GUEST POST BY RACHEL RUDWALL

The world’s a vast and fascinating place. As such, the opportunities for adventure are endless. Yet, the further one roams from the beaten path, the more difficult it becomes to relay a story to the outside world. Until now, that is—the age of mobile power solutions. As TV Producer, On-Camera Host and Photographer, I’m a storyteller who regularly drops herself into varied and remote locations to communicate their stories to outsiders. I’ve worked on six continents and journeyed through over forty nations, telling the tales of each location and the people that live there. Whether I’m in the mountains of Patagonia, the arid reaches of East Africa, or the wind-whipped Aleutian Islands of the Bering Sea, one thing remains true—I have to find the story, and get it back to others. On shoots where a storyteller must carry all technical gear on his or her back, there’s no room for extra weight. Every ounce matters, as a backpack must hold food, water, cameras, hard drives, and all other expedition and storytelling essentials. That’s why the world-roaming documentarians of my industry rely on lightweight, portable power solutions to juice their cameras, laptops, and phones from even the remotest locales.

Take, for example, explorers Justin DeShields & Bryan Morales, who traversed 1000 isolated miles of the Baja Peninsula by foot and stand-up paddleboard on a documentary grant from National Geographic. Or, adventure storytellers and climbers Bryan Long, Michael Ash, and Aron Ralston (of 127 Hours fame), who summited and skied China’s Mustagh Ata this summer, high in the Tibetan Plateau. These adventurers not only proposed to successfully complete their far-flung journeys; they also set out to document them. It’s on expeditions like those that many adventurers turn to Goal Zero to keep cranking on the narratives. Goal Zero’s solar panels are lightweight and highly portable, strapping onto the back of a backpack or top of a tent, and gathering power while we storytellers focus on capturing the tale at hand.

My colleagues tend to favor the combination of Sherpa 50–an ultra-portable power supply that can juice laptops, DSLR cameras, tablets, and even DVD players—with Nomad 13 Solar panels. Just pack those babies up, and you, yon adventurer, are in business. More power to you.

Rachel Rudwell is an Emmy-nominated producer, photographer, and writer. You can find her on twitter, instagram, or on her website.