Travel has always been a great life long passion for Allen Frantzen.
An enthusiastic photographer, Allen has built up a visual journal of his trips around the US and in Europe, reaching back to 2000. Having a camera helps him look for striking features of the places he visits and remember these adventures as the years go by.
Allen’s mother, Dorothy, loved to take pictures of her family and her surroundings, and Allen’s brother Wayne was a professional photographer before he retired.
Like many photographers, Allen looks for memorable images hidden in ordinary things—evening light on an old brick wall, neat rows of corn in Iowa fields, water tanks and windmills long out of use but not yet sold for scrap. With his photography, he hopes to make people think differently about the world around them, seeing the world through new and different perspectives.
Allen has traveled to many interesting places across the United States and all around the world. Some of his favorite vacations and travel destinations are highlighted below. You can also follow Allen Frantzen on Twitter for other travel posts and updates.
In addition, as he travels, Allen Frantzen has been assembling a photograph collection of memorials built to honor those who died in World War I, with numerous examples from the US (Chicago and Allen’s native Iowa especially), England, France, and Germany. Some of these images appear in his 2004 book, Bloody Good: Chivalry, Sacrifice, and the Great War.
War memorials blend into their settings. They are often hidden by trees and bushes planted long after the memorials were created. In his travels Allen Frantzen has often found himself showing war memorials to people who have lived near them their whole lives and never noticed them. His photographs help to remind people of the memorials and what they represent.
France
Allen Frantzen has traveled to France on numerous occasions including 2004, 2005, and 2007. During his time in France, Allen made sure to visit many World War I memorials and cemeteries as they hold a strong and familiar place in his heart. Some of the places he visited include:
- Vieville-en-Haye
- Laon
- Thiacourt
- Bezny-et-Loizy
- Richecourt
- Vivaise
- Montsec
- Rouvrois-sur-Meuse
- Fort Vaux
- Douamount (Verdun)
- Montfaucon
- Reims
- Vendresse
- Pozières
- Bray sur Somme
- Thiepval
- Beaumont Hamel
- Doullens
- Neuville
- St. Vaast
- Targette
- Vimy Ridge
Germany
While in Germany, Allen Frantzen was able to travel to many major cities including: Cologne, Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Munich. In these cities, Allen soaked in the fascinating culture, architecture, and history of Germany exploring the museums, shops, cathedrals, the Rhine River, and more.
England
Allen Frantzen has also traveled to England on numerous occasions visiting cities like Nottingham and London. On one of his firsts trips to London, Allen visited the Imperial War Museum as well as the Millennium Bridge. While in Nottingham, Allen roamed the city enjoying the sites and views on the university campus, Old Market Square, and more.
Traveling to all of these places has been a very rewarding experience for Allen Frantzen. These experiences have helped him grow as an individual as well as a writer.