Charla M. Burnett and her travel-photo collection

Author Charla M. Burnett, 30, now lives on the East Side of Lansing, but she’s also spent ample time overseas experiencing far-away cultures. Those adventures are well-documented in her 2019 book, “Memoirs of a Venture Novelist: One Woman’s Guide to Travel, Sex and Culture.” Here’s what the roaming writer chose as a prized possession:

It’s so hard to just choose just one, but I’d say my favorite thing is my collection of travel photos. I spent much of my 20s working abroad, conducting research on a number of topics. From post-war reconstruction to famine caused by farming subsidies, I worked with some truly amazing people to help solve some of the most pressing issues facing low-to-medium income countries. At some point, I asked my family for a good camera so I could start documenting my travels.

You see, when I was away from Lansing and my entire family for so many years, there seemed to be a growing gap between us. I changed a lot from the things I saw and most significantly from the lessons that other cultures taught me. It was hard for me to explain what I experienced, so I started documenting everything. I now have a hard drive with over 15,000 photographs from over 37 different countries.

I have so many favorites, but I’ll share just a few. The first is a photo of the first Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem where there were no direct-violence clashes between the parade attendees and ultra-conservative religious community members. LGBTQ discrimination and violence has been a burden on the region. The year before, one of the attendees was stabbed.

The next photo shows a baby chimpanzee that was brought into my taxi by two men. They tried to convince me the chimp was friendly, even though it kept trying to smack me and pull my hair. “It’s our pet,” the one man said. Eventually, the taxi driver got so mad and started to kick them out of the taxi. When the two men finally exited the taxi with their chimp, the driver laughed and said, “That’s not their pet, they are going to take care of it until it’s big and they will eat it.”

The last photo is from a seven-person plane above the Caribbean island of Barbuda after Hurricane Irma displaced its inhabitants. I spent an entire summer there, living out of a tent and helping the United Nations and local government remove debris and rebuild. I can still remember the feeling of the warm air on my face and the taste of salt from the Atlantic.

Each photo is not only a memory, but a piece of me. It’s a record of the places I’ve been and the adventures I’ve had on my journey.

(This interview was edited by Rich Tupica. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, email rich@lansingcitypulse.com.)