I usually can’t explain what I do when speaking to friends and family about my work for Force 12 Media* because it’s tough to describe what a media director’s job really is. Sometimes I talk about the Internet; sometimes I explain how a blog works. Other times, I simply say, “It’s my job, and I do my best at it.”

While on an assignment in Washington D.C. recently, l had about six full days to myself while gathering content for the Force 12 websites. When I’m in these new places for work, I often think about why I’m the one who’s out doing this.

When I’m not working for Force 12, I can be found mountain biking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, camping, hiking mountains, rock crawling in my jeep, or somehow packing so many outdoor activities into a day that you’d think I was borderline crazy. Just two days before this trip to D.C., I went on a 60-mile dirt bike ride. About 45 miles into the ride, I slammed my right foot into a tree and thought I had shattered it. I could hardly walk, and now I had to go on this big work trip.

Arriving in D.C., I found myself in 90-95℉ weather with 50-80% humidity, in and out of rainstorms with my camera gear on my back. My bag can weigh anywhere from 40-80 pounds, and I would estimate that, this time, it was on the lower end of that spectrum—around 50 pounds. I realized on this particular trip that I’m able to do the things I do for Force 12 because of the type of lifestyle I have outside of work. I can handle eight hours on my (injured) feet while carrying a heavy pack in high heat, all while maintaining a creative eye through a camera lens, because of my life outside of work.

Here are a few photos of my personal life, which are then followed by a few of my favorite photos from the trip to Washington D.C. to help connect the dots between the two.

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* Editor’s note to Team Room members: We go by ‘Force12 Media’ in the business world (not SOFREP) because sometimes we write articles that are too controversial, too edgy, too real or too funny, so when some advertisers hear “SOFREP,” they get a little nervous. “Force12” softens that blow. Ironically, the name comes from the Beaufort scale, which is used to measure weather conditions, and was devised in 1805 by Read Admiral Francis Beaufort, an Irish Royal Navy officer. A Force 12 storm on the Beaufort scale is equivalent to a hurricane-force storm. Which is very much like SOFREP’s effect in the media.