Meet Kaila Walton | Fat Adventurer and Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaila Walton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaila, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
As someone that is a photographer in the outdoors, who also happens to be plus size/fat a lot of people don’t realize how unwelcoming the outdoor industry is for people who are fat. The limited amount of technical outdoor gear in plus size, the limited amount of outdoor gear like sleeping bags, mats, climbing gear etc that are big enough for plus size folks. Things are very slowly getting better, in some aspects, but the outdoor world still has a lot of fat phobia to deal with before its truly welcoming for people of all sizes.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Most of my photography involves the outdoors, specifically the outdoors in Northern Canada. I typically photograph landscapes, night skies and myself in the outdoors to show people that you can get outside and enjoy the outdoors at any size. Whether it is hiking, camping, road trips, kayaking, climbing, mountaineering, we can do whatever we set out minds too. Don’t wait until you’re a certain size before you allow yourself to try out a new sport or activity. This is one of the main reasons I started the instagram account/community Fat Wander Babes. Which highlights plus size women in the outdoors, and traveling.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in Yellowknife Northwest Territories, there are a lot of fun outdoor activities to do. Summer time I would take them fishing, hiking to Cameron Falls, and a little road trip to see some Bison. For winter, I would take them to see the northern lights at night, for a drive on the ice road on a lake, to the museum, and to the Wood Yard, and Bullocks Bistro which are some of the best restaurants in town!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to shout out Unlikely Hikers, Climb Big, Fat Girls Hiking and all of the plus size outdoors community that continues to advocate for plus size technical gear and talk about things that need changed in the outdoor industry.

Website: www.kailawalton.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kailawalton and www.instagram.com/fatwanderbabes