[2] While hitchhiking on his journey at age 17, he picked up a camera on a Danish street abandoned by an American who didn't want to appear as a tourist; the resulting images were the first he was able to successfully sell in Japan.
[3][4][5] Everton returned to the United States at 19 years old and landed a job with an educational film company to create college-level archaeological and anthropological filmstrips in Latin America.
[6] To support his documentary projects about the Maya and their culture, he took seasonal jobs such as wrangler, muleteer, and white-water rafting river guide.
[7][8] Everton would spend six months at a time in the backcountry, then return to the Yucatán, and finally the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a B.A.
[16] He has contributed to several archaeological books by other authors, including The Code of Kings: The Language of Seven Sacred Mayan Temples and Tombs, Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path, and The Cities of Ancient Mexico: Reconstructing a Lost World.
[17] Hired originally by editors for his fine art eye, Everton earned a reputation as a photographer who knew how to travel.
[18] He has previously worked with several print and online publications, including Condé Nast Traveler, Life, Los Angeles, The New York Times Magazine, Outside, and Smithsonian.