Note #014: Notes from the Lake District and Northern Spain.
And the ever-evolving flow of freelance work.
Greetings, beautiful people!
As we passed the threshold into June, Jonas and I feel like we have stepped onto a moving sidewalk that we won’t step off of until October. Which is good! We had a little bit of a sluggish winter and spring, so the busy season is welcome.
In this newsletter, you can expect:
1. A recap from a trip to the Lake District in England with Hoka.
2. Notes from a recent 5-day photoshoot at home in Cantabria with Yardsale.
3. A short list of lessons learned as we continue to navigate the new and exciting world of freelance work.
THE LAKE DISTRICT
Holy moly, you guys. We had no idea. The Lake District is, excuse my French, f*cking beautiful. It’s one of those places that has never been on our radar, so we just didn’t have high expectations. But it lowkey blew us away. Located in the Northern part of England, the Lake District is a trail runner’s (or hikers or general nature lovers) paradise.
If you’ve been in our orbit for a minute, you might remember this film that Jonas was hired to work on last year about Katharina Hartmuth, a totally awesome professional ultra-runner. Jonas and Katharina have stayed in touch, and at the end of May, Hoka (via Katharina) hired Jonas to document a project she was working on in the Lake District.
For anyone who might be unfamiliar, there is this thing called a Fastest Known Time (FKT), which is a speed record on a specific route. Katharina was preparing to run the Bob Graham Round with hopes of setting a new FKT. The Bob Graham Round is a legendary mountain challenge, originally set by (you guessed it) Bob Graham in 1932, summiting 42 peaks in 24 hours. Since then, thousands of fell (an English word synonymous with mountain) runners have completed the round, but only one person holds the FKT at a time (one male, one female). The route is 106km (66 miles) with 27,000ft of elevation gain, and in order to set the new FKT, Katharina needs to run it faster than 14h and 34m.
There’s so much to say about the history of the Bob Graham Round and the community that surrounds it, but that story will be shared at a later date! Katharina had a whole team of locals supporting her on this mission, and it was so inspiring to be a part of. Team members from the Hoka office in London drove all the way to Keswick to help with logistics, and she had a whole team of pacers lined up to witness her entire round, including the current female FKT holder. Jonas was hired to document the FKT attempt, and I came along to support him in photographing and to gather some storytelling bits for a couple of written stories.
Katharina had spent the entire month of May in England getting to know the trails and preparing for the run. Jonas and I arrived a week prior to her estimated attempt so we could wait for a good weather window. We had a really nice week together, essentially just on a vacation—cooking food together, going for walks by the lake, and seeing the Devil Wears Prada 2 at the cinema (something we can’t do where we live, so we always go to the movies when we travel). In the end, Katharina caught a cold two days before her determined attempt day, and it was getting progressively worse. She had to make the tough decision to cancel the attempt which was a bummer for everyone. But, she’s hoping to go back in July for round two, and we hope we can make it there to witness it!
Jonas and I ended up having a few free days in Keswick to go hiking and trail running, and we wholeheartedly recommend visiting this area if you ever get the chance. If you stay in Keswick, there is a huge lake right next to the town with a trail that loops the entirety of the lake (10 miles long). It is… gorgeous. Then, there are just mountains surrounding the entire town. Some of them you can get to by walking straight from town. And others, you can either drive or take a bus to. We didn’t want to deal with a car rental and the stress of driving on the other side of the road, so we took buses all week and it’s amazing how well connected they are. You can pretty much get to any trailhead you want to go to via bus. Also, there are sheep everywhere; it’s amazing.
Go to the Lake District and tell us how you like it! And if you’re an ultra-runner, read up on the Bob Graham and maybe you’ll be inspired to attempt your own round!
^ We brought along some gear that we’re testing for our friends over at Better Trail. These backpack reviews are up on the site already if you’re curious! Jonas / Mimi
YARDSALE IN SPAIN
Sometimes we just feel like two silly people running around outdoors with cameras in hand, and it’s really nice to get work and be validated in what we’re pursuing in the world. We feel super lucky to have been brought onto the Yardsale team to shoot all of their campaigns for the 2026 year. Yardsale is expanding from just ski poles and winter apparel to their very first summer apparel collection. What we admire about Yardsale as a brand is that their products either solve a problem or have a unique design that you’re not seeing everywhere else in the outdoor (or even lifestyle) space.
We got extra lucky, and Yardsale wanted to shoot part one of their summer campaign in our backyard in Cantabria. We shot for two days, literally in our backyard, surfing and exploring our little town. We then went into the Picos for two nights and three days for an unplugged hut-to-hut trip.
Anytime I share photos of the Picos (I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since my first hut trip there), I always get flooded with messages from people asking about the place. It’s been on my to-do list for a while, but someday soon we’ll share a mini-guide for visiting the Picos! We hired two amazing creators that Jonas and I found on IG who actually want to move here, which was weirdly kismet. And we hired our local friend Gonzalo to assist with video. We had so much fun and just feel so lucky to call this work. Also, sharing this place and seeing it through the eyes of others made us fall in love with Cantabria all over again. We feel so grateful to call this little paradise home.
Part one of this summer campaign will be rolling out this month, so stay tuned to see what we created! We sent 20 rolls of film and 2 rolls of Super 8 to the lab and can’t wait to see the results.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM FREELANCE NEWBIES:
Always include a cancellation clause in your contract. AKA when we went to England for a week, and the project was cancelled. Having something in your contract that says how much you will still get paid if the project is cancelled.
Don’t be afraid to pitch things to people! You never know who will say yes. Three magnetic examples: Jonas is having a photo printed in the next edition of Field Mag, and both Salty Trailrunning and New Mountain Mag picked up our story about the Bob Graham Round (hoping it still happens).
Keep making time for personal creative projects! When you work for other people or businesses, you’re ultimately catering to their creative vision or to what is best for their brand. As a creator, it’s so important to continue to make things that are purely your own and with no input from others.
LIFE UPDATE FOR ANYONE WHO CARES:
Starting on August 1st, Jonas and I are moving out of our house and traveling for an undetermined amount of time! To be frank, we’re nervous and have no idea how it is going to go. But in general, we imagine we might be traveling around for the next 8 months (yikes!). We’re hoping not to spend 1 million dollars on short-term Airbnbs—if you know of any creative solutions for places to stay, or if you want to work with us this year, give us a shout!
Who knows, we might end up back in a long-term rental come the fall—only time will tell.
What we do know is that we’re joining our friends at Single Fin Surf Travel for a trip to Chicama, Peru, next winter, and you should totally join us if you’re into longboarding.
With love,
Mimi and Jonas
Criminal that there were no donkey photos included in this recap