Introduction

Hello! My name is Bridget and this is my new blog. This is going to be a place for me to tell travel stories, post pictures, recommend gear, and offer advice on cheap traveling.

I am a photographer in San Diego who spent six years in the Bay Area and two years traveling. I spent ten years trying to get through college before graduating with a BFA in photography. During that time I spent close to seven years saving to travel. Now, for the first time, I have a very good job that I love. This means less time for long trips. Even with a full-time job I have managed to see the Bahamas and Catalina Island (twice) within the last year, plus a weekend hiking trip and next month I will be taking an Arizona, Nevada, Eastern Sierras road trip. I also travel a lot for work. So far this year they have sent me to Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, Berkeley, and Atlanta.

Most of my stories will be saved for a book I am in the process of writing, which humorously details an attempted Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike, traveling the United States by van, bus, sailboat, foot, plane, hitchhiking etc, and our first trip to Europe where my (now) husband and I visited eighteen countries in four months. If you're looking for luxury travel, turn back now. Our trips involved sleeping outside against spiderwebbed ancient castles, riding flea market bikes from Vienna to Budapest, sleeping in a van in a gas station parking lot in the South in August, finding luxury in drinking hose water, going to punk shows in sewers, drinking beer in squats, and so on.

Check back soon for blogs about the gear I travel with, how to hike the Trans Catalina Trail, short stories from past trips, travel photography series, and how to see the Bahamas if you're not rich (which is something I tried to find out on my own).

Since this will probably be the one and only post about me, I guess I'll do a little FAQ:

• What kind of photography do you do/What camera do you use?

My major was in advertising photography, I like taking pictures of people, I used to actually take pictures of dogs, but for work I take pictures inside and outside of buildings. It's not the direction I ever thought I would head, but I really do like it. Buildings are very reliable and never complain. When traveling light I use a Canon SL1, the rest of the time I use a Canon 6D Mark II. I shoot in RAW and I mostly edit my personal work in Photoshop Camera RAW.

• What question(s) do you get asked the most after traveling extensively?

How is your knee?

I left the Pacific Crest Trail after injuring my knee in 2015 and for some reason I still get asked about it all the time. When it happened I was scared to keep hiking, but I had MediCal so it took three months to get a diagnosis. During those three months I developed atrophy in my leg muscles pretty damn bad. I found out it was just tendonitis, but after continuing to travel and walk around with a backpack on it turned into not just tendonitis of my knee, but my whole leg from the arch of my foot to my hip. As long as I'm not climbing mountains for days on end carrying weight it doesn't bother me, but I should be going to the gym for it!! I can do difficult hikes for about 2.5 days before I'll be limping again for the next week. I also have asthma that makes physical activities sometimes difficult (aka deadly) so that's fun too.

And what big trips are next?

Because I quit everything to travel non stop for a few years everyone expects me to keep going. Which would be nice... but life cost money, I have debt, my dogs are getting old, I have dental insurance for the first time in like eight years so I'm using it, I'm finally comfortable and it feels really good. I have a lot of little trips planned but my big dream would be to cycle more of Europe. Someday. I would also love to live in the boonies on Catalina Island and boat around it all day everyday but I'm not a millionaire so...

• Question you hate being asked the most?

How many tattoos to do you have. Like does my whole back count as one, and then my finger count as one also? So you could have your entire body covered but have like five tattoos? I don't understand how these numbers work. And don't say it's per session because I definitely have a tattoo that counts as one that was three sessions.

• Odd fact about you?

I've had a paper cut in my eye. I failed DARE but I don't do any drugs. I've hung out with Johnny Rotten. I think I have too many odd facts but I can't remember a lot of them anymore.

• What were you like growing up?

• What do you do in your free time?

Have too many hobbies. I write, do printmaking, scratch board, make soap, embroider, hang out with my dogs and husband, go on little adventures, and try to ride a bike. I also really like dive bars.

• When is this book coming out?

Oh jeez, whenever I figure out how to edit (aka find someone I can pay to edit for me). Mid 2019 would be a nice goal.

• What is your best travel advice?

Travel light, damn it. Carry some soap and wash your underwear in the shower so you can bring less shit. Don't use soap out in nature though, not even "natural" soap. The animals and streams will thank you.

• What is your best photography advice?

Shoot manual, get that color balance under control, and stop cranking up the saturation. Shoot a portrait in the shade, pop up the light with a reflector, and you have an image that looks like it was done in a studio for $20 worth of lighting equipment.

• What do you collect? Un-adoptable rescue dogs and hobo clown paintings. I have a couch full of one and a hallway filled with the other.

• Biggest peeve?

Bad drivers, agro bros, pseudoscience, people who feed your dog without asking, and when people find out you're vegan so they try to give you health food. Also when people call the cops on coyotes. Cop callers in general.

• Favorite food?

Nutritional yeast.

THANKS. FOLLOW ALLONG. COMMENT? I DON'T KNOW.