Journal — Christian A. Schaffer

Christian A. Schaffer

Preparing for Life on the Road

Preparing for Life on the Road

Making a decision and making it a reality. Two very different things.

After deciding to live on the road and let my apartment lease expire, I offered myself a giant pat on the back and promptly forgot about it. For a day. A week. And then a month. Six weeks passed before I finally faced the reality of my current situation. I was in Utah, hanging out with some of my favorite people in the world. Taking photos, having fun. Making absolutely zero progress toward my goal of living on the road.

Van Life, North America, National ParksChristian SchafferAugust 18, 2019 Comments

The In Between

The In Between

Why I decided to leave home and live full-time on the road.

I stared at the blank space. Six pieces of 8x10 white printer paper, hastily taped together. Freshly sharpened colored pencils, scattered across the page. Light, everywhere. Unwashed hair. Third cup of coffee. I sat frozen, cross-legged on my living room floor. I was trying to figure out my life.

North America, Van LifeChristian SchafferJuly 23, 2019 Comments

Five Days in the Sunshine State

Five Days in the Sunshine State

A few weeks ago, I worked alongside some inspiring & talented humans on a campaign with Visit Florida , REI & Matador Network . So crazy grateful for a career that is based on getting outside, going on adventures and doing what I love with people I admire!

North AmericaChristian SchafferJune 14, 2019Comment

The Stokecast : In Pursuit of the Pastel Horizon, with Christian Schaffer

The Stokecast : In Pursuit of the Pastel Horizon, with Christian Schaffer

“Adventure photographer” doesn’t quite describe Christian Schaffer. After just a few seconds staring at her work you know that in Schaffer’s world, landscapes look more like dreamscapes, and what most call outdoor escapes, she calls life.

Christian SchafferJanuary 12, 2019Comment

Island in the Sun

Island in the Sun

I looked woefully out of place, my dirty shoes still wet from river rafting the day before. I couldn’t help but smile…this was my life lately. Chaotically different, one day to the next. One night I was falling asleep in a five star resort, surrounded by six down pillows. The next night I was pitching a tent, or falling asleep in the back of my truck.

Central AmericaChristian SchafferOctober 29, 2018 Comments

Peru: The High Andes

Peru: The High Andes

In April 2018, I joined Eddie Bauer on a trip to Peru and into the mountains of the High Andes where we immersed ourselves in the Peruvian culture and landscape. Good times with this incredible & talented team.

Forrest Woodward

South AmericaChristian SchafferAugust 28, 2018Comment

Will to Power // Southern Utah [16mm]

Will to Power // Southern Utah [16mm]

Love this film by Roman Alaivi of our journey into Southern Utah. Always so inspired by my friends and fellow creatives to push boundaries, grow, and make time for what I love most. Being outside.

North AmericaChristian SchafferJune 4, 2018Hiking, Highlining, Utah, Moab Comments

Summit Lake, Mount Rainier

Summit Lake, Mount Rainier

A plume of dust clouded my rear view mirror as I turned down the unpaved road. I slowed to navigate the upward track of rugged terrain, half expecting my airbag to explode with each and every pothole.

North America, National ParksChristian SchafferMay 31, 2018 Comments

Learning to Let Go: Love & Egypt

Learning to Let Go: Love & Egypt

They say people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. You learn from each other, lean into one another. Sometimes you even decide to do life together. And everything is magical. Until it isn't. And things get hard.

Africa, Middle EastChristian SchafferMay 10, 2018Egypt, Luxor, Love, Cairo, Military Comments

Black Diamond: Shelter On The Go

Black Diamond: Shelter On The Go

North AmericaChristian SchafferApril 15, 2018Hiking, WashingtonComment

Secret Hot Springs, Washington

Secret Hot Springs, Washington

From the trail, we spotted three dark spheres through the trees. Three dark pearls of warmth amid a winter wonderland, each framed by fresh snow. We stripped down to our swimsuits and piled our clothes together near the trail. Shivering, we walked barefoot down to the springs.

North AmericaChristian SchafferApril 2, 2018Hot Springs, Washington, Hiking Comments

El Gouna, Egypt

El Gouna, Egypt

I had heard of this place before. A distant cousin to the chaos that was Cairo, related but nothing alike. The photos I had seen were of clear, blue waters and golden light stretching out over wild, open spaces.

Africa, Middle EastChristian SchafferMarch 19, 2018 Comments

Finding Home

Finding Home

It's 7pm and I'm in the window seat of a small plane, taxiing toward the runway. The sun is falling from the sky, and golden light is spilling onto the wing. The landscape blurs as we pick up speed, and I feel the wheels lift. We're flying. To Atlanta. Then Paris. Then Cairo, Egypt. A new country, a new continent. A new home. Sort of.

North AmericaChristian SchafferMarch 22, 2017 Comments

La Push, Washington

La Push, Washington

I stood on the beach today at sunset. Watching people balance cameras while wearing knit hats and flannel shirts – teetering out onto massive logs, silhouetted together against a crimson sky. I saw the same scene I had seen five years before. The same rock formations in the distance, the same haystacks and mossy green trails.

North America, National ParksChristian SchafferFebruary 25, 2016 Comments

John Muir Trail

John Muir Trail

Video footage of our 240 mile trek through Yosemite National Park, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Sequoia National Park, King's Canyon National Park, and to the summit of Mount Whitney at 14,496 ft.

North America, National ParksChristian SchafferJanuary 12, 2016 Comments

Havasupai, Arizona

Havasupai, Arizona

I could hear the wind as it whipped through our small cluster of tents, and carried what it could from the rim down to the canyon floor.

North AmericaChristian SchafferNovember 17, 2015 Comments

Lost in Translation, Naples, Italy

Lost in Translation, Naples, Italy

Napoli isn't the sort of city you can just label and file away, It is beautiful. Infuriating. Confusing. Living here is like going down a rabbit hole of sorts, regardless of voluntarily immersion. Napoli doesn't house wallflowers. Quiet observation is simply not allowed. The people, the noise, the seasons, the chaos…you become involved.

EuropeChristian SchafferAugust 2, 2015Comment

Yosemite

Yosemite

It was the first week of January, and the crowds were gone. I don’t know how cold it was, only that it was.

North America, National ParksChristian SchafferFebruary 17, 2015 Comment

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru

Our guide Americo pointed into the white abyss and said, “familia...there, through the fog, is Huayna Picchu and the best view of Machu Picchu." We squinted, each of us, willing our eyes to see beyond the white wall of cloud. We had hiked fifty miles, for four days, and the thing we had come to see was invisible.

South AmericaChristian SchafferOctober 7, 2014 Comments

Salkantay Trek, Peru

Salkantay Trek, Peru

All the lives we could live, all the people we will never know, never will be, they are everywhere. That is what the world is. –Aleksandar Hemon

South AmericaChristian SchafferSeptember 17, 2014 Comments