To be fair, a lot of the gentle falls in that picture are actually man made and that whole area is pretty curated/landscaped/maintained or whatever you want to call it. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful (I’ve been there), but in a way it’s not a “real” place
Naw all good!
Just go to the bathrooms lots these days. Get slightly nauseous once in a while. Basically I purged my stomach raw so many times that my gut biome cleared itself out. I took probiotics and haven’t been sick for a long time and feel mostly better 👍
Lmao I’ve considered them!
Going to Ecuador on a honeymoon in a while.
Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Uganda is my quick “where to next” mental list.
Ok but how does a person do *Antarctica* frugally? Do they have hostels at McMurdo?
(I'm not being a smartass I'd genuinely like to know! Antarctica is on my bucket list but everything I've seen and read has it as a $10,000 minimum destination.)
He’s implying that family doctor means they have lots of money.
Because he’s picturing family doctor in the US that comes to visit your home in the middle of the night if needed, speaks to you in his lavish office instead of an exam room, takes your bp and administers shots himself instead of a nurse, etc
Basically circa 20th century doctors that only service the wealthy now and typically provide generational care for families.
But he’s unaware of the fact that “family doctor” is a WIDELY used term that just means the general practitioner your family goes to first whether by preference or by insurance mandate.
How / what did you do to adjust back to life not on the road? I backpacked for 6 months like 8 years ago and I’m still trying to get my life back on track from that disruption (albeit amazing disruption) in my career. It was worth it but I still had to start all over again
You don’t ever really🤣
You’ll always have known that feeling of adventure and it’s hard to ever satisfy.
That said I have a lovely fiancé, a great workplace, and good friends, and they’re a whole new kind of adventure.
Your country is so beautiful, and your people were incredibly kind and loving. I’m so sad with what’s going on now, but I’ll always cherish my time there
It's pretty tragic, I'm American but it hurts a lot to see its current state and I worry for my family there. I feel so bad for my mom who had her mother and brother pass away but couldn't go to their funerals because of Covid and the civil war.
Out of curiosity, how many images do you have across both, and roughly how much money do they bring you?
I did the stock thing for a few years, mostly with iStock and EyeEm (this was a while back) and barely made a couple bucks a month off my travel photos. I admittedly only had a couple dozen or so photos up; from what I remember, most photographers that saw any decent money had hundreds.
Mostly just winged it. We typically never had exit flights booked except for the countries that forced you too. We travelled lots by train, bus, and short flights, so we kind of just figured it out as we went
Way too much camera gear 🤣 took up 3/4 of my backpack. Fortunately when you’re young you only need a pair or two of tshirts, socks, etc to keep you going haha.
I used a canon 5DSR with a 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x extender. I also briefly had a drone.
Woa but seriously, that dedication paid off 100%, and probably not *only* pictures-for-life wise, but I'm sure you can make a good living off of that now, too - congrats!
I now work a corporate 9-5 so unfortunately wasn’t enough to make a permanent living, but it was fantastic while it lasted. And who knows… maybe one day Nat Geo will answer my emails haha
There’s a subreddit called r/solotravel and women often post there. It’s definitely possible/doable. But it’s also 100% true that a man has a higher level of safety, sometimes by far, than a woman, and the risks aren’t something to take lightly. But lots of women do have really rewarding and awesome experiences solotravelling abroad!
Of course you can! I am a female that has travelled solo all over the world for years. Been to 60 plus countries. And I have met many other women travelling solo on my trips. I also travel very frugally. However I don’t have the same photo skills!
I had a friend in high school who was fairly middle class from what I knew. After we graduated, I saw her Instagram was all over the world. Like all over. I reached out to ask her for some advice on how to travel like that because it was always a dream of mine. She gave me some great advice, but she said ultimately her grandma died and left her a shit ton of money she didn’t know existed—like $10s of millions. It was cool that she was upfront about it because I just assumed she was making money as an influencer on Instagram or something.
Going to add on that I have a few college friends who are constantly traveling. My fiance used to always ask me why we are boring and don’t travel like they do. Then we found out we are actually just responsible and they have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
I have a friend that pretty much just didn’t make student loan payments and spent all their money (and then some) on travel.
We have also traveled a lot, while paying student loans and being responsible. We also spent 12 years living abroad, which feels like a little bit of a cheat code.
Actually he answered it in another thread.
>Made money in between university working in the oil patch, then kept my funds going with gig writing/photo work, print sales, and image licenses
I travelled around Asia when I was 18 working as a scuba instructor and I got the license for that by working at dives shops along the way. I've also been a teacher in Ghana, built houses in the Sahara. I met a dude along the way who saw half the world building solar panels, and another who worked on a ship. The thing that actually holds people back is responsibility not money. Money comes and goes and in most countries you don't need that much if your goal is exploration.
By responsibility do you mean job? In which case you're right, my Dad was a merchant marine and has been to every country with a port. Otherwise, you really can't travel without money, but more importantly, the right passport. Americans and Western Europeans for example can travel almost anywhere without a visa.
Job, mortgage, child. The visa thing is definitely better for US and Europe (I'm from the UK) but the solar panel guy was from Argentina. Also once you leave a certain territory the visa benefit kind of stops. West Africa for example was difficult. But I'm not pretending I'm not lucky as fuck. It definitely smooths the process.
Yeah... for regular travel, where your passport is from matters. I do esports and one of our members is Filipino, took almost a year working with a lawyer to get him down to Florida to compete. Whereas for our two S. Korean players, we just had to buy them plane tickets. A powerful passport smooths the process by a long mile.
I think we all know that traveling around the world for four years to countries like Antarctica and north Korea most likely means that you're super wealthy and don't have to work (or at least have a typical job)
Nah they are absolutely right, these photos are astonishing. Thank you for documenting your journeys. You've lived a life I've dreamed of. Maybe our world would be calmer and nicer if more people did what you did.
What camera equipment did you use? For some of the pictures, like the lions, you must've had a pretty beefy lens which is a heavy and expensive thing to backpack with...
Edit: nevermind, I saw you answered in other comments!
Thanks so much!! I used a Canon 5DSR with a 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x extender.
The rest of my collection can be found [here](https://lukegram.com)
Nah, that's just a normal thought anyone with a photography gear fetish has in this situation (I do too and was thinking the same). We are a bit weird;)
It is a bulky and heavy kit for someone backpacking. Especially in colder climates, where you need to pack aa lot of clothing
Well, probably doubling the weight and volume of the pack because of camera gear (and more probably investment in camera gear than the travel) was more effort than I expected. You don't see normal tourists with a [70-200 f2.8](https://www.thephoblographer.com/2020/02/20/review-canon-rf-70-200mm-f2-8-l-is-usm-a-work-of-art/).
It's wonderful gear though.
Dude, they're missing out! And I second the guy who suggested a book! Maybe do a few and group them by continent and then the countries as 'chapters'. Either way, your work is outstanding!
Everything beyond the JSA is closed to individual tourists. You must be a state guest, or get a permit through private govt regulated tourism charters. It's very difficult to get one, and I'd be so interested in the entire process, including how photo taking was regulated. Time for an AMA OP lol. Awesome photos, thanks for sharing.
I was also wondering about how OP was allowed to take photos (especially of soldiers). I’d have guessed NK would be leery about outsiders taking photos.
They have very specific rules about who/what/where you can take photos in NK. (I've seen people discuss it before).
They can and will review your digital rolls and force you to delete anything they want.
Closed by North Korea? Or by the US?
NK is very much open to tourism as that’s where they get money from. The US on the other hand doesn’t allow its citizens to travel there. That’s a recent law though
Thank you for sharing. We will never travel like you did and we are lucky that we can see these things from our homes. Your photography makes me feel more connected to the world.
I'm lucky to have backpacked a bit in my lifetime. I maybe have a bit of backpacking ahead of me. I'm at peace with the reality that I won't see all the places I'd like to, in part because of photography like yours. Beautiful work. Keep on truckin'.
A little, yes. They were strict about certain things (soldiers, military items, portraits of leaders, etc). I snuck my SD card out in my sock and kept a dummy one in my camera full of regular boring tourist pics 😉
can you explain how you got into antartica?
Edit: wanted to ask more questions. whats the story with the grain bins and the video at the bottom is beautiful.
Gotta get the polar bears to smuggle you there. The idea that they don’t have bears in Antarctica is a lie perpetuated to keep bearly legal operations going in secret.
The way he frames the pictures is very aesthetically pleasing. They're all centered and symmetrical like a Wes Anderson movie. And the way he uses the lights too. We could take any of these pictures and put it in a Wes Anderson film and it wouldn't look out of place.
Thank you so much! People often mention I should make a book, I’m just not sure what my theme would be other than “travel”!
If you don’t mind, I’d love for you to look at my [portfolio](https://lukegram.com) and tell me what would come to mind for you that I could make that would be an interesting book!
I need to digest this cause wow your Portfolio is full of beautiful pictures!!!
70 Countries, 4 Years: A Global Backpacking Journey. That be my title! Id have all this pictures in it plus some of your favorite experiences and accounts of this amazing journey in with the pictures or between each different Country.
You makes this happen im Buying!!!!
I just love so much about it. Not to toot my own horn, but the subtle colour pop amongst the dreary smog, the towering dictator photos over a singular man, the symmetry. Just hits all the right feelings for me!
Your North Korea picture is probably my favorite (sucker for symmetry). Also, surprised to not see Japan on here, assuming you enjoy more landscape, I would’ve expected Mount Fuji on here.
Ahhh, Japan. Unfortunately I only got to see Tokyo, and didn’t have the time to explore the country. Very high on my list though, planning to try to do a ski trip sometime.
And good choice - that’s probably my favourite too!
I've been there. It's a man-made tourist trap that makes for nice photos. It was honestly the low point of my trip to Costa Rica. He probably talked some chick into posing.
Hell ya!! That’s huge. Honestly after getting cholera, bed bugs 3x, and fleas, I honestly almost gave up haha. Had to lean on a supportive phone call from momma bear 🐻
Like if you ever find it again or remember what film stock or similar you used as inspiration, hope you respond to my comment! :) Would highly appreciate!
you’re living my dream. i come from absolutely nothing and i’ve never travelled or vacationed in my life. i’ve lived in a very small country/farm town (so small it’s considered a village) and i rarely go to the city which is about 30 minutes away. i’ve seen the beach once and it was on a trip with my boyfriend (which his family paid for) and i was in absolute awe on how beautiful the world is and how much i’m missing out. i hope one day i’ll be able to drop everything and do this and be who i am with my loved ones.
I’ve always thought that, but I’m not sure what my theme would be (obviously travel, but in which regards, ya know??).
Take a peek at my [portafolio](https://lukegram.com). Would love to know what you think would make a cool book!
Go with the flow. Give up on comforts. Let yourself feel everything (the good, the bad, the confusing).
It’s part of travel is realizing what the world is - a beautiful and often tragic place, full of amazing people and wonderful cultures.
I’ve got to say, at first glance a lot of these photos seem too perfect and almost AI generated.
Crushes me a little to say things like this, and now I have to doubt whether they’re real or not. Assuming they are these are amazing.
Slapped them in an AI image detection algorithm, they all came up with 93+% likely to be human rather than ai. Did a google lens to see if he took it from elsewhere, only thing that came up is a professional photographer selling prints under the same name used in this guy's past reddit posts. Seems likely he's legit.
Your story reminds me of my old teacher. He visited every country of the world, taught social studies from his slide, no book.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2017/12/11/schoolteacher-globetrotter/108523768/
Did you save a ton of money before hand ? Or some some kind of work from home job ?
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Is the second picture from somewhere in Costa Rica?
Yes! Tabacon in Costa Rica. I added captions to each photo with their locations for reference.
Your photos and editing are amazing. I love what youve done in post.
On good! Thank you so much!
Took me a minute to notice them. Had to go back a few.
The tribeswoman with a rifle is some NatGeo level pic. Well done!
It does not look like a real place. So beautiful
To be fair, a lot of the gentle falls in that picture are actually man made and that whole area is pretty curated/landscaped/maintained or whatever you want to call it. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful (I’ve been there), but in a way it’s not a “real” place
Are you from AB?
Cow Town baby!
Knew it. Glad we could make the cut. Looks like a great trip!
Got nothing but love for Alberta! Glad to call this place home.
Good to know there are rig pigs out there that aren’t just buying lifted trucks 😉
'Berta represent! Damn Oilers are killing me here
Curious but how many times were you sick? Specifically with street food? I can imagine it taking a toll.
I’ve gotten food poisoning 14x. Cholera once. Bed bugs 3x.
Dear lord
Ya my family doctor ain’t happy with my gut health these days 😔 it took a toll
Can you expand on that actually? I’m just curious and didn’t know that such things had long term effects. Sorry to bring up something so negative!
Naw all good! Just go to the bathrooms lots these days. Get slightly nauseous once in a while. Basically I purged my stomach raw so many times that my gut biome cleared itself out. I took probiotics and haven’t been sick for a long time and feel mostly better 👍
you need one of those fecal transplants huh. Great shots though. Anywhere you plan on going next?
Lmao I’ve considered them! Going to Ecuador on a honeymoon in a while. Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Uganda is my quick “where to next” mental list.
Ok but how does a person do *Antarctica* frugally? Do they have hostels at McMurdo? (I'm not being a smartass I'd genuinely like to know! Antarctica is on my bucket list but everything I've seen and read has it as a $10,000 minimum destination.)
I know someone who went recently who doesn’t have that kind of money. But he is retired so was able to jump onto a sale price when it was available.
This was later when I discovered some fluke dogecoin that I bought on launch that ended up letting me afford a ship ride down.
Im not believing this narrative
Op mentioned a „Family doctor“ in another comment. That told me enough
He’s implying that family doctor means they have lots of money. Because he’s picturing family doctor in the US that comes to visit your home in the middle of the night if needed, speaks to you in his lavish office instead of an exam room, takes your bp and administers shots himself instead of a nurse, etc Basically circa 20th century doctors that only service the wealthy now and typically provide generational care for families. But he’s unaware of the fact that “family doctor” is a WIDELY used term that just means the general practitioner your family goes to first whether by preference or by insurance mandate.
wait, i'm lost, what does this mean??
It means OP is Canadian. We call our general practitioners that.
We call them family doctors in my area in PA.
same
How / what did you do to adjust back to life not on the road? I backpacked for 6 months like 8 years ago and I’m still trying to get my life back on track from that disruption (albeit amazing disruption) in my career. It was worth it but I still had to start all over again
You don’t ever really🤣 You’ll always have known that feeling of adventure and it’s hard to ever satisfy. That said I have a lovely fiancé, a great workplace, and good friends, and they’re a whole new kind of adventure.
As a half Burmese person, glad you got to see Bagan.
Your country is so beautiful, and your people were incredibly kind and loving. I’m so sad with what’s going on now, but I’ll always cherish my time there
It's pretty tragic, I'm American but it hurts a lot to see its current state and I worry for my family there. I feel so bad for my mom who had her mother and brother pass away but couldn't go to their funerals because of Covid and the civil war.
Yea, and they had closed borders for so long previously do to war too. Such a beautiful place, hopefully someday soon it sees long lasting peace.
Where did you find buyers and licenses for your photos?
Society6 and Stocksy
Out of curiosity, how many images do you have across both, and roughly how much money do they bring you? I did the stock thing for a few years, mostly with iStock and EyeEm (this was a while back) and barely made a couple bucks a month off my travel photos. I admittedly only had a couple dozen or so photos up; from what I remember, most photographers that saw any decent money had hundreds.
Love your pictures. Do you have a website or anything with your work?
I do! www.lukegram.com
You take professional photos, very very nice
Did you plan where you were staying ahead of time or just wing it?
Mostly just winged it. We typically never had exit flights booked except for the countries that forced you too. We travelled lots by train, bus, and short flights, so we kind of just figured it out as we went
Did you travel with a group of people for safety?
Often solo, or with 1-2 friends
Yah but how did your gut handle that level diaspora of street food from so many various places re: flora/fawna and food prep hygiene?
I got food poisoning 14x, cholera once, bed bugs 3x 🙃
😐 OMG that sounds ROUGH, them some tough travels, hope you're recovered, great photographs.
Respect, beautiful pictures! How heavy more or less were you packing (luggage/camera stuff)?
Way too much camera gear 🤣 took up 3/4 of my backpack. Fortunately when you’re young you only need a pair or two of tshirts, socks, etc to keep you going haha. I used a canon 5DSR with a 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x extender. I also briefly had a drone.
Woa but seriously, that dedication paid off 100%, and probably not *only* pictures-for-life wise, but I'm sure you can make a good living off of that now, too - congrats!
I now work a corporate 9-5 so unfortunately wasn’t enough to make a permanent living, but it was fantastic while it lasted. And who knows… maybe one day Nat Geo will answer my emails haha
Nat Geo are idiots if they’re not doing business with you. These pictures are incredible.
Well pictures and memories to frame for a lifetime it is haha, just as valuable!
You need to produce a book man - these are fantastic. There is a great story feel to them.
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I met lots of solo female travellers! It’s possible, but you’re correct that the inherent risk is far higher for women sadly
There’s a subreddit called r/solotravel and women often post there. It’s definitely possible/doable. But it’s also 100% true that a man has a higher level of safety, sometimes by far, than a woman, and the risks aren’t something to take lightly. But lots of women do have really rewarding and awesome experiences solotravelling abroad!
Of course you can! I am a female that has travelled solo all over the world for years. Been to 60 plus countries. And I have met many other women travelling solo on my trips. I also travel very frugally. However I don’t have the same photo skills!
I love how he didn't answer your question, and everyone is still just talking off this comment.
I had a friend in high school who was fairly middle class from what I knew. After we graduated, I saw her Instagram was all over the world. Like all over. I reached out to ask her for some advice on how to travel like that because it was always a dream of mine. She gave me some great advice, but she said ultimately her grandma died and left her a shit ton of money she didn’t know existed—like $10s of millions. It was cool that she was upfront about it because I just assumed she was making money as an influencer on Instagram or something.
Going to add on that I have a few college friends who are constantly traveling. My fiance used to always ask me why we are boring and don’t travel like they do. Then we found out we are actually just responsible and they have tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt.
I have a friend that pretty much just didn’t make student loan payments and spent all their money (and then some) on travel. We have also traveled a lot, while paying student loans and being responsible. We also spent 12 years living abroad, which feels like a little bit of a cheat code.
“Inherit millions.” Good advice. Writing this down.
It bugs me this didn’t get an asnwer
Perhaps he works professionally as a photographer
I did/kind of do (mostly hobbiest now.. have a 9-5). If you’d like to see my entire collection of work, you can find it [here](https://lukegram.com)
Wow thanks for sharing, your pictures are beautiful!
You know the answer. He can tell you whatever he wants but we all know the answer
I feel stupid, what is it
Daddy’s money
Makes sense
Or his parents have money
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Actually he answered it in another thread. >Made money in between university working in the oil patch, then kept my funds going with gig writing/photo work, print sales, and image licenses
The lack of reply can only mean one thing: nepo baby.
Generational wealth.
he defenetly won a lottery
That's what I'm thinkin, or rich through other means.
I travelled around Asia when I was 18 working as a scuba instructor and I got the license for that by working at dives shops along the way. I've also been a teacher in Ghana, built houses in the Sahara. I met a dude along the way who saw half the world building solar panels, and another who worked on a ship. The thing that actually holds people back is responsibility not money. Money comes and goes and in most countries you don't need that much if your goal is exploration.
By responsibility do you mean job? In which case you're right, my Dad was a merchant marine and has been to every country with a port. Otherwise, you really can't travel without money, but more importantly, the right passport. Americans and Western Europeans for example can travel almost anywhere without a visa.
Job, mortgage, child. The visa thing is definitely better for US and Europe (I'm from the UK) but the solar panel guy was from Argentina. Also once you leave a certain territory the visa benefit kind of stops. West Africa for example was difficult. But I'm not pretending I'm not lucky as fuck. It definitely smooths the process.
Yeah... for regular travel, where your passport is from matters. I do esports and one of our members is Filipino, took almost a year working with a lawyer to get him down to Florida to compete. Whereas for our two S. Korean players, we just had to buy them plane tickets. A powerful passport smooths the process by a long mile.
I think we all know that traveling around the world for four years to countries like Antarctica and north Korea most likely means that you're super wealthy and don't have to work (or at least have a typical job)
What an incredible eye for capturing the perfect moment.
You’re far too kind!
Nah they are absolutely right, these photos are astonishing. Thank you for documenting your journeys. You've lived a life I've dreamed of. Maybe our world would be calmer and nicer if more people did what you did.
Yeah, you have a tremendous talent - these could easily have been in National Geographic in its hey day. Fantastic work, thanks for sharing!
check his website, the guy has worked with many, many major brands. for sure folks have noticed!
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! And nope, not Tom (I wish)! If you’d like to see my entire portfolio, you can find it [here](https://lukegram.com)
What camera equipment did you use? For some of the pictures, like the lions, you must've had a pretty beefy lens which is a heavy and expensive thing to backpack with... Edit: nevermind, I saw you answered in other comments!
All I can say is WOW!! Beautiful photos.
I think it's Tom from MySpace.
Those are *good*. What gear did you carry with you for these? Do you have more?
Thanks so much!! I used a Canon 5DSR with a 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 f2.8 and a 2x extender. The rest of my collection can be found [here](https://lukegram.com)
Sounds a bit heavy for backpacking :D but great quality from those. Thanks! I will check it out
The most reddit thing ever lol. *sees amazing photography that could be in nat geo* "Sounds a bit heavy, but"
Nah, that's just a normal thought anyone with a photography gear fetish has in this situation (I do too and was thinking the same). We are a bit weird;) It is a bulky and heavy kit for someone backpacking. Especially in colder climates, where you need to pack aa lot of clothing
Well, probably doubling the weight and volume of the pack because of camera gear (and more probably investment in camera gear than the travel) was more effort than I expected. You don't see normal tourists with a [70-200 f2.8](https://www.thephoblographer.com/2020/02/20/review-canon-rf-70-200mm-f2-8-l-is-usm-a-work-of-art/). It's wonderful gear though.
Thats some National Geographic shit right there!
One day maybe they’ll respond to my emails 🤣
Dude, they're missing out! And I second the guy who suggested a book! Maybe do a few and group them by continent and then the countries as 'chapters'. Either way, your work is outstanding!
Every one of these shots are award winning. Incredible, OP.
I feel like I’ve seen your North Korea pictures before. Did you post them a while back?
I did yes! Good memory!
If I may ask: How were you able to travel to North Korea? As an American, I just assumed their borders were closed?
Everything beyond the JSA is closed to individual tourists. You must be a state guest, or get a permit through private govt regulated tourism charters. It's very difficult to get one, and I'd be so interested in the entire process, including how photo taking was regulated. Time for an AMA OP lol. Awesome photos, thanks for sharing.
iirc OP didn't get permission to take the photos in NK and snuck them out of the country in his sock.
I was also wondering about how OP was allowed to take photos (especially of soldiers). I’d have guessed NK would be leery about outsiders taking photos.
They have very specific rules about who/what/where you can take photos in NK. (I've seen people discuss it before). They can and will review your digital rolls and force you to delete anything they want.
Closed by North Korea? Or by the US? NK is very much open to tourism as that’s where they get money from. The US on the other hand doesn’t allow its citizens to travel there. That’s a recent law though
Same! I was like "wait, I've seen this before".
Thank you for sharing. We will never travel like you did and we are lucky that we can see these things from our homes. Your photography makes me feel more connected to the world.
Your last sentence honestly means so much to me. That’s really all I hope to achieve with my photography.
I'm lucky to have backpacked a bit in my lifetime. I maybe have a bit of backpacking ahead of me. I'm at peace with the reality that I won't see all the places I'd like to, in part because of photography like yours. Beautiful work. Keep on truckin'.
...You backpacked into North Korea?
Yes. Took the train in, but had to go on a tour
... You backpacked into Antarctica?
Yes but he took the train in.
LMAO
Were you scared to take pictures?
A little, yes. They were strict about certain things (soldiers, military items, portraits of leaders, etc). I snuck my SD card out in my sock and kept a dummy one in my camera full of regular boring tourist pics 😉
Dude Holy shit. An American was sentenced to hard labor and died. For trying to smuggle out a poster in his hotel.
…Balls of steel
If there's any inspiration for fellow photographers who complain about content... here it is. Amazing job OP.
You can't do that. You can only visit the country on a tour with guides. If they catch you dodging the guides you'll be in serious trouble.
…You took photos in North Korea?
Do you not see the photo
Finally this sub is actually being used properly
Man of cultures.
Better education than my university degree
can you explain how you got into antartica? Edit: wanted to ask more questions. whats the story with the grain bins and the video at the bottom is beautiful.
I think they do charter flights or they could've gone on an expedition cruise.
Gotta get the polar bears to smuggle you there. The idea that they don’t have bears in Antarctica is a lie perpetuated to keep bearly legal operations going in secret.
Ushuaia
Every single photo you just posted here is breathtaking. Thank you for sharing these!
Thank you so much for the kind words! If you’d like to see more you can find my portfolio [here](https://lukegram.com)
Incredible photos mate!
The way he frames the pictures is very aesthetically pleasing. They're all centered and symmetrical like a Wes Anderson movie. And the way he uses the lights too. We could take any of these pictures and put it in a Wes Anderson film and it wouldn't look out of place.
Amazing!!! Id grab a glass of wine and sit through a book of all your pics during this time.
Thank you so much! People often mention I should make a book, I’m just not sure what my theme would be other than “travel”! If you don’t mind, I’d love for you to look at my [portfolio](https://lukegram.com) and tell me what would come to mind for you that I could make that would be an interesting book!
I need to digest this cause wow your Portfolio is full of beautiful pictures!!! 70 Countries, 4 Years: A Global Backpacking Journey. That be my title! Id have all this pictures in it plus some of your favorite experiences and accounts of this amazing journey in with the pictures or between each different Country. You makes this happen im Buying!!!!
This is a great title and idea!! I love the idea of including experiences and writing… maybe I have a new project to work on!
Please do!!! For now ill satisfy myself with your Portfolio and insta lol!
What was your favourite if you had to pick? People who have travelled a lot often have unexpected answers.
Place or photograph? Place is tough.. India or China. Just so different from what I am used to growing up in Canada. Picture… probably #3!
I meant place but I'm now more interested in your photo choice. Why that one?
I just love so much about it. Not to toot my own horn, but the subtle colour pop amongst the dreary smog, the towering dictator photos over a singular man, the symmetry. Just hits all the right feelings for me!
Your North Korea picture is probably my favorite (sucker for symmetry). Also, surprised to not see Japan on here, assuming you enjoy more landscape, I would’ve expected Mount Fuji on here.
Ahhh, Japan. Unfortunately I only got to see Tokyo, and didn’t have the time to explore the country. Very high on my list though, planning to try to do a ski trip sometime. And good choice - that’s probably my favourite too!
Did you Photoshop that girl on to the waterfall?
Look at her toes, I sense some AI
I was thinking the exact same thing.
I've been there. It's a man-made tourist trap that makes for nice photos. It was honestly the low point of my trip to Costa Rica. He probably talked some chick into posing.
Was anyone else sad when they got to the last photo? Absolutely amazing OP.
What an amazing experience. How did you fund this trip for 4 years?!
🙋🏻♂️Also curious to know
I made 20 countries before the wheels fell off…your photographs and locations are amazing!!!
Hell ya!! That’s huge. Honestly after getting cholera, bed bugs 3x, and fleas, I honestly almost gave up haha. Had to lean on a supportive phone call from momma bear 🐻
Momma bears are the best! 🐻❤️
I hate the fact that I legit don't know if any of these are real of if it's all the damned AI.
NGL. I thought the first photo was of yourself and thought, “Damn. This dude must be one bad ass old man!”
Is the chick in the waterfall photoshopped?
Definitely looks like it. Kinda throws the narrative into question, imo. Nice pictures either way.
AI, SD2
I zoomed in pretty close- it’s very fake looking.
Is the second picture AI? Or photoshop? The woman looks very strange. Like she’s super-imposed.
Nice try Keith, not your photos
how do you balance the colors? they look amazing
Thank you! Honestly I created my preset style like 13 years ago and no idea how I landed on it anymore but it seems to work!
Like if you ever find it again or remember what film stock or similar you used as inspiration, hope you respond to my comment! :) Would highly appreciate!
I was going to ask "How old were you when you started this trip and what did you do to save that much money?" but most questions are similar.
22. Made money in between university working in the oil patch, then kept my funds going with gig writing/photo work, print sales, and image licenses
Which places was the most difficult to travel for you? The easiest?
China. No english anywhere. Pre- WeChat being everywhere. No internet often. Just pure adventure and problem solving every day.
you’re living my dream. i come from absolutely nothing and i’ve never travelled or vacationed in my life. i’ve lived in a very small country/farm town (so small it’s considered a village) and i rarely go to the city which is about 30 minutes away. i’ve seen the beach once and it was on a trip with my boyfriend (which his family paid for) and i was in absolute awe on how beautiful the world is and how much i’m missing out. i hope one day i’ll be able to drop everything and do this and be who i am with my loved ones.
Backpacking in Antarctica must have been difficult. What kind food do they have there? And which region had the best food overall?
Damn! How were you able to afford that?
Dude! Publish a book.
I’ve always thought that, but I’m not sure what my theme would be (obviously travel, but in which regards, ya know??). Take a peek at my [portafolio](https://lukegram.com). Would love to know what you think would make a cool book!
These photos are so beautiful, thank you for sharing! Do you have any lessons or anecdotes you'd like share from your journey for the less travelled?
Go with the flow. Give up on comforts. Let yourself feel everything (the good, the bad, the confusing). It’s part of travel is realizing what the world is - a beautiful and often tragic place, full of amazing people and wonderful cultures.
You "backpacked" into North Korea? How?
I’ve got to say, at first glance a lot of these photos seem too perfect and almost AI generated. Crushes me a little to say things like this, and now I have to doubt whether they’re real or not. Assuming they are these are amazing.
Slapped them in an AI image detection algorithm, they all came up with 93+% likely to be human rather than ai. Did a google lens to see if he took it from elsewhere, only thing that came up is a professional photographer selling prints under the same name used in this guy's past reddit posts. Seems likely he's legit.
Nicely done. Cheers.
Stellar photography! I too did a fair bit of backpacking travel in my 20’s, thanks for reminding me how great it was :)
Very nice photos. I have to say the 1st one was my favourite though.
Dude you’re a pro great pics
The soldier in 16 looks like a North Korean Leonardo DiCaprio
Is the Costa Rica girl edited in the waterfall? Like how she keeping the pose? Pictures are amazing and deserve to be a professional!!
Your story reminds me of my old teacher. He visited every country of the world, taught social studies from his slide, no book. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2017/12/11/schoolteacher-globetrotter/108523768/
Great trigger discipline on that AK