Becky at the boundary line between North Cascades National Park and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area (Washington)
I originally wrote this in honor of International Women’s Day, but really, this is for any day of the year, any year, and definitely for all women of any age. When I wrote this on my Facebook photography page, it was March 8, “a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.” I may not have accomplished as much as other women (I’m pretty certain I’ll never climb Mt. Everest or photograph a mother whale and her calf beneath the ocean’s surface), yet I feel I’ve achieved quite a bit in my almost-62 years of life. At least, in certain areas. And the photos you see here prove it. This post here, is just for the ladies, as a matter of fact. No, I’m not eschewing the men in your lives, but on this particular day, here’s to the ladies. And ladies – here’s a little bit of advice: travel solo on occasion.
Becky heading into the Quinault Rainforest at Olympic National Park (Washington)
Ladies, travel ignites the sparks of learning, imagination, and creativity. Solo travel does that in addition to highlighting strengths, accomplishments, and maybe even pointing out areas needing improvement. Yes, there is always risk with solo travel. In truth, there’s risk with just about everything in life, from job to relationships to planning your future. The main thing is that at least once in your life, you should strike out on a brand new adventure all by yourself.
Becky on the Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park – my very first photo workshop and first photo adventure back in 2008
Take me, for instance. Yeah, it’s all about me (snort), but hey, it’s my photography page and they say to always write about what you know.
To get all these images you’ve seen here, I can thank the internet. I can also thank trains, planes, and automobiles. I travel with my cameras to units of the National Park System all over the U.S. and even into Canada. Solo. And I love it. As a matter of fact, I think solo travel for women is empowering. I’ve traveled solo pretty much all my life, excluding a few group photo workshops here and there. I prefer solo travel because it allows me to do what I want, when I want, where I want, how I want. I can stop at a view area photographing for as long as I like, breathing in the beauty of the landscape or watching in awe a herd of bison navigate across a valley. I can eat whatever I want, stay where ever I want (well, where ever I can afford), and pack whatever I want (now that I drive instead of fly). I don’t have to worry about a bored traveling partner who wants to stop sooner than I like, who wants to do something other than what I want to do, who doesn’t want to eat where I want to eat – you get the gist. No, I’m not dissing group travel, which can be a rich experience in and of itself. I’ve had grand times with group photo tours. I’m simply telling you that the energizing experience of traveling includes solo travel. It’s good to strike off on your own, now and then, and do something for yourself. Do what you want to do.
Sure, solo travel can be a bit daunting, particularly for women. It doesn’t matter if you’ve traveled by yourself for years or if you are just starting out. Traveling by oneself means paying closer attention to safety and security. You need to check those rental car tires yourself. Get good locks for your luggage. Carry important items such as wallets or passports in a jacket or vest pocket on your body. Carry bear spray. Carry a whistle. Make noise when hiking. Yes, they say you should never hike alone, but when I’m traveling, I’m not going to stand around waiting to tag along with strangers who might not want a third wheel. As a solo traveler, I’m responsible for my own safety, and I have no problems changing my hiking itinerary if warranted.
As I grow older, I find myself slowing down a little more, taking more breaks along the trail, gauging my level of fitness when tackling a slightly more strenuous trail. But as long as I can continue traveling solo, with camera in hand, I’m going to do just that.
FYI – these images of myself were captured with the camera on a tripod and me holding either a wireless remote or using the camera’s 10-second self-timer.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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I’m getting ready for a Big Road Trip to Yosemite National Park, Devils Postpile National Monument, and Great Basin National Park. During the pandemic. I’m not one of those vaccine- or Covid-deniers. I believe in wearing masks, keeping a social distance, and washing my hands (a lot!). I’ve taken the Covid vaccine and the other day got my annual flu shot. So here I am, preparing for this trip. How am I doing it in a pandemic? Actually, very similar – pretty much exactly the same – as when I traveled to Crater Lake National Park, Redwood National and State Parks, and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area back in 2020. For those of you interested in learning what preparations / precautions I took, read on. For those of you who roll your eyes and think the thing is a hoax or not serious at all (despite all the REAL facts, not Faux Fox News facts), then you might as well just move right along and look for something else to read.
Ok, with that out of the way, here I go.
I’m a solo traveler. I much prefer it that way – especially during the pandemic. I can go where I want, when I want, do what I want, and if I feel like stopping and spending 30 minutes or longer photographing an area of interest, I don’t have to worry about the other person in the car being bored out of their mind and wanting to get to their hotel room. I also don’t have to worry about entertaining anybody else. When I am on a photo trip, I am all about the photography.
I’m driving, not flying anywhere. Even if there was no pandemic, I still wouldn’t fly much at this point in time. I’m sick of it. I don’t really like to fly, but it’s a means to an end and I spent 20 years flying to national parks when I lived and worked in TX. So, when I finally was able to get the hell out and move to Washington state, one of the first things I did, a year later, was trade in my little Honda Fit (which was perfect for commuting to and from Houston) and purchase my first-ever SUV. And, I LOVE it! I can pack what I want in it without worrying about weight limits and, if needed, I can sleep in it. Besides all that, why the heck would I want to fly amongst people who bitch about wearing masks on the plane and then get totally unruly and cause themselves and everybody else problems? Plus, I enjoy driving. The journey to a national park is part of my enjoyment … although I am not looking forward to the 15-hour drive I’ll have during that first day of the trip.
I wear a medical id bracelet so in case of an emergency, first responders know who to call and can access my medical information. It’s a good idea to have one of these, whether you travel alone or in a group, actually. I use Road ID, but I know there are other similar operations out there.
I pack two large suitcases. One has all the clothing/underwear/toiletries/first aid supplies I’ll need (and then some, actually) for my time away, and the other one has nothing but food, condiments, and utensils (bowl, small plate, knife, fork, spoon). And my coffee maker. And my hot pot to boil water for reconstituting freeze-dried meals.
I spray my pants and shirts with permethrin to protect against ticks and other pests. I use DEET or other repellant to protect my bare skin from insect pests.
I wear bright / neon long-sleeve shirts. That way, my arms are protected against the sun and if something happens to me, I’ll hopefully be easy to spot off the trail.
I carry bear spray. When I flew, I had to wait until I landed and then find someplace that rented out bear spray. Now that I drive my own vehicle, I can get the bear spray and have it with me all the time.
Yes, I take all of my food with me. While this does not preclude going to a drive-through (sometimes, I crave McDonalds if it is nearby), I have absolutely no intention of eating inside any building other than my own room. What do I take with me? Well, it’s a personal preference, of course, but here ya go:
Ground coffee. I love my coffee (Peet’s Italian Roast), but usually wait until I return from a day in the field to drink it. I don’t want to have to pee all the time, and I need/want it while working through the day’s images when I return in the evening.
Ramen instant cup-of-soup (Maruchan is my favorite brand)
Annie Chun instant noodle soups
Freeze-dried meals of various brands: Mountain House, Backpacker’s Pantry, Peak Refuel, Alpineaire, Heather’s Choice. Mountain House is my fave because it’s always well-seasoned. The other brands tend to be a bit on the bland side so hot sauce or a little extra salt comes in handy – and I bring hot sauce, salt, and pepper with me. REI.com carries a great assortment of each brand, plus, if you are a member, you’ll get a dividend at year’s end (or thereabouts) that’s 10 percent of whatever you spent over the year.
Canned tuna in olive oil (the most flavorful, imo)
Gel packs for hiking (I like Clif Shot and Hammer brands). They taste good, give me a boost of energy, are easy to carry in my photographer vest pockets, and I don’t spend time trying to chew and swallow bars with the texture of sawdust
Toblerone and Hershey’s chocolate bars
Peanut butter
Saltine crackers
Loaf of bread
Snack chips (of course!)
Little packets of mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard
Clif Energy Bars (I love their nut butter-filled bars and their sweet & salty bars)
Little cartons of cream that I keep in a small, thermal, lunchbox. I love cream with my coffee. I’ll take half & half if there is nothing else available, but I hate those little packets of non-dairy creamer and I’ll only drink black coffee if I have no other recourse. Yes, I’m spoiled.
I bring my own water. I get those jugs of water at the grocery store. I used to think it was an old wives’ tale, but from personal experience, I can tell you that drinking water from the tap in different areas/states/counties/towns brings on – for me anyway – diarrhea, because each place has its own set of microbes in the water. Nothing to kill me, but def enough to create havoc with my digestive system for several days. Besides, I like keeping lots of water in the SUV, in general, so I can quickly refill my water bottles after a day out in the field.
I also bring Gatorade to help with replacing the salts lost during a hike. After reading Andrea Lankford’s “Ranger Confidential,” I discovered hyponatremia can be every bit as bad as dehydration.
In addition to the first aid supplies I pack in the suitcase, I have a small storage bin of first aid supplies, in addition to extra toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenex, rubbing alcohol and peroxide that I always keep in the vehicle.
I have rheumatoid arthritis and high blood pressure, so I always pack my meds with me.
I wear glasses, so always carry a spare pair in addition to prescription sunglasses and those sunglasses that fit over prescription glasses. After the emergency eye surgery I had (which caused me to cancel / reschedule some of my June Big Road Trip), I am cognizant of protecting my eyes to the point of hypervigilance.
I carry some sort of fire starter with me, just in case. It’s one of those 10 essentials.
Sleeping bag – I prefer to sleep in the bag on top of a hotel/cabin bed, so I take it with me. Also, if I am ever stuck in the middle of a snowstorm or something, I have something to sleep in / keep me warm.
Blanket for the car. Again, along similar lines if I am stuck somewhere and it gets cold, but I also use the blanket to cover up the stuff I have in the rear seat.
A couple of towels and a hand cloth or two – these are mainly to keep in the vehicle.
Hiking poles
Extra hiking boots
A couple of small hunting knives – both for protection and in case I need to saw/chop/cut something.
A couple of tripods (I like carrying a spare heavier tripod for those times when it’s extremely windy). I also often use a lighter tripod as a hiking staff in addition to keeping my camera stable. A 2-fer-1 usefulness.
Hats for both sun and cold weather
Large flashlight, small flashlight, LED lantern, headlamp. I have two headlamps – one that shines regular light, and one that only shines red light suitable for night photography.
Clorox disinfectant wipes, Wet Wipes, hand sanitizer – I used the Clorox wipes for wiping down everything I might conceivably touch once I am at a hotel or in a cabin. It’s the first thing I do after checking in and getting my room key.
Lots and lots of face masks. My sister is a seamstress extraordinaire who spent an entire year (actually, she is still doing it) sewing for the family these awesome facemasks with three layers of fabric in fun patterns – most of mine are all national park- or camping/travel-themed.
Surgical gloves
Extra trash bags
Now, for the camera stuff. Again, I’ve got that kitchen sink mentality. If I’ve got them, I’ll take them. That, plus I have, indeed, broken a couple of lenses and a couple of cameras during trips to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park (super strong wind blew over the not-so-sturdy tripod and camera setup) and Yellowstone National Park (camera and telephoto lens too close to the passenger side door and fell out when I opened the door). I always try to be so careful with all my camera gear, but accidents happen. Trust me when I tell you that while it certainly exercises one’s creativity when framing a photo with a lens you don’t really want to use for a particular subject but have no other alternative, it is also a First World crappy feeling, not to mention expensive when repairing or replacing.
Tons of memory cards. During the very first photography workshop I ever attended (Arizona Highways Photoscapes) back in 2008. I brought along plenty of memory cards, but ended up giving a few of them away to people who had only brought a single memory card with them. You need to bring plenty of memory cards with you so you don’t waste valuable photo time trying to decide which photos to keep and which to delete to make room for future shots.
Extra spare batteries. Very important. Granted, most cameras nowadays have a pretty good battery life, but some cameras – I’m looking at you, Fujifilm – have a battery life that sucks for air. I love the GFX series, but, at least with the GFX100 and GFX100s – even when you turn the camera off, the settings still show up on the top LCD screen, and that, in turn, leaches away the battery juice over time. I don’t know why Fujifilm did that. I could care less what my camera settings are when I turn the camera off. Anyway, I bring plenty of spare batteries with me, as well as a phone charger for the car and a separate one for my hotel room/cabin.
Battery chargers – spare batteries will only work so long before they need more charging.
Filters – graduated neutral density (grad ND), neutral density (ND), circular polarizer (CPL) and regular UV protection. All of them are “thin mount,” meaning you can’t stack filters on top of each other. I use this type of filter because I don’t like the vignetting I get when using a wide-angle lens with a regular filter. I’m also pretty redundant and pack plenty, because I’ve been known to crack one of two filters at times. Saves my lenses … well, most of the time – except for that Hawaii trip …
Wireless shutter releases – Ok, I use them for selfie profile pics of me and my camera against a beautiful landscape.
Lenses – I’m redundant with the lenses, too, but that’s because I have room to pack them and the memories of broken lenses still haunts me. The main lenses I always take with me, spare room or not, are:
Wide-angle 16-35mm
Standard 24-105mm
Telephoto 100 – 400mm
For the Fujifilm cameras: 23mm (equivalent to 18mm), 30mm (equivalent to 25mm), 45-100mm zoom (equivalent to 36-79mm)
If I have more room, then I’ll also consider packing the following:
11-24mm (Canon) or 12-24mm (Sony)
200-600mm (Sony
14mm
24-70mm
If I flew, I’d try to take 2 – 3 camera bodies with me. Driving, I can take more. Why so many? The memory of damaging a couple of camera bodies ….
Lens cleaning tissues and microfiber cloths
Travel laptop – 15”
Several portable hard drives – redundancy is a photographer’s best friend, so I like to download the photos from the memory card onto two separate hard drives in addition to the laptop. I then pack away the used memory cards rather than reformat them at the time, because I’m a pessimist and am always worried that something will happen to laptop or hard drives during the trip. I keep the photos on the memory cards until I’ve returned home, and then I reformat them.
I have considered taking a memory card backup storage device like Nexto or Gnarbox but haven’t read enough reviews about them. However, if there was ever a time I would not be able to take the laptop, then I’d plunk the credit card down and get one of those devices.
Ok, let’s talk about lodging. I wrote earlier that I much prefer a room to a tent. I’m 60 and have had rheumatoid arthritis since my mid-twenties, so while I could still car camp, I won’t ever be doing much in the way of backcountry backpacking, and I just much prefer a room, if I can afford it. During the pandemic, I look to stay in cabins, which are usually set apart from one another and I don’t have to worry about walking a crowded hallway, taking a crowded elevator, pushing elevator buttons used by others, or taking a crowded stairwell. That’s not always an option, but for this trip, I managed to get a cabin for the Yosemite portion, and a sort of motel-type room at a small resort near Great Basin national park. If I had done the smart thing and invested in a little travel trailer, that would be my ideal mode of travel. For now, though, I’ll go with my SUV and renting a room/cabin.
Traveling solo has its rewards and its setbacks. I’ve always traveled solo and revel in being on my own, with time to myself. It’s liberating to be apart for a bit from other people/family. When I return home, I appreciate even more seeing family and sleeping in my own comfy bed. Solo travel is not necessarily for everybody, though. I know one woman who would never ever want to travel by herself. She absolutely needs to have someone else with her. And, if I have car problems, it’s just me, myself, and I having to fix the issue.
Regarding safety, because I travel solo, I do what I can to make sure my family knows where I am and can be contacted in case of an emergency. I leave names, addresses and phone numbers of where I’m staying with my family, and make sure to text, call, or email them whenever possible, just to let them know I am ok. I take my iPhone and wear my Apple Watch because both have GPS in them, which I have turned on. I also have an App called Find My Friends that my sister also has, so we can keep track of one another. When out in the field, I try to be as observant of my surroundings as I possibly can and tend to stick to the more-utilized trails.
I think that about covers what I do when traveling and the precautions I take regarding the pandemic. If you’ve made it to the end of the post without rolling your eyes at some point, I congratulate you. Just remember, this is how I roll. Not everybody takes the kitchen sink with them. Not everybody likes to travel by themselves. Not everybody wants to pay or has the money to pay for a hotel or lodge room. Not everybody likes to drive – especially long drives. Different people have different modes of travel, and they take different things with them that they want/need. Perhaps my post, here, will give you an idea for your own travels, or maybe not. However you travel, please stay safe, and please keep in mind the safety of others. If you travel to a national park, remember to bring your masks, because wearing one is required to go inside any park building. It’s a small thing to do, doesn’t hamper your supposed freedoms, and really does protect other people – even the ones you don’t like.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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