Hitting the Road
March 1, 2022
For the last few months I've been meticulously equipping my Rav4 with everything I'll need to hopefully live on the road indefinitely, and on February 8th I packed up and left the Bay Area. I don’t exactly know what the next couple years will look like, but basically I plan to explore wild places throughout North America and visit some mountain ranges in other parts of the world too. So far this feels like one of the very best decisions I’ve ever made.
I also want to give a big shoutout to my friend Drew Simms; seeing him do something similar is what first gave me the idea that living like this was even possible.
I also want to give a big shoutout to my friend Drew Simms; seeing him do something similar is what first gave me the idea that living like this was even possible.
Some journaling from a couple months ago:
Why do I want to do this “trip”? Because every fiber of my being is yearning for it. To be under the open sky. To watch the clouds drift by with no inkling of needing to be anywhere else. To forget all the superfluous and counterproductive things I’ve been taught and settle out into a deeper calm joyful part of my being. Allow my body to rest and heal and take in mountain and desert energy. Basically every time I’ve gone inside myself to a significant extent, I love what I find. And I see that the seemingly less positive aspects have developed for good reason and can dissipate and give way to joy as long as they feel their work is complete. And when there’s nothing to do besides watch the clouds and cook food (i.e, exist), it’s easy for them to feel that way. I'm guessing that if I can more or less reside in this type of consciousness for months or years, it will rewire my nervous system to be tuned for joy and connection over survival for my whole life. I just want to drop in and be fully me, and discover what that even means. Tap into and further cultivate the full capacity of my heart and mind and body. And let them run wild and experience and create. Express express express. Learn voraciously. I want to witness (and be a very small active participant in) so much beauty on such a huge scale that the protective barriers around my heart cant help but give way. And capture it in an authentic way with my camera. And show other people how insanely beautiful some parts of this world are, and how insanely wonderful life can be. Show that magic is real. Soul magic, the stuff that lights your soul on fire and charges your body with near-limitless impetus. I want to allow mine to be lit on fire and spread the flame to anyone else who is interested. The best way I know how to reproduce soul magic is to be alone with intention in powerful wild places, and to connect deeply, compassionately, and playfully with others. So I intend to go pour myself completely into these things and see what happens.
I know exactly what mountains and landscapes I want to go to and experience. Don’t need anyone else telling me where to go, how to shoot, anything. Sure, continue to learn specific skills from other photographers, but basically just go do what I know how to do. How I was shooting in 2019 especially. I have an innate sensitivity to the power of certain very specific places. The aim is never to conquer these places (which would be a silly, futile endeavor anyway), but to understand them, to feel them. To let the place touch me and funnel a sliver of that magic into a photograph.
