The Transcript

Karthika: Welcome Emmy. Thank you so much for joining me culturally. I am very excited to have you on the podcast and I cannot wait to chat with you. Get to know you a little bit better and of course, get to know your part of the world a little bit better as well.

Emmy: Thank you. I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Karthika: Absolutely. So before we begin, could you tell us a little bit about sort of who you are, where you’re from, just to kind of help set the stage for this conversation?

Emmy: Yeah, so I am a couples photographer, specializing in allotments and anniversary celebrations, and I just help couples have more of an experience around their photography than just getting their pictures taken. So I call myself a photographer and guide, I guide couples to have the experience of a connection. And to me, that is the most important part of my job. I’m originally from New Mexico but spent a decade out in Colorado and now we’re actually in the Pacific Northwest, but the partner photographer I work with is still in Colorado. So we love Colorado and it’s such a beautiful place and Denver is what I’m excited to share with you all.

Karthika: Yeah. I have to say Colorado is one of my favorite States as well. If, and when I ever move out of Chicago, that’s where I’ll be Denver or some part of Colorado, just something about the mountains gets me every time

Emmy: You can’t beat it. It’s just when you see the mountains if you don’t live around it constantly, it’s just, something just takes your heart with you in there and such a beautiful experience

Karthika: For sure. And, Denver and, the area that you’re going to talk about is just, there’s just so much of nature and just natural beauty around. I mean, it’s like, I feel like if I was ever living in Denver, I would never be home. It’s true. It’s true.

Emmy: You never really are home. You want to be out all the time.

Karthika: Yeah. It’s just, just being out, exploring and traveling, not even traveling, just kind of being outdoors is such a beautiful thing. And when you have so much variety, especially in the Denver area and even in the Pacific Northwest, it’s just, oh, I miss it. I look outside my window or I’m driving around in Illinois and all I see are like Kahn fields. Yeah.

Emmy: There’s beauty to be seen everywhere. , for sure. But I love that, the mountains and trees and being surrounded and enveloping in these environments just creates a different lifestyle for you.

Karthika: For sure. Now you mentioned you have lived over a decade in Colorado. Talk to me a little bit about the sort of, where you were kind of just your experience and living there for so long.

Emmy: Yeah. So we lived around Denver pretty much the whole time, intermittent in some of the suburbs, in that timeframe. But yeah, I grew up visiting Colorado a lot and just fell in love with it as a child, and as an adult and developing my photography business knew that’s where I wanted to end up. It’s in the mountains and this land of adventure, I was such an adventurous spirit that every color had her Colorado had everything I wanted except for the beach. , and that’s why we’re closer to the beach. Now. We love being at sea level here in the Pacific Northwest, but Colorado is such a diverse state and that you really can find a beach experience in Colorado. You look hard enough.

Karthika: I’m not much of a beach person, but to me it, I translate that too when I’m hiking and when I come across like an Alpine Lake or something. So, now talk to me a little bit about, just, given the situation that we’re in, given all the stuff that’s been happening for the past six months, how has sort of your area or your community, and you can talk about it from the Colorado perspective as well as kind of where you are. How has the community handled the pandemic? Are things opening up or, how are the plans to reopen coming along?

Emmy: Yeah, I would say, I’d say the Governor Polis in Colorado did a great job with a pandemic, as best as he could. I think we could have shut down a little sooner than we did, but I think that’s just the case for everyone. But we, I feel like they have done a really good job in opening back up. I loved that even during the quarantine time, he said, it’s okay to go outside, stay within a 10-mile radius. You need sunshine, your dogs need walking. Colorado is a huge tog place. Like there’s probably more people who own dogs and have children and you’ll seriously like to walk down the street. And some people might say hi to your dog before they even notice your child. It’s kind of a problem, but yeah, I felt like there was just, there was still freedom in that like we know you guys are outdoor people, we’re Coloradans and get outside, enjoy your time, but be safe, like wearing a mask, don’t go to busy places within your circle radius. And I know more places have been opening up. Like some restaurants have been opening back up and some gyms have been able to open back up in different phases, which I feel is such a relief, Colorado, such an outdoor place in Denver is such a vibrant city where people commute around eating out and getting out on adventures. So it was so helpful to kind of throughout the pandemic. We had still had access to the outdoors, but not extensive, like don’t go to small mountain towns, in the beginning. So, just being wise about it now to like, just be careful with, with your travels to these small mountain towns that don’t have the resources that the big city, like Denver for Collins or Colorado Springs has.

Karthika: That’s so interesting. I mean, and it’s a very different approach, I think, to what a lot of the other States did, acknowledging that spirit of the local community, but trying to make sure that things are done in such a way that it’s safe and it’s not safe, not just for you, but for everybody around you, because, if you tell somebody who’s so used to being outside, don’t go outside, just stay home. It’s highly likely that they’re not going to move.

Emmy: Yeah. Or mental health declines quickly. And it was quite hilarious actually. The mayor of Denver one day said, we’re going to shut down alcohol stores with the pandemic and everyone freaked out and was going to get all their alcohol and booze and stock up for months. And then the next day he was like, just kidding, we’re keeping these open. So that was like a 24-hour attempt at sobriety didn’t go well.

Karthika: That’s funny. Now travel has changed almost complete 180. Do you see that impacting Denver and just the Colorado area?

Emmy: I felt like people are still traveling to Colorado. I feel like it’s such a central location in the United States that, well, a lot of people aren’t hopping on airplanes as much as they used to with a pandemic. More people are taking on road trips and Colorado is in the middle of the country. So a lot of people are like, let’s drive across the country to go to Colorado or, and I felt like we get a lot of Midwesterners coming to visit. And as an elopement photographer, I experienced that couples who had bigger weddings decided to come out and get a loan in Colorado instead of having their big wedding. And I think that was just something so beautiful that the state can offer around that, as long as people are being wise in, discretionary or with wearing masks and being diligent to protect each other and themselves.

Karthika: And, I’ll raise my hand and say, I’m one of those Midwesterners Because we did a road trip. This summer we were just so tired of staying home, so once school for my kids got over. We hopped in the car and drove 14 hours to get to Summit County. We did a lot of backcountry camping and all the safety measures and because it was backcountry, we did not bump into anyone. So I think that’s that, that was the advantage for us. That was the advantage and the attraction of, getting out West where we could still be outdoors, but not interact with anyone.

Emmy: There’s something so beautiful to you about being able to like going camping. And I love that most people are like, well, we’d love the luxury of being able to fly for just two hours and get some beauty. But how did you book who may never have done a 14-hour road trip? Their family decided that’s a good idea this year, which I think is beautiful. I feel like that’s kind of going back to the roots of how a lot of people used to travel, is through road trips and these long tedious or trancing, and kind of forcing a lot of us to stay grounded more,so I think there’s just some ironic beauty in that

Karthika: I agree. And it’s, nothing kind of says, the journey is more important than the destination than being in the car for so long, because it’s hard to find simple things that give you so much pleasure, even just, the whole, license plate game and I spy and things like that. We just, which were so iconic for when we were growing up. And then, because now you can get somewhere within, three, four hours, it’s just, you don’t do that anymore. You’re on your device and you’re watching, you’re downloading movies on Netflix so that you can watch on the plane as opposed to chatting with somebody you’re sitting next to. So in a way some of the things that have happened have taken us back to the roots and I, for one, I’m glad of some of those changes, for sure.

Emmy: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I hope people fall in love with the different ways of traveling too. I think there’s something beautiful that can happen in red chips, especially for families and married couples. Like you’re just stuck together for a long time and it’s like, you got to work through your stuff or you got to learn to enjoy each other while don’t always as good to be on a long car ride. , I feel like flying, it’s so loud that it’s sometimes hard to have like have a conversation and there’s a lot of anxieties and you’re like, I’m in a tube in the middle of there, that people just kind of keep to themselves, but when you’re in your car, it’s just like, okay, we’re doing this together.

Karthika: I agree. Now, let’s say I, or somebody else out there is looking to plan a trip to Colorado or the Denver area, and asks you for advice on what to do, where to go, what kind of itinerary would you put together for us?

Emmy: I mean, maybe outside of the pandemic, I would encourage you to go explore this Southern part of Colorado, the Southwest part of Colorado, there are a lot of smaller towns, so that’s why I say like, just be very careful if you do that during the pandemic. But a lot of people go to Rocky mountain national park or the Summit County area like your family did to experience Colorado because they’re closest to Denver. You’re usually about an hour and a half from Rocky mountain National Park or Summit counties and spend an hour or two depending on traffic. But if you had down to Southwest Colorado and you’re in the San Juan mountains, it’s just this lush landscape. There are beautiful small towns. There’s this town called Ouray where there’s a lot of inside jokes about that name. And it’s known as the Switzerland of America and rightfully so, if you ever get a chance to visit down there, it’s just stunningly beautiful. And you do feel like you’re in another world, you’re in these valleys of these sweeping mountain views. And I would also recommend that you enjoy some of the Hot Springs that are around there. I think hot springs are some of my favorite things about Colorado. It’s like now there’s not a lot of bodies of water, but we do have hot springs. , and also some beautiful Alpine lakes that are just worth the hike or, one of my favorite types of adventure that I grew up doing is formula driving. And I would not recommend this for anyone who doesn’t know how to four-wheel drive, but they’re like two or so. You can book someone else to drive you, but you go on these cool tours and you drive up these super intense roads. It’s quite an adventure, but you get to go to these Alpine mountains and peaks that you normally wouldn’t be able to unless you’re like an avid hiker. I feel like that would be kind of the itinerary I’d give someone to go explore the Southwest part of Colorado, get an ATV tour, explore the little cute mountain towns around there that are lesser-known. Mostly honestly the very wealthy will visit areas like, tell you to ride and are known for that world-class skiing. And there’s like a private airport for private jets to get there. But you can fly into Durango, I think United flies in there right now, but it’s, I’d say it’s worth the extra six hours if you’re coming in, around the states surrounding Colorado from like Kansas or Oklahoma area and Nebraska.

Karthika: I haven’t done hot Springs in Colorado, I think I did it in Arkansas somewhere. And it was such a wonderful experience. And it’s just this something magical about just sitting in the body of water that is naturally hot.

Emmy: Yeah.

Karthika: But I can just imagine a hot spring with the mountains in the background.

Emmy: Yeah. It’s beautiful. Yeah. And there, they’re kind of tricky to find sometimes there are like resorts that have them, but then if you, if you do enough research, you can find naturally occurring has Springs. You have to have a good sense of adventure to go to these. You’re literally like in a pile of mud, but the views are gorgeous.

Karthika: Now, one of the things that we are seeing is I’m seeing in, some of the groups that I’m in and just online is that people, looking to travel maybe now, or maybe sometime in the future are kind of moving more towards, like a grassroots experience, something, off the beaten path or hyper-localized sort of experiences. So I’m going to ask you a series of questions and I just want to get you, like, your favorites and kind of why, just to give that localized sort of experience to anybody who wants to, visit Denver or something like that. So what is your favorite restaurant and why?

Emmy: I would have to say, I always recommend Beau Jo’s pizza, It’s a chain restaurant throughout Colorado, but it’s Colorado baked pizza. I had originally started in Idaho Springs and there’s something about their kitchen that just makes the best pizza. And I know that’s the last thing coming from, as the Chicago style there’s competition, it’s just a different style of pizza and they call it a mountain pie. And the interesting part is they make the dough suites. So each tradition is that you eat your pizza and then you dip your dough in honey. , and whenever I’m shooting out in that area with couples, I always like to stop at Bo Joe’s for dinner and they just love it. It is such an adorable little restaurant and there are restaurants throughout Denver that are part of this chain. And still just as delicious if you’re just in the Denver area. It’s not super fancy. It’s nothing crazy. It’s a pizza place. But it’s a very local place. Like a lot of people when they’re going skiing in the mountains, we’ll stop on the way back, at Idaho Springs and get some pizza on the way home to kind of skip the traffic. So that’s kind of one of my historical favorite places around Colorado.

Karthika: I did not know this. And, it’s something very interesting when you say, eat the pizza and then take the dough and dip it.

Emmy: Yes.

Karthika: Now, what is your favorite sort of activity?

Emmy: I would say it’s finding more Alpine lakes. I feel like those are like my niche and where I like to take people too. I love to play in the water with couples. And so finding those Alpine lakes is like my favorite activities around Colorado. And some of my favorite lakes are not super busy and surprisingly so, but, there’s like the famous Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National park that is so gorgeous and well worth the hike. But then there’s a lesser-known area called twin lakes, which is like on the way to Aspen. Most people don’t stop there cause they’re going to Aspen and it is the super high altitude in that area. So I just encourage people that aren’t used to the altitude to just research altitude sickness before they go, because it’s a real thing.

Karthika: If you’re not used to how high up you are even getting into Denver it does hit you because, like, especially for me, I’m coming in from sea level. And when we drive into Denver or the Colorado area, it does take us, take us a little bit to get used to because suddenly we’re off to like almost 9,000 feet. The headaches. You just start feeling a little heavy, and then I have to stop and I have to say what is happening. And then I’m like, Oh, okay. It’s the altitude,

Emmy: My favorite thing is to just remind people that you’ll get drunk twice as fast. Like I usually find with like two glasses of beer, but I just got its altitude.

Karthika: This might be a hard one, but, again, considering you’ve been there for 10 years, any outdoor spaces that are sort of more local hangout and not something that a lot of tourists would probably flock to.

Emmy: Yeah.  I’d say kind of just around the foothills, around the city of Denver, there’s just so many beautiful outdoor spaces that I think honestly, a lot of moms with young kids go to during the day because they want to get out and explore, but need to head back for like nap time or something. There’s just so many beautiful outdoor parks and areas just around the foothills. I feel like a lot of tourists come and they just go deep into the mountains and there’s so much definitely to do there. But just in the foothills or some like little hidden gems with just gorgeous views. Just a little bit of research, you can find some little spots. There’s Roxborough State park is one of my favorites. It’s a really small park. You have to be kind of mindful of when you go because there’s not a lot of parking and it can’t sustain large crowds. You have to be very mindful to stay on the path and especially in these areas because it’s a really sensitive environment for wildlife. That’s highly protected out there, but you’re in the middle of some kind of desert landscape, but then you have these rugged red rocks around you. So red rocks is a famous spot and then like a music spot for people to go see concerts in Denver. And it’s super cool and that’s a super huge tourist hotspot. But Roxborough state park is a little more of a remote and you’re kind of tucked behind these rocks and there’s a lot of wildlife singing songs to you as you’re hiking along the trail, and just these beautiful trees and plants around you. It’s just a cool space, and just crazy, landscape because it’s not traditional, like epic mountains scenery you’re in these cool red rock formations. , so it’s just a different taste. You get a different taste of a unique landscape, just about 40 minutes outside of Denver.

Karthika: Sounds very interesting. Yeah. Now what are some, local experiences that I don’t know, maybe like, a cooking class or you, you mentioned the four-wheel drive, maybe there’s some bike tours, things that maybe are not on like the Lonely Planet guide to Denver, something that’s not super popular, but still, something that, somebody could do and do something different.

Emmy: I would say like, white river rafting is super fun? Definitely go with a guide and a tour, cause it can be dangerous if you don’t understand the rapids and how to do it. During the summertime, there are tube rentals to go down some of the rivers, in Golden and in Boulder. Definitely talk to the locals that are selling those rentals about if it’s safe that day or not, and where you care, and respect and follow the rules. Like they don’t bring glass bottles and stuff on your to right. But those are fun experience as well. In Summit County rent a bike, there are so many cool bike trails, to get around there. And even during the summertime, like head up to some of the ski areas because they have, well, I don’t know if they did around the pandemic this year, but they’ll have cool adventures to go on. I know Breckinridge sometimes has this Alpine roller coaster to go on in the summertime.

Karthika: I think the whole concept of going to a ski resort in summer is not something that people generally think of. Why would I go to a ski resort in summer? But the fact that they do have rides and activities that, in the area make it something different.

Emmy: It’s super fun. They open around different times of the year. So you just kind of have to like to look ahead of time if you’re there during the summer. But there’s a lot of really cool things. I think something else that is super fun in the wintertime is that if you’re in the Summit County area there for all the skiing and adventures, there’s something called the ice castles that have been coming in the past couple of years to Frisco, Colorado. And that is just crazy cool. There’s these local or these, these artists that come in and they form literally castles of ice and these cool formations and it’s very active and fun for kids and they make these slides and, it’s still lag tights, coming down in from the ceiling it’s involved and they make like a little ice cave and, and that usually happens around January or February that that will be cold enough that they can develop that. And that’s usually in Summit County, that’s where it’s been for the past couple of years. So that’s also a really neat experience that I feel like a lot of people only know about.

Karthika: Sounds super cool. Now have you gone, and discovered a new local job or something that you didn’t know wasn’t the area?

Emmy: I mean, with my photography, there’s, I’m constantly looking for new locations and experiences for my couples.In central Colorado, there are these beautiful waterfalls and in the wintertime, they freeze over. They become an ice cave and it is so cool. Like, you’re just feel like you’re just transformed into another world. And you’re like, I didn’t think this could be a thing in Colorado, that it can, they form kind of January and February and the waters freeze, and you can go back behind the waterfall and be in these cool caves. So, that was a really neat experience. So, I mean, if you did your research, you could find it. Just always encouraged people I’ve recently become what’s called a Leave No Trace Behind certified photographer, and this whole principle of leave no traces behind is to be mindful of your environment and your own impact on the environment to take care, be good stewards of our open spaces. And so as I to share a little bit with that, with everyone, that’s listening about that to take care of the environment, in the know the rules of the area before you go, I feel like a lot of times when we’re exploring new places and understanding the new environment, we don’t take into consideration the rules until we get there. And sometimes that’s too late because there could be rules about what, what you can bring in what you can’t bring. , and just be mindful of staying on the trail. There are so many times you can walk on a trail and they’ll just be like something called a satellite channel, which is where people have gone off-trail and made their trail and it can be damaging to the environment and the wildlife. And then also just people coming out, especially in the Smit County area, there’s this area of club Sapphire point, and there are these adorable chipmunks that hang out, but people have been feeding them over the years and they don’t know how to get food for themselves anymore. And it’s just devastating that the wildlife is damaged by people thinking it’s so cute to give some flower seeds to the wildlife. And even in Summit County, there’ve just been friends of mine that live out in the area that like we’ll have tourists coming, approaching a giant elk, taking photos of it and just being so unsafe. , and I know it’s just like you get in a new environment and your curiosity takes over and wanderlust. And I love that. And it’s so beautiful, but I think being prepared and doing a little bit of your research and learning about the rules of the, what, how sensitive the area is, and, making sure to, just to follow those and take care of, of these beautiful spaces we have, that we have all have access to, but, if we don’t take care of them, we could lose access to them. Why national parks could be shut down if people continue to abuse them or could be exorbitant prices to get in. , if, if it just becomes overwhelming, like currently Rocky mountain national park, you have to have reservations to get into during the pandemic. And the reason for that is because this part can get flooded and they want to just regulate how to bowl in the park at one given time. So that way they can keep it safe for everyone. , it’s like, there are so many beautiful places to explore, but if we all want to keep exploring and find these hidden gems and these local favorites, we’d have to do our due diligence to take care of the environment and take care of it for each other too.

Karthika: I agree. And I’m so glad you kind of, talk about this because it’s like you said, when you get somewhere that you’ve anticipated or you’ve kind of thought about and dreamt about that excitement takes over and, even somebody perfectly sensible sometimes does stupid things and it could be as simple as parking on a road, the side road, just because the parking lot is full and you don’t realize the damage that the car does. I mean you kind of go over the grass, you go over wildflowers and you just don’t think, right. You’re just so excited to get there and the parking lot is full then you feel like it might be a waste of a trip and so you end up parking off the road. And, feeding the chipmunks, even feeding the ducks in a, in a small Lake, feeding the ducks. I mean, it’s like, that’s just not right, but we don’t always think that we always think big things, right? Like, Oh, stay away from the bison and Yellowstone national elk, but not these little things that still do as much damage.

Emmy: Yes. And I think too, especially like in the age of our iPhones and everyone wanting a photo of where they’ve been and, and photographers can be infamous for this too. And this is why there’s this new course, coming out to educate photographers that have gotten access to early color, leaving no trace of a photography course. And it’s been helpful and eye-opening that like many of us have been guilty of not taking their environment, but the point is that we can all do better. And so, it’s like no shaming anyone who doesn’t follow the rules but to educate them kindly and gently and just says, Hey, I see you doing this. This is hurting the environment and hurting it in the future for all of us. So here’s what you can do to make better decisions, and just approaching it gently instead of shamefully, but is something that is just so profound to me is, especially up in these high Alpine areas is there are these wildflowers out there that are just so gorgeous and it can take years and years for those wildflowers to regrow as someone steps on them. So while you’re out there taking beautiful photos, if you step off trailing you step on some wildfires, it’s going to take years and years for this to grow back. But then if you take that photo and there’s a lot of people around you and you have another person see you do that, they’re like, Oh, they stepped off the trail, I guess it’s okay too. And then hundreds and hundreds of people continue to do this over the years. And it’s like, then these environments no longer look the same. And the fireflies are gotten, so it’s, it’s just, it’s just that concept of, we all can do our part in a little way and that helps make it available for all of us to enjoy for longer periods in the future.

Karthika: Yeah, I agree one hundred percent. Now the next couple of questions are perhaps a little bit more of your take on things so there are no right or wrong answers. I’m just curious about your opinion. Where do you think travel is headed in the future? Just considering everything that we’ve gone through and, so many of us have had to put trips on hold and cancel and everything as we slowly saw, sort of opening up, maybe some, not, not quite there yet, but how, how do you think this has impacted the travel industry?

Emmy: I think it’s just going to call people to explore their areas more. I knew during the pandemic we had to stay within a 10-mile radius, I went and explored trails that I was like, these are all my lists to explore, but I never want to go to them. Cause they’re like, not as cool as these other epic alpine lake trails. , but I went and explored them and just found just natural beauty, super close to home in the foothills. And I think that’s just where travel might be headed more. People staying a little closer to home and exploring the beauty of their area. And I think that it’s just so cool. Because they think of each in their environments, there are so many beautiful places around us, but we get so stuck in what’s Instagram as the location I need to go to, and then these places get saturated. And they’re not as accessible any more. I think in the pandemic if we’re all shifting to exploring our areas and enjoying the beauty of what we have in the kind of finding contentment almost in this need for wander less that making the most of the beauty that’s around us. So I have a feeling that road trips are more of a thing and that people might be more curious and feel safer to explore their local base area, which is very exciting to me to hear about because I feel like while we’ve been able to explore so much as a culture and a society. I still think there are so many hidden gems in our backyard waiting for us to discover them for ourselves.

Karthika: And I think it also kind of makes us think a little bit more creatively in terms of what we want to experience when we do get outside. I know in my family, we just go and get into our backyard, put the hammock out and we’re just having dinner outside. And we are catching fireflies and things like we probably have never done in years and years, but now considering that we are forced to sort of being home, we are finding creative ways to experience the outdoors while being safe and while being respectful of the mandates from the local government. So definitely I think a lot of local tourism and also creative ways of exploring what you have easily accessible.

Emmy: Yeah. I love that. Sometime when we put our creativity in confinement, it expands further. Whereas if you expand your creativity, it has endless options in it. It’s harder to make a decision. Being able to enjoy an evening in the backyard that you maybe you wouldn’t have as much before, because you were preparing and packing and getting ready for your flight and, planning for those more, further away destinations.

Karthika: Right. So what are your travel plans? I mean maybe not now, maybe in the next six months, but where would you like to go next?

Emmy: Oh, well, since we’re out here in the Pacific Northwest and we’re new to the area, I’m so excited to explore all the beaches around the Oregon coast and all the waterfalls. So, that’s my travel plan is to stay local and explore new stomping grounds. So, yeah.

Karthika: Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Emmy. This was amazing. I mean, I am biased. I love Denver anyway, but I loved the kind of hearing more of your perspective and also learning some of the things I did not know existed like the pizza with which I’m going to try that next time.

Emmy: Yes. It may not taste as good as if you try it at home, dipping your pizza crust in honey because they like sweetening the dough specifically. But it is worth a try. I grew up in New Mexico where we put our pizza in ranch, which I thought was normal growing up. So I love those little quirks of the local culture. I think that’s what makes it so much fun.

Karthika: Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Emmy: Thank you so much for having me.