Around this time each year, my wife and I begin to develop a travel bug. The harsh winters generally settle in around the middle of January, and all we can think about are airplanes zipping through brilliant blue skies towards a happier destination.

Paul Stamatiou isn’t helping this year’s travel flu. Over the last few years, Paul has travelled to Japan, France, and Greece and has snapped thousands of photos along the way. All his photos are just magnificent — I’ve literally clicked through every day of every trip and have begun to take in all his side trips as well. Each photo story is delectable.

After looking at Paul’s photos, one thing has become clear: I need to buy a graduated ND filter or polarizer for my lenses. Those brilliant blue skies are breathtaking.

I’ve linked to the France photo story because I’ve had the chance to visit almost all the places in his collection. However, Jaclyn found the Greece photo story to be her favourite and others have commented on Paul’s Japan collection. Whichever you choose to digest, you can’t go wrong.

(Hat tip to Álvaro Serrano on this one — he sure knows how to pick ‘em.)