Busy, Busy AF. How are you?
Just sitting down for a minute to catch my breath
Summer is one of my busiest times of year. Since I’ve been on the road, I have included in my travels a lengthy stay in North Park, CO, where I grew up. I have family here, a place to park, and considering how hot summers have been getting, being up around 8000ft above sea level isn’t a bad altitude for avoiding hot weather. It also gives me a chance to really dig deep and get some work done for one of my biggest clients.
Rodeo Weekend is always the busiest time of the season. I can do a lot of my work remotely, but summertime is one of the busiest times of year in Colorado when it comes to travel and tourism. The most is going on and the weather is the best for outdoor activities. Rodeo Weekend starts on the second to last weekend of June. I hit the ground running on Friday, going all over the place, taking photos, interviewing people, networking, and getting my hands dirty with everything going on.
Today feels like the first chance I’ve had to really just slack in over a week. This weekend I was taking rodeo photos, parade shots, Old Timers, live music, and street dances. I couldn’t sleep when I was done because my brain was still running. I finished off the weekend (on Monday) interviewing a young couple who are renovating 100 year old cabins. (You’ll see the article at the end of this week on the other substack!)
I love shooting in black and white. Especially rodeos!
Today I helped my folks set up a new router on their wifi. I sent a new headshot to a magazine that is going to be publishing an article I have been working on for the last five months very soon. Tomorrow I’ll help my dad replace a fuel filter on one of his cars. Life is a balance of work and play, and luckily for me, lots of work that I do still feels like play. I got to take photos of bull riding and bronc busting. I get backstage access to events. And the occasional comped meal—I had the absolute best pulled pork BBQ at the street dance.
I love what I get to do.
But at the end of this long, long weekend, I started to feel burned out. A lot of that might have been the heat wave that rolled through Colorado, but most of it was constantly being on the run. I tend to hyper-focus (probably ADHD—who knew? I probably always had it).
So, that’s my excuse for not posting in a while. I’ve been busy running, chasing, observing, and connecting. I wish I could have started doing this thirty years ago. Sometimes we zig when we should have zagged. I have big plans in mind for the upcoming Autumn and Winter expedition. Once in a lifetime kind of stuff.
I’m working on a new book idea, incorporating my photographs with essays about my travels. Some real William Least Heat Moon type stuff. I have a few other projects in the works too. I feel like I’m always running, always chasing. I’m hoping to get some time to develop my podcast more. And maybe some YouTube videos.
I’m getting to the point where I have started to think of long-term goals. I want to return to Europe at some point and see what is going on there. I want to set some roots, maybe in a tiny home where I can do extended trips in my bus, but also have a place to land with shelves for my books, an oven to bake bread, and a big deep bathtub to soak my weary bones when I am off the road. Or at the very least regular hot showers.
You have to set some goals for yourself, otherwise you get lost in the endless cycle of replacing stuff that breaks, trying to figure out where to drive, and where to park. It has been nice being off the road for a little bit, but sometimes I get that wanderlust bad. I’ll be turning 50 this year. That’s a big one. There are so many places I still want to go before I shuffle off this mortal coil, and each year it feels like exponentially less time left to do it in.
The time is now to push my comfort zones and have new adventures.
Why am I sharing any of this on this platform? Because I think I’m not alone in this kind of thought. I’m sure lots of you are thinking the same about your life. Either you are living vicariously through my adventures or you are gearing up for your own. Maybe you are a creative. Maybe you are a Traveller in spirit. When I started out there wasn’t a lot out there to set an example or rely on for my own journey. I hope this helps.
Anyway. Enjoy the pretty pictures I have included in this dispatch. I know I loved taking them.