WHEN GOOD THINGS GO WRONG

The best travel stories are the hardest ones to earn

- JESS MCGLOTHLIN

I got coral cuts on my feet while photographing an exploratory trip to a remote atoll in the South Pacific. A visiting nurse happened to be on the island at the time. Through a translator he told me I needed to get on antibiotics immediately and stay out of the water-not a promising diagnosis when I'm on a job that involves wading the flats all day, every day. I took the meds, cleaned the wounds each night, and completed the shoot to the delight of the client. The only lasting wounds? I lost both big toenails (they came back) and gained a few new scars on my feet. I also had a memorable barefoot walk through LAX because my feet were so swollen by that point that they wouldn't fit in my flip-flops.

THE ROUGH SIDE OF ROUGHING IT 

As with many things in life, the reality of travel is far less glamorous than the idea. To get the best images and stories, I'm often working in places that don't exactly cater to the resort type. Imagine a lot of sleeping in group tents in locations with no bathroom facilities, eating whatever's handy when you have the time, and finding a way to laugh when things go wrong.

Those moments are often the most memorable. Humans love adventure stories.

There's good reason for curiosity about the uncomfortable and interest in what lies on the other end of an airplane ride. Travel tales are compelling on their own, but when you add an element of the unexpected-when something goes wrong-our pulse ticks up a notch. Stories become far more interesting when everything doesn't go according to plan.