So after a month long road trip with my sister, you are probably wondering if it was worth it. YES. It was totally and 100% worth all of the hard work it took to get there. I am about to share with you what I learned. I know, it was a vacation. You could not possibly learn anything. Well, I did so here it is:
- I love traveling. I kind of already knew that, but this was a great trip and it solidified all of the things I love about traveling. It has me already looking forward to the next adventure.
- Traveling is not cheap. While road trips are cheaper than some other forms of travel, they are still pretty expensive for me (new to the whole adulthood thing). I do not make a lot of money at my day job, but I like that job so I am going to need to continue building other forms of income to satisfy my travel bug. I hope to share my experience with you and help you our if that is also a goal of yours.
- My sister and I can survive being around each other 24/7 for over a month. There was literally no point at which we were separated, so it was a good bonding experience. We were already close, but this was a whole new level. If you go on a month-long road trip with someone, then you are bound to find out way more than you bargained for.
- Exploring without an objective is important. Sometimes you have to put the planner down and actually just explore. I happened to schedule in time to explore because I knew that I would just follow my plan’s details if I planned too much.
- We are very dependent on our phones. It is almost scary just how much I relied on my phone. We used our phones to navigate, however, when in remote places sometimes there is no service and at first we had no idea what to do. But we pulled out some gas station maps -yes, a real paper map- and were luckily able to find our way around. It was crazy though! We had literally never needed a map, ever. It is definitely a good skill to have though.
- I am capable of taking care of myself out there. Everyone told us that we could not possibly make it without something terrible happening to us. We went anyways and nothing bad happened. Maybe it was luck, but we were also very good at being aware of what was around us and made good decisions while on the road.
- Hiking calms me down. I was at my maximum stress level before taking this trip (hello college graduation) but on the very first day, we made it to Sedona after over 12 hours of traveling. We went to Slide Rock State Park and started just walking back into the canyon. The quiet, seclusion and physical activity immediately made me feel so much better.
- People are nice. Yea, you heard me. I generally avoid going out of my way to interact with random strangers around my hometown, but since we were on the road I felt more open to meeting random people. And in general, people were nice.
- The magnitude and diversity of nature cannot be understated. I had seen some of these places before, but I was reminded of the enormity of the world and how many different places and landscapes there are for us to explore.
I probably learned a few more things, but these are the lessons that stand out to me. I would highly recommend taking a trip like this one day. It is possible and you will learn your own invaluable lessons along the way.
