WSMV Channel 4 Bulger's Beat: Exhibit documents photographer's odyssey

A canoe, a camera and a big sense of adventure are all part of a Nashville man's seven-year off and on journey through this country's waterways now on display at the Nashville International Airport.

Seven years ago, professional photographer John Guider looked in the mirror and faced the reality and fear that comes with getting old.

He figured the best way to deal with aging was to commit to a plan that would be both frightening yet exhilarating.

So he decided to get in his canoe and start paddling.

"Such serene beauty is just almost unimaginable," he said.

"The River Inside" is his exhibit, captured by camera from Guider's canoe.

He traveled some 6,000 miles over seven years, down the Mississippi to New Orleans, along the Gulf of Mexico, up the Atlantic Seaboard and beyond.

It was dangerous and adventurous, yet very normal for the men who founded this country.

"Sometimes we live a life and it's so focused that we don't realize what our forefathers did. I'm very grateful and thankful and it really fills my life," he said.

Despite alligators, sharks and the threat of drowning, Guider says his journey is easier.

"All I have to is raise my hand or walk to the highway and I'll be home safe in a couple of days. Those guys didn't have that opportunity," he said.

The canoe and the pictures are now on display along Concourse C at the Nashville airport. His says the ride was life changing, but the most amazing part were the people he met along the way and their humanity.

"I never realized people like that even existed, that folks along the river would be willing to help a total stranger come out of the water, give him a place to stay and eat until he was ready to go on," Guider said.

And now, the going on continues.

Guider and the canoe are heading back on the water this spring with a trek to New York. Again, his only companion will be Mother Nature.

"There's so much to living that doesn't come with a price tag. It's just a matter of joy when I get out in it, I'm instantly calm once again," he said.

Guider is now in his early 60s and no longer worries about older age. A successful, eye-opening, heart-stopping one man trip down the Mississippi has a way of taking all fears away.

Although he now has thousands of beautiful photos, the trip continues to be more about what he feels than what he sees.

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