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The Backpack Traveller
@thebackpacktravellerofficial
Photographers based in the UK
The rush you feel when exploring new countries can’t be beaten, so it’s obvious why Ellis and I are on a continuous expedition of exploring the globe. We got together in 2017, and it didn’t take long before we began travelling together. We both enjoy the peace & tranquility of being outdoors, so we were naturally attracted to places with vast landscapes and incredible nature. Usually, we end up somewhere in the mountains or in the forest.
Iceland was the first country on our agenda during our first year together. The diverse and beautiful landscape is home to the largest glaciers in Europe and some of the world’s most active volcanoes. It wasn’t actually the breath-taking views that changed our lives, though; it was more the realisation that there is a vast world out there just waiting for us to explore. From this trip onwards, we’ve been plotting, planning, and mapping out exactly where we’re going and what we’re going to do next.
"Our diary is now full to the brim with the next 10-years of epic adventures we're going to go on!"
Travelling is not always rainbows & unicorns, though. We spend many months preparing each detail for every trip to maximise our journey and do everything we want to do. But, sometimes, the harsh reality can be a tad annoying. You can put in months of planning, where you plan every minute detail, and things will still find a way of going wrong. That’s the most challenging part of travelling, but you have to be ready to adapt, as anything can change at a split second. Although, if you’ve spent the previous 6 months anticipating something which never materialises, then it can be demoralising when it doesn’t happen.
"That's life, I guess! Staying positive and finding ways to get back on track are essential in these testing moments."
I would say the sense of fulfillment from travelling and being outdoors is the part we most enjoy. Many people are lost working in the standard 9-to-5 cubicle job, which eventually takes a toll on you. Travelling somewhere completely new where you can escape from the regular day-to-day routine is really refreshing. Having the opportunity to wake up early in the morning and head out into the mountains or the forests just makes all the problems in your life seemingly disappear.
"To experience those magical events we don't even need to travel that far."
Being our home country, the UK is one of the places we love to explore most. One area that has really stood out to us here was Glencoe valley in Scotland. We’d seen photos before going there, but physically driving through there for the first time and seeing it up-close was incredible. We were blown away by the scale of the mountains and honestly couldn’t believe we were in the UK.
"Another place that amazed us during our time in Scotland was the Glenfinnan Viaduct."
The viaduct was famously seen in the Harry Potter films with the Hogwarts Express. It took us back to our childhoods, especially when we saw the Jacobite steam train chugging along towards us. It’s fair to say all around the Scottish Highlands are highly beautiful, and we would encourage anyone to visit at least once in their lifetime.
There’s also the Lake District National Park here in the UK, which, luckily for us, is much closer to Manchester, where we live. The Lake District is definitely our favourite place to visit in England, and we feel fortunate to live such a short distance away. One spot, in particular, we would love to see again is Buttermere. It’s a picturesque location with great hiking trails and a gigantic lake, great for paddleboarding. It’s hard to forget Langdale Valley, too. The place where you can take some pretty epic photos, and if you go in winter, you’ll see the snow on top of the Fells. It’ll almost feel like you are up in the Alps!
Those are just some of the places we’ve gone to in the UK, but we’ve also had some pretty spectacular moments abroad. In Grindelwald, Switzerland, something left us in awe upon waking. We had arrived at our apartment late the prior evening, so it was pitch black. We could only just about find our way to our room! At this point, Grindelwald was utterly unknown to us, only having stumbled across it while looking at which destination would be our winter trip this year. When we woke up, we opened the curtains, which revealed the most amazing snow-capped mountains we had ever seen. As it had been so dark the previous night, it was a real WOW moment.
Adventuring to all these different exotic locations has been the reason why we’ve started a blog. After our trip to Italy, we saw so many places and did so many things that we had friends and family inquisitive to know what we were going to do next. That’s when we took the plunge to start our blog along with an Instagram page to showcase our images. Our aim is to give others enough information so they’ll want to visit these countries too and therefore have as much fun as we’ve had. There are so many options to choose from when you want to go travelling that it can feel overwhelming. There are also usually lots of doubts going around in people’s heads about whether it’s an excellent decision to visit a particular country.
"Hopefully, through our blog posts, we can alleviate some of that stress and encourage them to go forwards with their travel plans."
We already enjoyed taking photographs even before we had an Instagram page. In the beginning, we were just using our phones and occasionally a GoPro to take the shots. This was OK, but we knew we’d need something slightly better if we were going to truly capture the stunning landscapes we were in. The Canon EOS 1200D was our first camera purchase. We conveniently were able to buy it second-hand off a friend for only £100. It may not be the best camera on the market, but it certainly did the trick for what we wanted. After purchasing this first camera, we started to prioritise photography more.
There are, of course, many ways in which you can edit a photograph. Yet, we have always preferred the moody or dramatic look in photos, as this seems to work best in the locations we primarily shoot in. However, we always want to add a bit of colour for contrast. This is where using our backpacks come into play. Having a subject in the photo that adds an element of colour really makes our photos more interesting.
"This is why we've continued this little niche and built our whole Instagram page around the backpack-style images."
We’ve taken so many pictures now, and it would be tough to pick our overall favourite one. However, the photo taken at Lake Bled in Slovenia was a real game-changer for us. It was the first trip we’d taken in the autumn, and prior to that, we’d only gone on summer or winter holidays. Unfortunately, in January 2019, Ellis had a knee surgery that impeded her from travelling for 6 months. This meant we couldn’t plan a big summer holiday abroad that year, so we decided to go on a holiday during the October half-term to make up for it. Being out of work meant that we needed somewhere reasonably priced but equally as beautiful and impressive as the places we’ve already travelled to. Slovenia was recommended to us by a friend, and we were not disappointed! This specific picture of Lake Bled started a whole new appreciation for autumn and its vibrant colours. They are in such dramatic contrast to the Lake District’s moody images, and we fell in love with them!
"Since this adventure in Slovenia, we aim to go on summer, autumn, and winter trips each year."
"All these expeditions have taught us many valuable lessons. But there is one significant bit of wisdom we can share with you that we learned while in Italy."
When we went to Italy, it was our first big trip. We’d planned so many things to do beforehand, and we were understandably excited. We had a jam-packed itinerary with everything planned down to the minute (literally). One particular day while in Siena, Tuscany, we spent the morning in the city’s center. We hadn’t planned it, but it was coincidental that the parades before the start of the Palio di Siena were going on at the time. This event is a giant horse race only held twice a year. But on this same morning, we’d already been going 9 days straight non-stop since we landed in Venice. We were so exhausted that we retreated back to our hotel to get a well-earned rest and didn’t wake up until the early evening! As this was the first big trip we’d been on, we didn’t realise the importance of rest days. You need time to recover in between activities, and this is something we’ve learned to be really valuable.
Adventurers usually don’t go on holidays to rest; rather to chase exciting activities outdoors. However, to have the energy for these adventures and actually be excited yourself and stay creative, getting some rest is key. It also helps to really live and be aware of the experience – if you can’t pause for a second, you are home before you know!
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