Travel Journal
For fourteen months, I lived out of my 4x4 Nissan Xterra. My decision to live on the road was a personal experiment in stretching my comfort zone, so I opted not to invest in a full build until I had some experience. Instead, I found small ways to make my SUV feel like home.
Read MoreMaking 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.
Read MoreWhy 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.
Read MoreA 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!
Read More“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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreLove 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.
Read MoreA 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.
Read MoreThey 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.
Read MoreFrom 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreIt'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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreVideo 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.
Read MoreI 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.
Read MoreNapoli 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.
Read MoreIt was the first week of January, and the crowds were gone. I don’t know how cold it was, only that it was.
Read MoreOur 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.
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![Will to Power // Southern Utah [16mm]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/555bbdc0e4b04aa921b4db15/1527798863737-RD80C7PY1S0IBJW0DZVY/Christian-Schaffer-Utah-Highline-1.jpg)
