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Extremely Small Desert Town with Massive Personality
Creative Director and glamour shot photographer spills the tea on the magic of Marfa, Texas
CHECK-IN
👋 Des
🎂 30-something
💼 Associate Creative Director at dentsu
📸 Owner and Photographer at Desert Ray’s Photo Studio
♉️ 🌎 Taurus (triple earth sign!)
Hey there!
You’re reading been — a people-centered, culturally focused newsletter about the places we've been. Every issue brings interviews with interesting people and their takes on a destination they know well. Let’s go.
THE INTERVIEW
Favorite Travel-related Experience:
Traveling to Iceland solo. It was my first time traveling internationally and solo, I felt so liberated not having to adhere to anyone else’s itinerary. It also gave me a ton of confidence being able to navigate travel difficulties.
Where are you a local?
Marfa, Texas.
How do you approach travel planning?
I like to daydream about few places I'm interested in, but I can be pretty spontaneous when it comes to booking a trip. If a friend asks me if I want to go to Mexico or down to the Chinati Hot Springs on a Tuesday, I might be there the next weekend.
I decided to take the opportunity and make the move to my all-time favorite vacation spot and have never looked back. When else was I going to be able to live in the middle of nowhere?
What do you prioritize?
Relaxation, art and restaurants with intermittent adventure and exploration.
What brought you to Marfa?
How I got to Marfa? That's a long story, but I've been working in advertising and started working remotely in 2020. I decided to take the opportunity and make the move to my all-time favorite vacation spot and have never looked back. When else was I going to be able to live in the middle of nowhere?
How did Marfa become your all-time favorite vacation spot?
I've been visiting Marfa since 2013, but decided to make the move in 2023. I've spent a lot of time exploring the desert over the years, from Big Bend to Terlingua. Now that I live here full-time, I try and soak up every opportunity to try or learn something new. A few weeks ago, I spent time volunteering to make adobe bricks for a historic church that's being restored down in Ruidosa and recently enrolled to become a master naturalist, taking workshops, studying native plants and the Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem that surrounds me.