I recently was hired by the Wyoming Office of Tourism to photograph northcentral and northeast Wyoming and find my #CallOfTheWY. In total honesty, my first reaction was, “What the heck is in northcentral and northeast Wyoming?”. I grew up in Billings, Montana—just north of the border—and like most Americans, my only experience with Wyoming was with...
A few months ago I shared a year recap of life after quitting my job in an article titled, One Year Later, but I decided that my one-year vanniversary was also worthy of a story. You see, two months after I quit my job I acquired my now home, a 2006 Dodge Sprinter Van. I had a lot of questions about what my life would become when I got my van, and not a lot of...
One year ago today I cast aside fear, doubt, and the comforts of life and hit the road with no destination in mind. I gave up a good job, my apartment, and every ounce of a “normal” life because I had an itch. This itch to chase something, anything, and to live a little different than society tells me to live. The year to follow changed me, broke me, and made me who...
As I write this blog I’m sitting in a Walmart parking lot somewhere in Salt Lake City and there is a pot of rice boiling on my stove. That will be dinner tonight (along with a little bit of leftover chicken) as I work to save a few dollars after being slammed with a $1,500 repair bill to get new brakes, shocks, and struts on my home today. Now that’s a lot of money...
Luck, a four letter word that makes my blood boil. In just four letters you’ve discounted years of blood, sweat, and tears. I hear it daily, “oh I want your life, you’re so lucky”. Now people aren’t trying to demean what I do or put me down. I get it, I live a pretty epic life, at least the side you see on social media. What you don’t see, what only I see, is...
When I first tell people that I live in a van there is usually an initial shock, which is always followed by a barrage of questions. The questions are usually pretty consistently the same, so I decided to try and address the ones I get the most! Please comment below with any other questions you have!
#Vanlife, a trend that has swept the nation (and the world), involves giving up one’s prized possessions to live in a cramped van. It’s a simple life fueled by social media and often appears far more glamorous as it actually is. But I wouldn’t have it any other way! Freedom is the ultimate luxury in van life, it is the story of not knowing what or...
This article was originally written for Wilderness Culture: The lure of Montana is undeniable. Dreams of mountain peaks and glacial lakes fill the heads of adventurers when someone even utters the word Montana. And how could it not? With the iconic mountains and lakes of Glacier National Park making up the northwest, and legendary skiing of Big Sky’s Lone Peak...
In today’s society we have the ability to share every aspect of our day whether it’s through twitter and sharing every thought or through our cell phone cameras to document everything. It’s the same thing with photographers, and I was as guilty of it as anybody. In the past year, I have seen dramatic increases in my photography ability and I attribute some of it to...
Article is from 2013, and while a lot has changed since then it is important to celebrate my roots as an artist. The last five years of my life have been the greatest of my life, because for the last five years I have been living the dream as Montana State University football player. My name is Andy Austin, and I have been living a double life. NCAA rules do not...