Ten on Ten: May.

The Ten on Ten Project was first introduced to me through the blog of an awesome person whose life intersected with mine at a pivotal point, Bleu Dress Jes.  The concept originally began with Rebekah Gough at her blog, a bit of sunshine.  She explains it as, "a fun and interactive way for blogger's from all around the globe to document a snap shot of their lives too, once a month on the tenth taking a photo an hour for ten consecutive hours. Finding life and beauty in the ordinary things of our day to day!"

My first month of participation was this past April.  I used Instagram, shared on Facebook, to track my day.  It was a bit much, I admit, and very time consuming to photograph, notate, and post hourly photos in real time.  I approached this 10th of May differently.

First, I completely forgot about the Ten on Ten until I checked the time on my phone when arriving at the train station; it was 8:00 am precisely and the Date read, May 10.  I immediately took two photos.  I was heading out of the train station to meet up with a group of other photo club members who were going up to Tokyo for the day to get their camera sensors cleaned and to photograph the city, of course.  Since my sensor was cleaned recently I went for the experience, I love photowalk meetups.

Remembering to take hourly snapshots throughout the day while also out with a group and taking "real" photographs was challenging.  All of the Ten on Ten shots were taken within about a ten minute time frame around the top of the hour.  Since we were on the move the whole day I didn't take the time to set up or compose an artful shot, instead I snapped a few quick photos and later combined them in little collages made through Moldiv, a collage photo app available through iTunes and Google Play for Android.

Instead of blowing up my Instagram and Facebook feeds I am sharing my May Ten on Ten here, and in the future if I remember.

Odakyu-Sagamihara Train Station.

On the train in suburban Tokyo.

Shinjuku Station.

Harajuku Station.

Meiji Shrine, Tokyo.

Yoyogi Park, Tokyo.

Lunch at Mekan, Harajuku.

Takeshita Street, Harajuku.

Returning to Shinjiku Station.

Transferring from express to local, Sagami-Ono Station.

All photos taken with iPhone 5.

Travel Pillow Trick.

Packing for a trip always involves space conservation so finding room in unconventional places is key. 

Neck roll pillows are a luxury when attempting to relax or sleep on an airplane or train but they are bulky and not always worth the hassle of carrying. Recently, I had a genius idea though. 

When traveling in cold weather I wear a scarf, hat, and gloves, but once I'm settled into my seat they are no longer needed. At that point I take them off and pull out the travel pillow, so why not merge the two?

Good travel neck pillows have a removable cover for easy washing. My simple solution: take out the inner pillow and replace it with your winter accessories. It may be a little lumpy and not as firm but it still functions and it certainly saves space.