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Alex Wander
@primitivewanderer
Photographer based in Italy
A high level of curiosity and a strong sense of wonder has always been part of me. I’ve been blessed to have unique parents that were travel addicted, so I’ve started traveling since I was 12 all around the world and this nurtured my curious mind and the adventurer within me.
I was born in a small village in the countryside, though not far from Milan, so I spent most of my entire life along with nature. This, combined with the travel experiences, instilled a necessity within me while growing up to learn how to be self-reliant. So, I’ve started learning Survival, Bushcraft, and every possible helpful outdoors skill I thought could come in handy in the future. I’ve started learning by myself, reading books, watching videos, and trying things in the dirt. After that, I’ve attended several classes in the United States and in my country, Italy, to improve what I’ve learned by myself.
"I live in a beautiful country and the Alps are one of the best areas I live nearby."
It’s been a great experience to discover the outdoors here in my adventurous way, despite the fact I sometimes had to adapt my “my way” because we have very strict laws in several places (no fires, no free camping even if you camp without a tent, etc.). The Alps can also be one of the harshest places on earth if you don’t follow Mother Nature’s rules. I’m an outdoors gear and adventure photographer that doesn’t go back to the lodge or at the hotel or a cabin once it’s dark or the weather gets worse. I always stay where I find myself in order to keep moving the day after. I’ve been in the Alps for 21 days all alone, with only what I had in my backpack and I only had access to my car every 4/5 days because I had to move from one location to another that was impossible to reach by foot.
"Luckily, I had the chance to learn how to stay safe in nature from great people and I'm so thankful for that."
Doing what I do with a camera makes things more tricky, but so exciting. It’s hard to walk several kilometers each day, mostly off-trail, navigating with a compass and a map, finding the next safe spot to camp, plus looking for the next good shot, but it’s a completely new way for me to enjoy photography. I started learning photography seven years ago, around 2015, and it has become my biggest passion in 2018. Doing photography this way – combining it with my adventures – has made me feel more complete. Photography is how I write my diary (the Wanderers Diary), how I’m able to deliver a feeling and share the beautiful places/experiences I had the chance to see and live.
"Traveling has been the best teacher I had for adventure travel photography."
It can be harder to learn in this way but it is the best way to create your style and develop your own artistic point of view. Regarding my outdoor gear photography, my skills got a boost when Grayl asked me to work with them on a project. I got out of the classic still-life photography mindset and learned how many free beautiful sets and backgrounds there are all over the world to portray a product. I always think that even the most amazing and well-designed product will never be magical by itself – it’s the context, the environment, and the moment that you choose that makes it magical.
Outdoor gear has great importance and can save your life when venturing out, especially when you are away for multiple days. Knives in particular have always been one of the most important tools in my kit and a knife is one of the 5 Cs for Survivability:
CUTTING (Knife, Folding Saw)
CORDAGE (Paracord or BankLine)
COMBUSTION (Lighter, Ferro rod)
CONTAINER (Canteen or Water Bottle)
COVER (Tent or Simple Tarp or just a Poncho)
You can do almost everything with a knife and as 99% of my travels are solo travels where I spend the entire time very close to nature and away from civilization, they have helped me out a lot of times. Almost six years ago, I met my friend and colleague Dino and we developed a tactical knife company, Wandertactical.
When I travel – always with an adventurer and photographer mindset – I always try to find unknown places that are still beautiful and meaningful, and, if I go to a famous country such as Iceland, I try to study and find different perspectives. Shooting a similar place in a variety of weather circumstances also yields more unique shots. You never know what comes out of these experiments but it usually pays in the end.
In general, I look for countries or environments that inspire me or tell me something during my searches. I rarely use Instagram to search locations because I find that I get to more remote and wild and special places when not using Instagram. After I choose a location, I choose the time of the year and for how long I’d be there. Then, I’d start investigating transportation. I’ve traveled by foot in certain countries, used a 4×4 or a car in others, and sometimes I used both. Different environments mean different necessities and therefore different setups. My gear changes according to where I’m going to and through. If I travel the entire trip below the treeline, I rarely carry a tent.
"I mostly use a Tarp, a sleeping mat, and a few other things for shelter. I have to go past the treeline, a tent is necessary."
I also choose the backpack size according to how many days I’m gonna travel, but I never carry more than a 55 liters pack. Every piece of kit that I put within this backpack changes according to the destination and type of trip too. For instance, when I was in Sweden or Romania I carried a big knife because I had to make firewood every day while in Iceland or in the Alps a big knife wasn’t necessary because there were no trees so no fire to make.
When everything is set, I start making a list of the places and perspectives I want to explore with my camera and think about the timing I should consider to take my shots. I also always leave space for faith; for example, before traveling to Iceland, I planned 21 locations in 20 days but I’ve visited 42 locations in the end. I drove 6000 kilometers, did 2/3 hikes a day, slept 4 hours a day, and had only two showers in 20 days. It was exhausting but it was worth every struggle.
"You can see the real beauty and feel the purest solitude if you choose the right roads away from the ring road."
I create content as I go and have shared many videos on Youtube where people can follow my trips, see how I travel, and learn survival skills. I also shared one about my trip to Iceland: 20 days solo trip in Iceland. I’d recommend watching it. Two other videos that I would highlight here are 48 hours, Camping in an emergency shelter, alone. In this video, I try to explain how knowledge weighs nothing and can improve our experience during our adventures. Sometimes the comfort zone can kill our improvements and the chance to connect to the experiences we have. The third video for others to watch could be Why traveling is so important for our Outdoors skills. Maybe it’s not the best video quality, but the message I’ve tried to share makes up for it. The more my audience grows the more I feel responsible for what I show, the decisions I make and the brands I work with.
Although traveling is the best driver for our outdoor skills and photography as well, it teaches many other things. I had a very strong and impactful meeting with nature during my trip to Iceland and I really saw how small and harmless we are as humans in front of her. Every experience teaches you something or changes you a bit if it’s fully lived with no barriers and out of your comfort zone. I came back from this trip with a new realization of how important my life is, how fragile we are and how powerful humility and kindness are even though this is often considered a weakness in this society.
I’ve found many more “answers” through my journeys – and I am sure I will keep finding new and adjusting previous ones. First of all, and prevailing overall – time is the most valuable currency there is. It’s of utmost importance to reflect on how you want to spend your time, what matters to you, what makes life meaningful to you. I’ve had lots of time in solitude to think about essential questions. My journeys improved my self-awareness, I’ve learned more about who I am, my fears, my strong points, my weaknesses…and this gave me the chance to work on myself and improve my persona. This process strongly affected the quality of my life and the life of the people that are next to me.
We live in a state of relentless but superficial connection. When we’re not connecting physically, we connect compulsively through social media. However, solitude is essential, even more in the process of creation. Whether it’s working on your craft or a marvellous thought that you’re trying to figure out and bring alive, locking yourself away will leave you and your mind alone to spend some purposeful and intentional time.
I always found in solitude a warm comfortable shelter; solitude is a blessing not a curse to me. Connection with other people is ridiculously important to me, but I’ve learned that it’s essential to welcome solitude and connect with myself with equally as much excitement in order to have an intimate relationship with my inner world and to produce quality work. Now, after all these years, I’ve noticed how I’ve been able to improve the quality of the time spent with people thanks to the time I spent alone traveling.
“Begin at once to live, and count every single day as a separate life.” Every life has an end; we don’t know when or how. Hence, I just try to live every day in the best way I can. I always try to make each day meaningful and worth living, and when you string them together they become great and meaningful years. I stick to what makes me happy, what makes me motivated and inspired and I get rid of the rest. We live in a chaotic society and it’s very easy to get confused, losing sight of what would lead to happiness. Regarding that, it’s very much needed to reconnect to Mother Nature – I think that is the only way to find a sustainable balance in life.
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