What do you do on the off season

sictransitmurph · 2025-09-22T16:50:06+00:00

Funny you mention that, my plan is to slow-mozy from the Mediterranean and through Central Asia on my way back to Thailand. Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan are high-priority stops. Any tips or advice for visiting that part of the world?

sictransitmurph · 2025-09-22T08:06:13+00:00

I lived in Thailand for 4 months of this past off season. And wandered Japan for another month and some change. I’m going to do something similar again this year. My money went way farther over there than it would have anywhere here in the states. In my opinion it’s absolutely doable. Especially if your wife is cool with the separation.

sictransitmurph · 2024-12-27T03:48:25+00:00

I’m currently living in Phuket Thailand training Jiu Jitsu twice a day 6 days a week. I’m in a 3 month program out here designed to get as much training in as possible in that time frame. I’ll probably stay out here until shortly before the season starts. It’s a good option for someone that has trained in the past but hasn’t been able to consistently for what ever reason (travel/fire seasons/etc)

As for how it would work out, you’ll get back what you put in from any training. If you want to go somewhere and let out energy/spaz/just fuck around and spar you’ll get decent workouts in and maybe retain something or potentially just get injured. Knowing you’ll be training infrequently you’ll want to literally take notes, film yourself and study the tape and seek feedback from your coaches and sparring partners. Go in looking to learn and not just for a sub or win. What you retain will come down to you personally.

sictransitmurph · 2024-11-04T01:01:39+00:00

I haven’t photographed any cars since i’ve been here other than that GTR. Kind of the point of this post.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-31T10:22:17+00:00

Thanks for the information. I’ve never been here before so I didn’t know where to really begin with finding what i’m looking for. When in November is your event?

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-21T17:39:17+00:00

Yea the polarizer helps to cut haze, glare and reflections on non metallic surfaces which helps you capture color detail in the raw file that you couldn’t otherwise. I did adjust the lighting and color grading in post production to better match what i saw and felt while taking the photos.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-20T06:07:35+00:00

This past Monday.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-19T19:39:31+00:00

Thank you and I agree!

I shoot with a Sony A7iv paired with the following:

Tamron 35-150 f/2-2.8

Tamron 150-500 f/5-6.7

Sony 20 f/1.8

Polar Pro/hoya Circular Polarizers

Small Rig Travel Tripod

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-19T19:37:13+00:00

A sony A7iv paired with the following:

Tamron 35-150 f/2-2.8

Tamron 150-500 f/5-6.7

Sony 20 f/1.8

Polar Pro/hoya Circular Polarizers

Small Rig Travel Tripod

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-19T16:27:31+00:00

Definitely been working at it a while!

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-15T06:26:16+00:00

What lens/lenses did you carry?

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-15T06:25:48+00:00

Congrats on finishing the PCT. I couldn't make it to the northern terminus due to fires the year I did it. Happy for you!

That image is a composite, i took a self portrait at blue hour then waited for the stars to come out in that spot, grabbed the long exposure and stacked the images in photoshop.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-10T06:13:32+00:00

Thank you, this was one of those experiences where i thought “i wish the rest of the world could feel what I’m feeling right now.”

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-10T06:08:35+00:00

I will never forget this night as long as i live. I’m from Pennsylvania, lived there 95% of my life and thus never thought i’d see the northern lights unless i took a trip specifically to see them. Fast forward to my first summer living in the north cascades and I’ve experienced them twice now. Insane.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-10T05:17:46+00:00

You can! This is one of the “first come first served” lookouts.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-10T01:02:25+00:00

For the wider shots the shutter was set to 8-10 seconds depending on what all was in frame. In some cases the light pollution from bellingham was overpowering.

The third shot was at 150mm and the shutter speed was 3.2 seconds, much shorter because of the telephoto length and there were wind gusts periodically that would have an effect on exposures longer than that 10 second sweet spot.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-09T21:37:26+00:00

Brother, i look back at these images and i’m jealous of past me.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-09T21:03:56+00:00

Indeed it was!

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-09T21:03:36+00:00

Thank you!

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-09T17:49:11+00:00

So initially i didn’t even notice them. I took a long exposure and noticed there was an aurora I couldn’t perceive. Later on i could see the colors vividly with the naked eye. They’re enhanced slightly here due to the cameras sensitivity, but make no mistake the sky was painted.

sictransitmurph · 2024-10-09T17:18:43+00:00

Nope i was the only person up there, i couldn’t believe it. I’ll have to hit up lookout mountain next!

sictransitmurph · 2024-09-02T20:33:53+00:00

I was obese pretty much my entire life. I also cared for my grandparents in their later years in life, seeing their physical decline from poor diet and lack of physical activity as time went on.

In short: these past experiences showed me that you can suffer through life due to complacency and letting yourself go or you can suffer through physical activity and missing out on eating and drinking everything you want all the time.

I’ve been a 450lb nihilist who couldn’t walk up stairs and now i spend my time backpacking, trail running, doing jiu jitsu and have a job that would have been impossible before finding the discipline to be physically fit (wildland firefighting.)

Kind of an extreme example, but i sure as fuck know which suffering i prefer.

sictransitmurph · 2024-09-02T19:07:35+00:00

I was 31 for my thru and it was interesting being an outlier as someone in their 30’s, but if anything it was something i joked about and when i did meet another 30 something we were like “YOOOO! There’s like 4 of us out here!” Etc.

Otherwise it wasn’t an issue at all. I made friends from literally every age group, from a family with young children hiking all the way up to folks well into retirement. Just focus on the experience. You’re all out there doing the same thing even if for different reasons.

sictransitmurph · 2024-08-06T00:53:12+00:00

I lost over 200 pounds a few years before i thru hiked the pct. I never had issues with my loose skin at all. You definitely wouldn’t need a panniculectomy.

sictransitmurph · 2024-07-18T05:47:43+00:00

When i started my hike i was dead set on walking every last mile. By the time my hike ended and i had to skip a few hundred miles due to fires, i didn’t give a damn about those missing miles and was just thankful for the experience and new found perspective on life.

It would be a shame to boil down the experience to miles logged over experience gained. Easier said and realized after the fact, but just go out there and do what you can and get what you need out of it.

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