A Week in the Alberta Rockies

Last week I embarked on my first ever solo road trip covering nearly 2300km without leaving Alberta. My focus was on photo journaling through the Rockies, so the bulk of my time was spent in Waterton, Banff and Jasper, essentially exploring the length of the mountains in Alberta. From the incredible scenery and wildlife, to national historic sites and tourist traps, I covered all of the iconic locales with plenty of unexpected discoveries along the way. No joke, I came home with thousands and thousands of raw images backed up on my hard drive.  

My goal with this trip wasn't just to shoot images, I genuinely wanted an excuse to explore and get lost on my own. It was like a more refined version of Into the Wild, where by road tripping and hiking through back-country I allowed myself to get lost in my head and surroundings. There was something about being alone and having such incredible scenery to myself that made for some absolutely euphoric moments. 

Travelling alone wasn't lonely either. I found that I was more inclined to talk to strangers because I was already outside of my comfort zone. This resulted in some really fascinating discussions with other travellers, and at a few locations I found people willing to give me private tours and/or share their stories simply because they related to my experience and the trip I was on. I've barely even looked at my images yet, but I know there's interest already just based on the early connections I made while I was shooting them. The few previews that I shared on my instagram account while I was travelling have already gained over 3000 likes in just a week - that's amazing!

I can't wait to start sharing all of these new photo sets in the weeks and months ahead. My Around Alberta collection is going to start receiving some massive updates in this time, and I'm hoping to build on the momentum that came from just documenting my hometown of Medicine Hat. Alberta is an incredibly beautiful place, and I definitely confirmed that fact for myself after this latest road trip. What a journey!