My wife and I moved up to the greater Minocqua area, specifically the gorgeous Manitowish Waters, after quitting our jobs in the summer of 2023, selling our house without another place to live yet established, and hitting the road to backpack for a bit out in Colorado.
We took off from Milwaukee truly without an idea of if we’d stay in Colorado, come back to Wisconsin, or move somewhere else completely. After many miles on the trail, we decided that we wanted to make far northern Wisconsin our new home. We returned from Colorado, emptied out our suspect Milwaukee rental unit, and moved up to Manitowish Waters. Here we’re currently loving life, renting a small but adorable and cozy 500 square foot unit along the Manitowish River. We’re looking to buy some secluded and peaceful acreage this Spring, and live a simplistic and intentionally slow way of life- off grid, setting up a small yurt, drilling a hand pump well, using a basic solar setup, heating and cooking with a wood stove, and of course building a wood fired sauna (and maybe hot tub). This is the plan and we’re giddy just getting ready for it. Check back in half a year from now to see where we’re at.
Upon moving to the Northwoods and re-establishing ourselves, I decided to take a few months of semi-retirement to focus on health, wellness, enjoy being off the hamster wheel I was on, and casually think about “what’s next”. For a while, I intentionally didn’t even try to think about what’s next in terms of work. We had worked hard and saved as intelligently as we could the past 5 years to be able to have the opportunity to “chill” for a while. With my free time, I started reading a ton, I kayaked a lot, I learned a bit of fermentation science and now love fermenting foods- kefir, sourdough, veggies, fruit, yogurt, etc. I started taking out my camera casually-just having fun with it and getting creative. I’ve spent a lot of time at the gym getting stronger and recovering from injury, hot and cold bathing in the sauna. I started learning Japanese (Elaina promised me when I become fluent, we can spend year or two in Japan). I spend multiple hours per day cooking delicious, whole foods. We haven’t purchased a bread product in nearly three months. We don’t have a fast food joint within 35 miles of us, we rarely eat out, and we’re semi-sober these days, pulling way back from any consistent alcohol consumption. I feel so much better. My blood pressure has come down ten points to optimal levels again. We’re actually, finally working to live and not living to work. We’ve set new priorities.
Our new local friend Tom, who has lived many more life experiences than I, told me that our current way of life reminded him of a quote from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I come to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Thank you Thoreau, and thank you Tom. I love this perspective.
As I return focus to what’s important in life, and I pick up the camera once again, feeling rejuvenated and excited to get creative, I feel that independent photography absolutely fits the lifestyle that we’re after. From 2015 to 2020 photography treated me well. The relationships I built with clients was rewarding and fun, and unless everyone was lying to me, my clients loved the work I did for them and the style of portrait photography and photojournalism I utilized. Photography is fun, weddings are fun, smiling is fun, beautiful locations are fun. I’m excited to be a Northwoods photographer.
Reestablishing oneself in a service industry after a significant hiatus and in a brand new location likely won’t be easy. As I begin to build my business again, if you or someone you know is getting married and going to be looking for a photographer (or a family that needs updated portraits or a senior that needs high school photos), please send them my website and throw my name out there. I appreciate you all, and I’m grateful for what Zach Jindra Photography became over the years when I first started it, and I’m grateful for what it once again will be because of you all.
Here’s to a new chapter, or rather turning the pages back to a previous one.
Zach
