David and I love a road trip. There’s something about having everything you need in the car with you and just going, seeing things you’ve never seen before and experiencing life through a new lens. But over time, we realized that road trips are even more fun when you turn them into a creative project.
We started bringing a photo series with us on the road. Something we dreamed up called Mary Guifrre: The Lost Traveler. Mary is a fictional character (played by me) and named after David’s great-grandmother, who’s always a little confused, slightly lost, and very committed to wearing a blue dress with a bow in her hair.
She’s got props like an old telephone and a wrinkled map. She never quite knows where she is, and that’s kind of the point.
Whenever we take a long drive, we bring the costume, pack the camera, and keep our eyes peeled for strange and beautiful backdrops to add another image to the series. It turns the whole trip into a visual scavenger hunt.
A Creative Way to Document Your Travel
This has changed how we experience road trips. Instead of just taking in the views and snapping a few phone pics, we’re building a story one frame at a time. And the best part? You don’t need fancy gear or a big plan to do this. You just need a loose idea and a willingness to pull over when the light hits right.
You can make it your own: create a character, carry a recurring object, stick to a color palette, or take the same photo at every stop. Whether it’s with your partner, your kids, or just yourself, it’s such a cool way to turn memories into something more intentional.
We’ve Taken Mary Everywhere
We’ve taken Mary Guifrre: The Lost Traveler all over—up and down the California coast, through the lights of Las Vegas, and into the dusty landscapes of the Mojave Desert. She’s popped up in beach towns, abandoned gas stations, desert highways, and anywhere else that caught our eye. Each new location adds to her strange little world.
That Time We Climbed Into a Lava Tube…
One of our most surreal photo stops was a lava tube in the middle of the Mojave Desert.
We were driving from Las Vegas to Joshua Tree when we saw a photo of the Lava Tube at Mojave National Preserve and made a spontaneous detour. Not gonna lie we were in a Tesla rental car, and the five-mile sandy road was not ideal for that kind of car. But we made it, slowly and carefully, and it was 100% worth it.
The hike to the cave is short but sunny, and once you get to the top, you climb down a metal ladder into total darkness. There's a narrow section where you have to crouch low to get through and then, suddenly, the cave opens up and beams of light shoot through the ceiling like something out of a movie.
It’s an insane photoshoot location.
If You’re Planning a Visit, Here’s What to Know:
- Lava Tube is off Aiken Mine Road, about 5 miles from Kelbaker Road
- Take a 4x4 vehicle (seriously, learn from us)
- The hike is around 0.5 miles uphill—bring water
- You’ll walk over volcanic rock and descend a 16-step ladder
- The cave is dark—bring a flashlight
- It’s narrow in spots, so be ready to crouch or crawl
- Best light is around midday on sunny days
- Pro tip: kick up some dust in the air to make the beams pop in photos
Make It Your Own
If you’ve been itching for a new creative outlet or just want to look at travel a little differently, try this. Bring your camera, come up with a simple photo theme, and let the road guide you. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to make sense.
It just has to be yours.
