Bariloche, Rio Negro, Argentina Each person chooses different ways of keeping the spirit of their loved ones alive. Some people keep their pictures or some family item, others transmit special recipes, stories or family traditions from one generation to the other, while others create their own rituals.
For that reason I became curious when I found out that after his grandfather died before going to study abroad in Argentina, Porter Campbell travels around the world with his grandpa’s hat to keep his memory alive.
Laura: When did you Stara travelling with the hat?
Porter: Since I came to Argentina August 2006.
LV: How did you come up with this idea?
PC: Poppa was an inspiration for me throughout my life; it was part of the inspiration to do something on his name. He used to that that hat with him everywhere, so it became his “symbol”, we say. And since he died two months before I came here, it was natural. Although I think the idea originally came from one of my aunts, Connie, or his son Robbie.
LV: Do other family members travel with the hat?
PC: Poppa was an inspiration for me throughout my life; it was part of the inspiration to do something on his name. He used to that that hat with him everywhere, so it became his “symbol”, we say. And since he died two months before I came here, it was natural. Although I think the idea originally came from one of my aunts, Connie, or his son Robbie.
LV: Do other family members travel with the hat?
PC: No, just me for now.
LV: Where have you traveled with the hat so far?
PC: Jujuy, Salta, Tucumán, Córdoba, Mendoza, Mar Del Plata, Buenos Aires, Bariloche, Chile (Chile, Valdivia, Santiago).
LV: Does the hat have a name?
PC: No, “Poppa’s Hat”....
LV: Did your grandfather like to travel?
PC: I think he did, he always traveled to visit his children and his grandchildren. He also had “timeshares” everywhere…
LV: In one of the pictures you can see a ring along with the hat. What’s the story of the “family ring”?
PC: Poppa liked the ring and he bought one for each family member. It is like our symbol, I guess.
LV: Would you like your grandchildren to follow a similar tradition? If that’s the case, what object would they take around the world?
PC: I’d like to pass on the hat to my entire family (from my cousins to my grandchildren), and if someone is traveling to an interesting site I’d like them to take the hat. Another object… I don’t know. I don’t have anything that I carry with me everywhere I go, maybe some day. I think I am going to make a book with all the pictures, and make copies to pass down to my immediate family.
Now I leave you some of the pictures Porter took while traveling through Argentina. Enjoy:
Now I leave you some of the pictures Porter took while traveling through Argentina. Enjoy:
Poppa in 
Aconcagua, Mendoza, Argentina
Cascadita en Argentina
Mendoza, Argentina
Bariloche, Argentina
Puente de Mendoza, Argentina
Cerro de los Siete Colores, Argentina
2 comments:
I'm about to go on a 'round the world trip and I am temped to do something like this to really personalize my pictures. I'm not sure what yet.
thank you Anton. Let me know if you do, so I can interview you too and I can upload some of your pics as well. :) Besote!
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