California Sisters On The Fly

This past weekend, I joined the California chapter of Sisters on the Fly for a weekend at the Kern river in Kernville, CA.  What fun we had!  As you might know, I love taking portraits of people and especially love taking pictures of women and their rigs.

All of the sisters in this group gave me a warm welcome (being the newbie and all) and I instantly felt comfortable being there among about forty or so women that gathered at this campsite for the weekend.  As social as I might seem, I get shy meeting new people and sometimes it takes me a while to feel comfortable in a group situation.  Having a camera around my neck allows me to hide at times, but it didn't take long for me to unwind and be myself.

I love the fact that these women camp solo with their trailers.  Since this was not an "official" sisters trip, dogs and husbands were welcome to join.  It's perfect for me because I prefer to travel with my dog, Max and I think a lot of the husbands were happy to be included with the group to see all of the fun the women have together.  It was cute to see some of the husbands with a sad face when the sisters were announcing upcoming trips and said it was a "sisters only" trip.  I think it's great that the husbands are so supportive of their wives running off with a trailer in tow to meet up with other women doing the same.

For a lot of women, camping solo may seem like a daunting task.  I receive emails from women every so often asking how I am able to travel solo as a women and feel safe.  I usually trust my gut and try to camp where there are people around, however I have made some mistakes here and there and I've learned some big lessons from them.  I think this group is great for women who are afraid to make the leap to solo travel.  You can find meet ups in your area with these women and believe me, you won't feel so alone.

I enjoyed my weekend with these ladies and I hope to come across more sisters on my travels when Max and I head out on the open road.  For more pictures of these women, click HERE.

We Can Do It Too!

I love stories of women achieving their dreams.  There really isn't anything we can't do once we put our mind to it.  We are so fortunate in America to be able to do what we want to do.  We can set forth and achieve any goal we wish with hard work and determination, unlike many women in other countries.

At this moment, 16 year old Abby Sunderland is setting sail to reach her personal goal; to sail around the world solo.  You can read about her journey on her blog by clicking here.

How inspiring to young women!  She realized her dream and is living it at such a young age. Also, how great is it that her parents are supportive of that?  At 16, I was crossing my fingers and hoping to pass classes so I could graduate high school.

I always played sports growing up and my family enjoyed camping together when I was young.  I have one brother who is 7 years older so as I child I learned how to entertain myself and explore on my own.  It could be a reason why I enjoy wandering and exploring new places today, at 38.  It's just inside of me.

The thing is...it's never too late to do what you have always dreamed of doing.  I have to admit that it is easier for me since I chose not to have kids.  Instead, I worked right out of college and continued to work hard and climb a corporate ladder until I just couldn't stand it anymore.  The suits and heels weren't me.  I was pushing a product that didn't inspire or excite me.  Don't get me wrong, I am thankful for the opportunity I had and I learned a lot in the process but even as I left the company, most people knew and commented that the job just wasn't a reflection of who I was.

Who am I?  Well, I am a work in progress, as we all are.  I know that I am enjoying taking pictures and traveling.  Camping and being in nature rank high on my list of things that bring me joy.  As I mentioned with a previous blog, I met up with a group of strangers with one thing in common: we all had silver trailers and a love of the outdoors and camping.  A common topic of discussion among the group was how great it was for them to ditch their "normal" lives to come and spend a weekend with other women to talk about ideas, life and support each other with the belief of yes, we can do it too!  There were stories of how men would be in control of hitching and towing and that they never had the chance to do it or the opportunity to learn how to do it.  This was their chance to learn something new, feel empowered and leave with a sense of hope that they can achieve anything they set their mind to.

I am thankful to all of the women who paved the way for title 9 so I was able to have the opportunity to play basketball in college.  There are so many women who stuck their neck out to be trailblazers for a realization that yes, we can do it too.

I started a group on facebook for women who have a shared interest in camping and the outdoors.  If this is you, please click here to join (there is also a widget on the right of the blog).  No fees, just fun.

Today I am thankful for all of the women who took a chance so we are able to do the same.