Federico Cabrera is a dreamer. For years, he had dreams of becoming a National Geographic photographer. Taking photos in Africa was top of mind for 15 years as he toiled in foreign trade. But that nagging thought of grabbing up a camera and exploring the world finally prompted Federico to give up his successful career and follow  the photo bug dream.

These days, Federico Cabrera is a Buenos Aires-based freelance photographer, traveling throughout South America on a bicycle and living in the countryside and, as we’d like to point out, making a difference in the world.

(Image © 2020 Federico Cabrera)

Walking away from his former career, Federico put new-found energy into a life behind the lens. And to do this, he said he began commuting country to country by bike, initially to reduce stress and eventually to return to a simple/healthier way of living. He now travels at a pace that enables him to actually see the countryside from the seat of a chain-driven bicycle rather than behind the wheel of a fast-moving, impersonal car.

Today, we feature the works of Federico in Part 2 of our Inspiration Through Exploration series. A photo is nothing more than light passing through a hole in a box. Whether exposed to paper treated with chemicals or digital receptors, the end product is the same — a photograph. And when you see a photograph that moves you, that is inevitably the result of the subject and the camera operator engaging in the movement of light together — a beautiful dance.

This week’s featured artist not only performs this dance with his subjects, but he produces beautiful portraits of them that he frames and then hands over to the subjects of his photography. His portraits are the residents of poor communities in South America, many living in homes with little or no access to electricity or clean water.

It was while visiting with these families that Federico discovered that in many of the homes, the residents didn’t even have a portrait of their family. That prompted him to carry a printer along with paper and ink to deliver personal portraits of his subjects.

On a more realistic level, Federico saw many families living with little or no electricity in their homes and worse yet, contamination in their water supplies. He decided he could make a small difference by handing out solar lamps and water filters to households he visited while on his expeditions. That, along with portraits of those families that were often the only photographs these South Americans had in their homes.

Federico figures he’s donated nearly 350 solar lamps and water filters, along with more than 500 printed portraits in the six years since he began these bikepacking adventures, which include expeditions through Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia.

So when Federico packs up for a photo expedition, he brings along his essential photography equipment, as well as solar lights and water filters that he personally delivers to those who need them.

A photographer? Yes, but Federico is much more, not only capturing the light to make a family portrait, but a light that is filled with empathy, compassion and a heart.

We asked Federico what inspires him and how he arrives at his inspiration:

This week we begin the first in a three-part series called “Inspiration Through Exploration” where we will see how gifted and novice travelers alike can document their adventures through artwork, photography, writings and other means.

Today’s inspiration comes from Australian Alex Hotchin and her beautiful — and very unique maps. Next week, we will explore the photography of Federico Cabrera in his “Their Only Portrait Project.” And in Part Three, we will see how primitive and print journals are emerging, with representation from both the Adventure Journal and Bikepacking Journal.  

(Image ©2020 Alex Hotchin)

What we here at the National Center of Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE) hope to accomplish in this series is to inspire outdoor enthusiasts to document their adventures in new and fascinating ways. Too often we just pick up our smartphone or camera to grab a quick shot of a passing bird, a mountain formation, or the cool gear of the hiker in front of us.

We are hoping to encourage you to move outside the boxes (devices, phones, computers) that are typical of  modern-day sharing. For example, I carry a camera on my bicycle, usually strapped to my climbing harness or in my boats. Ninety-nine percent of the time I don’t touch it. So, why carry it at all? Because maybe one percent of the time, I see something that I want to help illustrate the story and memory of that specific moment in time, during that specific journey. I like to take pictures of the unexpected.

Most of the time, I also carry a roll of colored pencils and a notebook. Drawing takes more time, so it forces me to stop and think about how to best combine lines and colors to represent something meaningful to me and to connect my story with those who might see it later on.

Many times upon returning from a long outing or expedition for NCOAE, I show my family and friends my journal, drawings, and photos to accompany my stories. This gives people the opportunity to come up with questions, engage with the landscape and not just ask, “How was your trip? “What did you do?” Sharing on a personal level allows for a secondary depth of exploration, face to face (or six feet apart for now).

Meet Alex Hotchin

Alex is an illustrator who creates books and maps to tell her stories. Her illustrations are inspiring and the maps she creates are personal to herself and to her specific journeys.

When looking at Alex’s work, you get the sense you have actually joined the journey. Alex takes two-dimensional representations of maps and makes them jump off the page. Scale is not specific to cartography, with the scale offering viewers a look through the artist/adventurer’s eyes. What she saw out there — the beauty, the obstacles and cultural significance — is laid out before us in lines, shapes and colors.  

Can you actually find your way using her maps? I suppose that depends on where you want to go. We asked Alex to provide us with a little detail about the work she does, and here’s what she had to say:

Welcome to our third — and final segment in our series about sports terminology and slang terms. In this post, we’ll be talking about whitewater paddling, and right off the bat, we’ve got a warning for the novice paddler.

Those who might be unfamiliar with whitewater kayaking or canoeing might think rowing and paddling are the same thing. But those folks would have another think coming. Because nothing raises the hackles of a whitewater guide or enthusiast than hearing a newbie describe canoe and kayak propulsion as “rowing.” Strike One!

The only thing worse would be referring to a paddle as an oar. Paddles are used for paddling. Oars are used for rowing. Strike Two!

We apologize for the harsh tone, but we are professional educators and guides here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE), and our primary purpose today is to support you in your efforts to make yourself a more confident person when you emerge from the river. That means that, during the course of a conversation, if you were to say you were rowing a river and got your playboat stuck in a ‘sticky hole,” you would need to take a “wet exit” from the conversation without the opportunity for a “brace” or a “combat roll.” Fact!

So, let’s pack our dry bags, pull on our skirts and PFD’s and hit the river.

We’ll start with the name of the vehicle in which we will be paddling. Your first thought might be to call it a kayak. Don’t. Yes, in every design aspect and shape it’s a kayak. But when you talk about your kayak, you will be saying “boat.” No, really. We insist. And we understand you might be confused but trust the process.

Here are some terms you’ll need to know about the boat (kayak) and it is various and sundry accessories:

Did you hear the one about Rock and Ice magazine merging with Climbing magazine? It’s not a joke. That news was announced just today (Oct. 9, 2020), and it conveniently coincides with the next post in our series on outdoor industry lingo. With the assistance of The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education’s (NCOAE) outdoor lexicon support team (that’s me), most of you were able to make it through the first post in our outdoor industry lingo series — Surfing. And now, just when you thought it was safe to go back to regular English, you get to learn an entirely new language.

For today’s writeup, we’ve got you “on belay” with all the “beta” to get you through the “crux” of the lingo learning curve so you can “on site” any climbing conversation.

Holy crevasse! Why are all those terms in quotation marks? And what do they mean?

Pay attention, Grasshopper. While I can’t (won’t) give you the entire exhaustive list of climbing terms, I am going to go deeper into the nifty nomenclature of climbing. And the first thing you’re going to need to access in order to summit this speech peak, is the climber’s “bible.”

This 60-year-old book is called “Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills,” and it’s available now in its 9th edition. So, if you want to climb or become a mountaineer, or if you just want to speak intelligently about the topic at climbers gathers or Zooms, get the book. Why? Look around you. Even the most ardent climbers, guides, and outdoor education professionals reference Freedom of the Hills.

So, let’s “tie in” and get you on the “sharp end” by the end of this post. We need to get you talking knowledgably about climbing.

I’m thinking we should start things off with how climbs are rated — the difficulty level. You might hear someone talk about climbing a 5.9 with a 5.12 pitch at the crux. And you don’t have a clue as to what that means. Bottom line? We’re referring to the “Yosemite Decimal System” (YDS).

The Yosemite system is a common and dynamic language. And like ardent surfers talking about big waves, nobody wants to claim they are climbing harder routes than they really are. It’s just too easy to prove that you’re exaggerating. So, is this YDS accurate? If you climb —  or attempt to climb — you may come up with the

Seems most every human-powered outdoor recreation activity has a language of its own. And the more popular that activity becomes, the more expansive the list of slang words and new terminology become. It’s a way of communicating efficiently with your fellow enthusiasts, and let’s face it, speaking the language makes your part of the group.

In this next series of posts here on the NCOAE Blog, we’re going to explore the unique spoken word of our beloved adventure-based sports. We’ll start off with surfing, the “Sport of Kings,” this week, then move on to climbing and paddling in future posts.

And now, without further ado, let’s go ahead and push through the shorebreak, paddle out to the lineup and grab us up some gnarly waves.

Sorry. One more aside before we begin. Let’s go ahead and elaborate on that “Sport of Kings” comment above:

Back when missionaries arrived on the Hawaiian Islands, they quickly banished the sport of surfing, calling it hedonistic and probably too much fun. They also gifted the Hawaiian population with a variety of diseases, but that’s another story. However, when King Kalakaua was installed on the throne in 1872, one of his first acts was to reinstate this ocean-specific human-powered activity that was so loved by his royal predecessors. And once again, surfing became the “sport of kings” and commoners alike.

Since then, surfing has become among the most romanticized sports in the world. Films like The Endless Summer, Point Break, Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii and even the Gidget television series drew thousands of young people into the ocean and onto waves across the coastlines of America — and around the world. And most recently, as you’ll see in the video below, Maya Gabeira — a Brazilian surfer who makes it her mission to tackle big, big waves — recently broke the Guinness World Record for the Largest Wave conquered by of woman!

Again, sorry. One final diversion and then we’ll get to those surfing terms:

Lee Clow, the advertising icon who worked directly with Steve Jobs on classic Apple television ads and futuristic consumer trends, brought the culture of local surf shops into Apple’s megastores around the world. Instant success. This California ad genius — himself a veteran wave rider — knew all about the bond between a surfer and a surf shop.

For instance, he knew that surfers find any reason at all to visit a surf shop. Even when they’re broke. It’s where they hang out, hear about the trends in surfboard design, get the insider track on new surf spots or what’s breaking. You feel part of a family, and you speak the same lingo. Yep, Apple took Lee Clow’s sales pitch to heart and the rest is history.

No more asides. No more fun facts. Let’s talk surfing terminology:

Kassie Kehrer is our new executive assistant, tasked with ensuring the efficiency of our Wilmington, N.C., office here at The National Center for Outdoor & Adventure Education (NCOAE). In addition, Kassie is responsible for enrolling students in our many medical trainings, outdoor education courses, and backcountry trips. She’s also the go-to person when it comes to customer service and support, collecting enrollment paperwork, and making sure things are running smoothly for students and staff members alike.

Born in Schenectady, N.Y., and raised in Washington State, Kassie attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, Wash., where she majored in recreation with a concentration in Recreational Therapy & Child Life Services.

Prior to joining us at NCOAE, Kassie spent the past six years working for the YMCA of the Triangle in Raleigh, N.C., with four of those years in the position of director of Camp Rising Sun. She said the job gave her the opportunity to coach and hire staff and build an inclusive environment for kids of all abilities.

Prior to that, Kassie worked in a variety of roles, ranging from counselor to kayak instructor, at places like Camp Wingate Kirkland in Yarmouthport, Mass.; Brookline Parks and Recreation in Brookline, Mass.; Camp Indianola in Indianola, Wash.; and Camp Greenville in Cleveland, S.C.

In college, Kassie was a recreational therapist and Child Life intern at Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Boston. She then went on to work as a program coordinator at the Henderson School for Inclusion in Dorchester, Mass., and served as a behavioral therapist at The May Institute in Boston.

We asked Kassie to tell us a little bit about herself, and here is what she had to say:

What’s the only item in your gear closet that could possibly be more important than food, water, and shelter? For most of us the answer to that question is coffee! That complex nectar of the gods that makes us sharp in the morning and warm at night. And as the old saying goes, “Everyone should believe in something. I believe I will have another cup of coffee!”

And, since brewing coffee is as much of a ritual as it is a necessity, you can imagine the amount of gear you’d need to stuff in your backpack in order to prepare the perfect cup of coffee in the wilderness. The question becomes, how do we get that great cup of coffee — using the best beans and blends we can find — without breaking the bank and our backs in the process?

In this, the third and final installment of Do-It-Yourself camping tips, we address the coffee snob within most of us, and share some interesting coffee-related quotes along the way.

Now make a face and say, “Instant coffee? Are you kidding me right now?”
COFFEE QUOTE NO. 1: “What goes best with a cup of coffee? Another cup.” ~ Henry Rollins
So let’s get to it. We’ll teach you how to pack and prepare the best cup of coffee possible in the backcountry. And you’ll be able to perform this feat in five to seven minutes.

Heres’ what you’ll need: