 to Apr 30
✨
2016Seattle
Jul 21 to Jul 25
✨
2016Asia
Jul 30 to Aug 17
✨
made with 💖 for September: datasketch|es
a monthly collaboration between Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu