Miya Tsudome is a 32-year-old outdoor photographer and climber who turned a summer job in Yosemite into a whole new life. (miyatsudome.com)

She grew up in New York’s Hudson Valley, studied English, and had $30,000 in student loans when she decided to skip the New York City career path and head west. A one-way ticket to San Francisco led her to a service job in Yosemite Valley, where she earned $124 her first week—and got hooked on the lifestyle.

Miya spent five years living and working in Yosemite, climbing, guiding, and building a life around the outdoors. She eventually picked up a camera, sold her first photos to Patagonia, and landed an internship that helped launch a career in adventure photography.

Now based in Bishop, California, Miya splits her time between freelance photo and video work—often for outdoor brands and environmental nonprofits—and climbing as much as possible. Her low overhead and years of dirtbag training let her work every other day and climb the rest. She’s not chasing huge paychecks, but she is saving money and doing work that feels meaningful.

We talk about the tension between freedom and financial insecurity, how her Japanese dad’s example shaped her sense of possibility, and how she still lives with the classic freelancer dread: “What if the phone stops ringing?”

Full transcript: dirtbagrich.com/miya