A MOUNTAIN TO SEA PHOTO JOURNEY BEGINS
On the first of January 2017, I left Florida to begin what I thought at the time would be a two-year trip to photograph every state in the United States. The start of my Journey began with a drive from Florida to Lancaster, California to pick up my new mobile home, a Lance RV.
Accompanying me on this Journey was my cat Boo, who was just getting acclimated to car rides. Needless to say, the 6 day trip on Interstate 10 from Florida to California was quite eventful and not one I will ever forget!
Looking back, that was over 6 years ago and my two-year goal of life on the road turned into many years of full-time travel. Currently, I only travel part-time as I address some knee issues that have limited my ability to hike to photo destinations. Once resolved, I plan to return to traveling for photography the majority of the time.
My Lance Travel Trailer
Having previously owned a 40 foot diesel motorhome, I decided to purchase a nonmotorized RV this time around. Why you may ask? Well knowing I would be traveling to small towns and remote locations with limited to no RV service; I did not want to deal with engine repairs. So after 8 months of research, I settled on a Lance Trailer based on Lance Campers’ perceived high quality.
Was this the perfect photographer’s RV? Read RV Adventures to find out.
Documenting My Journey
To document all the places I photographed as well as camped, I created the following yearly maps of my travels. Each map contains a map key identifying what each symbol stands for as well as links to photographs of some of the locations I have photographed.
2017 Travels
2018 Travels
2019 Travels
2020 and 2021 coming soon
Rving with a Cat
As I have noted in other places on my site, I travel with a cat named Boo. Although Boo is a wonderful cat and great company, it is not easy to pursue my photo travels while keeping Boo safe and happy. Thankfully we make it work.
In the future, I will be dedicating a number of posts called Boo Bits to Rving with a cat. For now, here are a few things I think everyone should consider before traveling full-time with a pet and in particular, a cat.
The above is only a partial list of factors one should consider before taking any pet on the road full time.
Deciding Where to Photograph
The joy of being full time on the road is that you can drive anywhere to photograph. But choosing the right photography location at the right time is not so simple. In fact it can be very costly both in time and dollars to not adequately plan photo destinations for optimal conditions.
I have written the following blog posts on this very subject: Tips for Locating Great Places to Photograph and 10 Tips for Planning Photography Trips.
Right Place Right Time Photos
In the first image of the Grand Tetons, I knew I wanted to capture snow on the mountains. As you can see, I barely made it. In the second image of the San Xavier Mission in Tuscon, the mission faced south and required the sun to be in the southern sky to properly light the church. Therefore San Xavier had to be a winter destination.
Not only are photo destinations important when traveling full time for photography but also finding places to camp and in my case avoiding bad weather were equally important.
So How Is Full Time Photography Travel?
I love being a nomadic photographer with the ability to constantly explore and photograph new places. However, it does come with many challenges including no internet at so many of my destinations as well as having to alter destinations due to inclement weather. Still, there is no place I would rather be than traveling the country with my camera.