Lots of people who took my reader survey left comments and questions I would like to respond to a few of those today.
“I don’t have a husband, so I don’t know If I could travel like that by myself or not!”
“Would you have made this move if you were single and on your own?”
Yes, if I was on my own I would have gone on a trip like this by myself. When I finished university (in my mid-20’s) I travelled in eastern europe by myself for 8 months and loved it. I met so many people I didn’t feel like I was alone. But, if I was doing this trip, I wouldn’t travel with the fifth wheel on my own. It’s a big endeavour to tow a rig and deal with all the plumbing and maintenance. I really rely on Ray to do all that. However, I have met a couple of women on this trip that travelled in big rigs alone: one was in a fifth wheel and the other was in a big bus type rig. I really admire them for taking that on. I don’t think I would. If I was on my own I would probably travel in a little camper van with a porta pottie and use the campground showers.
“You’re inspiring me to take the plunge and make the changes, even if they seem big and scary. Also, with two kids and a working husband it’s not practical for me …”
I dont’ know what your husband does for a living, that would make a big difference. But if there is any way he could transform his career into a location independent career there is nothing stopping you. I don’t have kids so I cannot really give advice about taking kids on the road. All I can say is that I have met tons of families who are doing this. Most of them travel in a bus type rig and do home schooling or correspondence. I’ve talked to some of the kids and they LOVE it! They are getting some great life experience. Check out these folks, they are a family of 6 travelling around doing a public art project: http://inspiretoinspire.com/
“Financially I’ve never been able to catch up with debt while pursuing my photography, and now I’m out of work and shooting/networking again but don’t have capital to show work or travel.”
You know, I kind of hate to say it, but you cannot really live this lifestyle if you have debt. Debt is a huge anchor. My advice would be to work your ass off until the debt is paid. Sell your stuff. Only do photography for fun to keep yourself sane. Then once the debt is paid you can do whatever you want. You can go live in the desert for practically free and photograph all the time until you are a totally awesome photographer and then start a business of some sort. That’s what I would do. Actually now that I think of it, that is what I did! I wanted to be a photographer a long time ago, but I had student loans. So I started a traditional career. I didn’t really take up photography seriously until much later.
A few people said they would like help setting up a wordpress photo blog or other portfolio site. Others said they would like to see more details about the RV life. Okay!
One person said they want to see more porn. This is the one case where I know exactly who that person is — I’m looking at you Ray!
I really want to thank all the people that said they visit my blog for inspiration, motivation to make a change, and watching someone live their dream. A couple of people said it particularly well: “I appreciate people who decide to change their “comfortable” life to live an “extraordinary” one” and “Thank you for living your life authentically and gifting the world with it”.
The best part of my journey is living my dream. The next best part is being able to motivate others to live their dream too.
I really got a kick out of the person who said “My life is too much to go into in this short box.” Bravo!
By the way, the photos I post on the blog are usually about 2-4 weeks behind my current location. On the sidebar of the blog there is a little map that shows my current location. If it looks like I am near you or coming your way, give me a shout. I really like meeting up with fellow photographers for a photo walk. I get lots of comments from people who want to meet up based on the location of my last blog post, but I have usually left the area by then.
And finally “hi” back to India, France, Sweden and Poland 🙂
How can I help you? If you have a question, feel free to leave it in the comments below or you can click the “Contact” button at the top of the screen in the red menu bar and I will do my best to answer it.
Enjoy your blog and thanks for sharing your adventure.
Good Luck, God Bless
Chuck
Thanks for an interesting series of posts. I was wondering if you feel like you’ve gotten a better read now on the challenges of making a full time living through photography? I think you described your adventure in earlier posts as something of an exploratory step in this regard. So many people are taking good photos these days and the old model sure seems to be on its way out pretty quickly. Creative ventures like yours seem promising, but there are a lot of cross currents out there. From what I can tell from my amateur photographer perch, education of other photographers seems to be the main viable path for pros to take these days, but I’d be interested to hear your take.
Hi Snowy! Sorry for the very late reply, I’ve gotten behind on my comments since I was focussed on releasing my new ebook.
During the first year of travel, I decided not to worry about trying to make money. I’m just improving my craft, putting some milage on my shutter finger, and building my audience. So I don’t think my read on the photography business has really changed much. I do agree that the old model doesn’t work anymore. There was a time when photographers could make a living selling stock images to magazines and other publishers, but since micro-stock took hold that isn’t the case anymore. Teaching and workshops seem to be where most photographers earn a living. Unless of course they are wedding or portrait photographers, those people still have the same model they always had and lots of people make a living that way. But it is much harder for landscape photographers to sell images. I think there is a market out there for photographers who can compliment their images with writing and create books or magazine articles or membership based subscriptions to blogs and things like that.
Thanks for your thoughts Anne. I can see you’ve been busy. Congratulations on your ebook!
Hi Anne
I would also like to comment on the question of ” I don’t have a husband…..
I am a single female in mid life and am taking on the challenge of perusing my passion and dream…I travel through the very remote regions of Africa on my own… although it is hard, I would not have it any other way… you must live your life and your passion now…here is a thought… what if you met the man of your dreams and he did not support your passion, had children and could not travel….etc… would you ever take the steps to do what you really want to do in life? Being a single women should not stop you but give you even more freedom to pursue your true life….There are so many emerging female photographers that would love to support you in the journey!!
Piper
Hi Piper, Sorry for the late reply! As you know I’ve been trying to get my ebook out the door. I just wanted to thank you very much for adding your insightful comments to this post. You are so right about single women taking advantage of the freedom they have and pursuing their dreams. It’s also much more likely that you meet like minded folks when you are pursuing your dreams too.
Hello Anne,
I stumbled upon you, your work and adventure in Flipboard. I love taking photographs. I am not very good, don’t have a ton of time or the right equipment. Working to improve all 3. I do travel for work and play though so squeeze in photography on these trips. My question is around equipment. What would you recommend as the basic kit for someone to begin taking photos of the quality I see in you gallery. Include your thoughts on computer and software. Obviously there is some skill that needs to be developed as well. Other than your ebooks, and thanks for those, can you recommend some reading material.
Thanks and continue having a safe and exciting adventure. Nice photos.
Hi Gord! Sorry for the late reply, I have had very limited internet access lately. There are pros and cons to all the various sytems and some people swear by Canon and others Nikon. I would definitely choose one of those brands just for the variety of lenses available for them. If I was starting out right now I would buy the entry level Canon DSLR (only because I am a canon shooter and I’m just used to the way their controls work). I think it is a T3i. Get the kit lens and if you can afford it, get a telephoto too. As far as software goes, Lightroom just came down to only $150 so I would DEFINITELY get that. It is an outstanding program and with that price you just cannot loose. For reading material, one of the best introductory books I have read is the BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography. It is on Amazon. I hope that helps. Don’t hesitate to send me more questions. Good luck!