Contingency Planning as a Nomad

Nomad Profile

Feb 06, 2026

Black and white close-up photograph of a Latino man. He has thick-black rimmed glasses, with a bald head, goatee, and big smile.

I was drawn to Alvin’s Substack Departures during an online discussion about how “only the most eloquent in the visual language are able to capture” a specific point of view with accuracy.

Alvin then linked to a short excerpt of Richard Avedon talking about how he was able to masterfully break through the veneer and capture the lack of humanity when he photographed the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Alvin was kind enough to answer my questions about Avedon’s approach, adding his own perspective on the art of capturing facial emotions. Super interesting.

9 Fun Facts

First Name: Alvin
Age Range: Young Gen-Xr
Nationality: Puertorican
Nomadic Stance: Full-time Slowmad
Last Corporate Job: None
Current Job: Photographer
Favorite Country: Albania
Next Stop: TBD. But it will definitely have plenty of beach.
What do you like best about the nomadic life? Diversity

👀 Take a peek at nomad life

2 Questions

1) You’re both a writer and photographer. Which medium do you think captures the essence of travel better?

I am a bit biased as I have been carrying a camera since I was a child and had mastered it long before my literary skills had fully developed. So, I consider myself chiefly a photographer and a “writer” with very strong emphasis on those quotes.

My preferred communication medium will always be visual and as I move throughout the big blue marble it is visually how I best capture the essence of my travels. The words are always there to support and give context to the visuals.

2) You travel about 100,000 miles a year (4 x around the globe). How do you keep up this pace of travel?

I do a lot of ultra long-haul commutes between projects so one of my main hacks is to adjust my body clock to my destination before arriving.

Since I was baby, I’ve slept very deeply on average no more than 4 hours a night. This helps a lot in the adjustment. Being able to get deep sleep in almost any condition is a huge advantage in this lifestyle.

When facing complicated or open-ended itineraries, I always over plan and have multiple options pre-mapped in case something goes south.

For example, a couple of years ago I was flying from LA to Paris and doing an overnight layover in New York for a photoshoot. The weather forecast was calling for heavy snow in New York during my stay, so as contingency I made a reservation for a one-way car rental out JFK and booked a refundable one-way flight out of Washington Dulles to Paris the following day.

As flights started getting cancelled in New York, I was able to show up at the rental counter, grab a car and make the 5-hour drive to DC with minimal disruption to my European itinerary.

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