I want to share with you one of the most epic and possibly life-changing travels that I have ever done. I knew even before the actual trip, that its one that will be etched into my memory for a lifetime. Planning this one was slightly tricky because I've never been travelling for this long before and especially because I had not fully realized how ginormous The States actually is. Imagine, you could take a 10h flight (east-west) and still be within United States territory! I had pretty much a rough idea of where and when we were going to be, but staying as flexible as we could was definitely the key to having so much fun on this trip!
Our trip started with a 24h travel day from London Heathrow to Phoenix (with a short layover in New York JFK). I didnt need much convincing to get my travel buddy to come along. Although we have been on a couple of short trips together, I was still a little bit apprehensive about having just one travel buddy throughout most of the trip. I mean, we are talking about a month! But, it actually worked out quite well and we didnt end up wanting to kill each other by the end of it... massive achievement!
To tell all in one post would not do the trip justice so I have broken it up into several significant legs of the trip for easier read!
To tell all in one post would not do the trip justice so I have broken it up into several significant legs of the trip for easier read!
The experience we had while camping was one that I would probably still be telling my great grandkids one day! I had so much fun with the other three out in nature where the surrounding was nothing short of breathtaking, there was not one moment I would take back! The weather was scorching hot particularly in the day (seeing as we were pretty much camping in the deserts of Arizona and Utah) and except for that one particular night in Bryce Canyon where we all nearly froze to death, it was an absolutely perfect setting and season for nights outdoors.
The plan was to meet up with my two sisters in Phoenix, then spend a week camping out in the National Parks. We were pretty much brought up in the city and our camping experience was limited to our bedsheet tents in the living room when we were little. So when I first brought the idea up, I had some pretty mixed reactions. "Where are we supposed to charge our phones/cameras?" "Do we have to poop in a hole?" "What about bears and snakes?". As inexperienced as we were, we had quite the adventure! Camping isnt always bliss when you're sleeping uncushioned and it's cold or that your only dinner after an exhausting day hike was bread, soup and instant noodles (we really need to be more prepared in this dept next time!) but the many moments we had together that were hilarious and adventurous and fun and new, most definitely outweighed any of those harder moments by so much, I dont even know why we'd dwell on them!
Photos!!
And SubhanAllah! And in that moment, we lived in the present. There was no thinking about the past, or looking for the future. We were just there.
The plan was to meet up with my two sisters in Phoenix, then spend a week camping out in the National Parks. We were pretty much brought up in the city and our camping experience was limited to our bedsheet tents in the living room when we were little. So when I first brought the idea up, I had some pretty mixed reactions. "Where are we supposed to charge our phones/cameras?" "Do we have to poop in a hole?" "What about bears and snakes?". As inexperienced as we were, we had quite the adventure! Camping isnt always bliss when you're sleeping uncushioned and it's cold or that your only dinner after an exhausting day hike was bread, soup and instant noodles (we really need to be more prepared in this dept next time!) but the many moments we had together that were hilarious and adventurous and fun and new, most definitely outweighed any of those harder moments by so much, I dont even know why we'd dwell on them!
Photos!!
We were first greeted with this magnificent view! This massive hole in the ground which took millions of years to form and is still evolving day by day would truly take your breath away. Imagine it being so big that I has four main entrances and due to obvious time constraints, we could only manage The South Rim and the East Rim. Always a reason to come back next time!
Trying to achieve some zen with nature.
Our selfie-stick game is on point!
My sweet little sisters all grown up!
Retreating to watch Mother Nature put on her best show. Sunset.
Everyone has their own AmericanDreamTrip. This is mine to share.
Until the next post,
P xx
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