Close to Home: Jakob Gjerluff Ager
Growing up on the cold and windy Danish west coast, Jakob Ager was sailing and surfing from a young age. He’s lived and worked in the mountains of Norway, and currently resides in Vancouver BC, working as a freelance photographer. Jakob is a Yervana Local.
By Jakob Gjerluff Ager
Growing up, I travelled a fair bit with my family, we weren’t rich, but travelling was a high priority for us, and my mom and dad made it possible for our family by saving up and being clever with their money. I’ve kept that curiosity and passion for exploring new places and seeing the world into my adult life, and it’s played a large role in how I found myself living in beautiful British Columbia.
After finishing high school in Denmark, I moved to Norway for 5 years to work in the mountains (which Denmark has none of at all), teaching skiing and guiding rafting tours. After returning to Denmark for a couple of years, my life turned in a new direction and last summer I moved to British Columbia in pursuit of new adventures. Today, my work as a freelance photographer takes me around the world, and I get to see and experience amazing places along the way.
As much as I love travelling, I love being home more. There’s an assumption that travel photographers live a romantic life, living out of a backpack between shoots, but I could never do that, home is where my heart is. After moving countries a couple of times, I’m getting pretty good at setting up a new homebase, and I love being a part of community.
To really experience a country, a city, or a place, you need to live there, get to know the people around you, and the things that make that community unique (good and bad). Moving to a new country can be lonely, but if you put in the effort every day, pretty soon you’ll start feeling like a part of the fabric of things, making friends and finding your place. That’s when it starts feeling like home. I love the title “Local” and that is something I have always strived to be. A local is a person that not only knows the area down to the smallest detail, but is also a big part of the community. Everybody knows them and they know everyone, and they take pride in contributing to the overall well being of the community.
For me, that is the key to a good life and true happiness. If you love where you live, every day is great. My most cherished memories aren’t necessarily from exotic destinations around the world, but rather from amazing days at home: a warm summer night on the Danish west coast surfing with my brother and friends, skiing powder in Norway with my co-workers and friends or a rainy morning hike with my girlfriend and her family in British Columbia.
Watch for Jakob’s Adventures on Yervana. You can see more of his photography at http://www.gjerluff.com/
