We're leaving the road, not the vision.

long update about life and freelancing

I lived through a month of June I wouldn’t have even dared to dream of six years ago.

Back then, young Alex had just graduated from business school. I was doing a work-study program, working as a corporate account manager at a bank, and I was way off track.

the old me, Aston Martin dreamer

I pictured myself as a banker, living in a big house, ideally with an Aston Martin in the driveway. I was surrounded by CEOs and executives every day. It inspired me, sure, but more than that, it shaped my desires. I wanted to make people dream, through the conventional path: a beautiful family, lovely kids, a luxurious home, the whole package. But I quickly realized it was all just an image. The world of banking and corporate business wasn’t mine : it didn’t spark anything in me.

Then, by chance, I discovered a few artists, so-called content creators. Gregsway, traveling across Europe in his van named Henry, and also a certain Alex Strohl, an outdoor photographer living in Montana, traveling half the year for clients like Land Rover, Arc’teryx, Microsoft, and Apple. My mind, trapped in the rigid world of finance, began to glimpse a way out. At the end of the hallway, I saw a door where the light shone brighter, purer. Sarah, my partner, witnessed this slow transformation. My new dream was clear: I wanted to work from wherever I wanted, move whenever I felt like it, and all that while creating images : being creative, inspired.

Since I was little, I had always played around with computers, diving deep into the guts of my parents' old Windows 95 PC. I spent hours on my mountain bike with a cheap GoPro, filming things that weren’t that interesting. The rest of the time I was sharpening my skills on Counter Strike 1.6, then Condition Zero, then Source, on the school laptop that was meant for “studying and learning.” I loved tinkering, learning, problem-solving. Every issue was an opportunity to find new solutions. I could spend 7 hours straight fixing a computer that wouldn’t boot, while learning how to play U2’s “The Edge” guitar riffs on YouTube, rewatching the same tutorial 150 times.

So you can probably guess: the structured world of banking was just a chapter. I had made up my mind : I was going to be a photographer.

I left the bank and used all my savings to buy my dream setup at the time: a Sony A6500, an old Canon 5D Mark II, an iMac, a camera bag, a few lenses, memory cards, battery pouches, pouches for the battery pouches... I got obsessed and curious. I felt alive again.

the graal

I started learning by buying the full library of Wildist workshops by Alex Strohl. I shot my first weddings. I did some gigs for local restaurants, being paid next to nothing. But I was happy. I was building a different life, forging my own path, creating my own adventure. I started realizing that entrepreneurship actually fit my mindset: move fast, be efficient, try, fail, dare. Even back then, I was already reaching out to the world’s biggest brands like I had a shot. I was DMing Alex Strohl, asking to meet. I was talking to founders of massive production companies. I was inspired by the greats. If they made it : why not me?

The years went by, and I kept learning. Some years were tough. Actually, all of them were. I went through insane highs and lows, monthly, sometimes daily. There were days when I seriously thought about finding a “real job,” and the next day I’d shout, “I’ll do this my whole life!” I’d always go back to my why: I want meaning, I want freedom, and I don’t want to depend on what someone’s willing to give me after 50 years in the same company. I started dreaming bigger. Every new encounter helped shatter that glass ceiling I’d built for myself.

Then we hit the road in our van. We explored France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway… and then came June 2025. I flew from Oslo back to France. I started off with two shoots for private clients, then headed out to photograph the opening of a new hotel by a major French group. I left the South and headed to Paris to shoot the summer campaign for Le Barn hotel. A week later, I was off to the Dolomites for Alex Strohl’s Dolomites Retreat : yes, that same Alex Strohl whose workshops I had bought six years earlier, hoping for a different life.

june <3

This life makes me feel capable. It feeds my curiosity and proves one gigantic truth: I visualized all of this, and I never let go. Now it’s on me to keep dreaming big and to never take anything for granted.

Our vanlife is coming to an end. By the end of August, we’ll turn off the ignition of our vintage Hymer and move into a small place (for now) in the Southwest of France. You can’t imagine what I’m feeling right now. I’m by a fjord in a Norwegian nature reserve. These three years of travel are ending. The nomadic lifestyle made me grow. It forced me to face my fears, my need for control. It also proved to me that freedom and routine are not mutually exclusive. After three years living in 5 square meters with Sarah and our two cats, we’re ready to settle down for a while. We’ll never stop traveling, but sometimes, too much is the enemy of good. Seeing new landscapes every day, sipping coffee in a different garden each morning : that’s priceless. But when the sense of wonder fades, what’s the point of continuing just for the sake of it?

The rest of the year looks intense, and I can’t begin to express the gratitude I feel. I have a family I love, work that brings me joy, and I get to collaborate with amazing people. We’re about to start a new chapter.

So don’t ever forget: sometimes all it takes is dreaming big, for a long time, to make it happen. The cost of inaction will always be greater than the cost of failure or disappointment.

Who knows? Maybe you’re just a few months away from your dream life.

Alex