This trip idea was born after my 30th birthday, close to New Year’s Eve. At that time, I was seeing the light at the end of my depression (that lasted a couple of years.) It was way more difficult because I didn’t want medication, and I had to learn the hard way that it could be less harsh if I had accepted all help that I needed.

So, a dear friend in the USA called me for my birthday, and we talked about a trip. Still, it became real a few weeks later when I decided to regain control of my life and wanted to switch sadness for joy. I was done with my depression and feeling sorry about myself for the last few years, so I wanted to live something different, to develop a new series of stories I could tell myself in the future.

In January, I got the plane tickets and called my friend; “hey man, I will be there in July”, then I bought a drone because I wanted to take cool videos of this road trip (I had never flown a drone before, but I had 6 months ahead to learn how to do it, so it was a fun challenge)

Another friend of ours made a similar road trip with his family before, and he helped us plan our route. We wanted to go without any rush, spending more time per day exploring the places we wanted to go instead of driving.

This was our 7-stop route for a 15-day road trip: 

Florida – Phoenix by plane.

Phoenix – Page 

Page – Brian Head

Brian Head – Moab

Moab – St George

St George – Three Rivers

Three Rivers – Mariposa

Mariposa – San Francisco

“Welcome to Hell”

Phoenix, AZ.

When we were near the airport’s exit, some guy said: “Welcome to hell” meanwhile, the automatic doors opened, letting the heat in; a 45 degrees Celsius air hit us, making sense of that stranger’s words.

That was the beginning of this exciting road trip. 

I had no big expectations because I had no previous trips to compare. For me, everything was a new experience. The last time I saw my friend was 5 years before this trip, so I was glad to have this unique opportunity to catch up with him while we discovered new places.

Pro-tip: get the annual entrance for National Parks card.

This card costs USD 90 and allows you to enter every National Park in the USA for a year, it worked perfectly for us because a single entrance to each park costs USD 20, so if you plan to go to five or more, you could save money.

Breakfast, Hike, Drive, Dinner, Beer and Blunts, Bed, repeat.

Every day after a power breakfast on our road to the next spot, we could reminisce and talk about our last years’ concerns, heartbreaks, my aunt’s cancer, and how much I hated my work at that time. (I used to love my work, but it turned awful, maybe not the job but me.) Those conversations were so therapeutic for us; we could exchange new points of view about one or another story, and it was refreshing.

For me was a fair rewind of my process, allowing me to face it from another perspective rather than pain’s sight. I knew I was healing, but this trip gave me a real sense of how much I had recovered and how enormous the hole I was living in was. 

At every park we went to, we wanted to try the longest trails they had or the most attractive scenic views; it also depended on how tired or fresh we felt every day, for example in Zion, we made 2 the same day; Angel’s Landing in the morning and Kayenta trails in the afternoon (up to 5 km.)

After we had reached our limits of stamina and time, we went for a mighty meal. Dinner time was about to get something tasty with a regional brewery IPA beer (Fortunately, my friend also loves IPA’s, so we tried several on our trip.), talking about daily’s highlights, reviewing pictures, and texting home.

At night, if the Airbnb had a pool, we went there. If not, we just sat outside to catch some fresh air, drink some beers, and dove deep into existential questions about the coming future. 

A 30 years old kid with a smartphone

Our first major stop was the Grand Canyon; we visited the east side. I’m still short of words to describe such a magnificent place; It’s impressive. I felt like a little kid, excited about every new discovery, smiling without any particular reason. This was a good way to start our trip.

The next day we went to the top of Horseshoe Bend. When we first planned this trip, we wanted to go there by kayak, but once there, we saw we had to book it before, so maybe next time.

That mindset was fantastic, and it was a non-written rule of this road trip; we wanted to take it easy, just living one day at a time. We had designed the route, but if we decided to stay more time in one place there was no problem. (We booked every lodgment the night before.)

What an astonishing view to fall in love with America’s landscapes. I couldn’t imagine then that I would have way more reasons to fall in love with America in the upcoming days.

Close to Horseshoe Bend is Antelope Canyon, which has 2 spots to visit. We took a guided tour inside the caves of the canyon. We were so lucky they let us enter because you were supposed to make a reservation before, and we didn’t.

The tour was operated by Native Americans. Our guide was so committed to the quality of the pictures we were taking that he even suggested angles, he even threw sand in one spot so we could capture a sand fall. Thanks to him, I started using my phone’s camera’s “pro mode” (A Samsung Galaxy S21). 

He told us many interesting stories about that land, Native Americans, and nature. So far, so good. Every day was going better than the previous.

At the end of the day, we were in the backyard of the Airbnb, drinking a beer, and these weird and unexplainable noises appeared; it was like the place was haunted. I’m not into ghost stories, but I must admit I was feeling scared. I didn’t know that my friend had fallen asleep, holding his beer firmly; only God knows for how long I was talking alone about those noises. (My friend has a unique talent for falling asleep anytime, everywhere. I envy him because I don’t have any sleeping skills.)

Run Forrest, run.

We passed through Monument Valley, which made me feel an intense mix of nostalgia and power. I didn’t understand that nostalgia because I had never been there or in any place that looked like that; an infinite horizon interrupted by colossal stone and dust “elephants” lying on the field. 

It amused me how calm everything there looked; the noise of the wind played distant notes of charm and maybe sadness. It probably was just a reflection of the waves of my soul that day. I couldn’t believe for how long I was postponing living my life, and that it was actually possible for me to enjoy it.

We reached the spot where Forrest Gump decided to stop running, which had a spectacular scenic view. It feels a bit weird to be in a place you knew from a movie because your mind doubts it, but it wouldn’t be the only time I would feel like this on my trip.

So far, these remarkable conversations in the car were, per se, a rewind of my healing process. It was the first time in several months that my dreams and hopes could exit the cave where I pushed them deep; it was so great to hear them again because I thought I had no more hopes and dreams. (I didn’t mean to, but that’s life. That could happen to anyone who truly loves someone but forget himself on that path.)

For sure, it was an invitation to rebuild my dreams or to find new ones, but I only realized that at the end of this trip. This experience occupies an exclusive spot in my heart because it was the first step of my new life.

Back on the road

Brian Head, Utah. This place was fantastic and let me reconnect with my old dream of becoming a screenwriter. At that time, for my job and depression, I had quitted my dreams, but I didn’t realize that I had lost my dreams following other people’s fears. We spent like 3 days there.

The lodge had a Jacuzzi next to the pool, and few people went there at night. Still, we could meet exciting people there and live some strange and funny situations that flamed a thriller script I’m working on.

The first night we met a couple of siblings, they didn’t look familiar by the way, but who cares. One of them was drinking “water”, but her face after a long zip let me know that it wasn’t water, so I broke the ice asking for that magic drink, several minutes later we were doing some cheerleader tricks at the pool. (Yeah, I know.)

They were surprised by the fact that my friend and I were not gay, because for them was so strange that two male friends share a road trip together; the party began after that, it was a great night.

The next day we went to Zion National Park, I loved that place so bad, I will come again. I could say we were not ready for the trail we wanted to do, but we did it anyway a hangover wouldn’t stop us, Angel’s Landing trail, astonishing.

When we reached the highest point of this trail I was mesmerized with the view, how was that possible, hundreds of meters above the river, tiredness blurred on that captivating landscape, when we reached the highest point, I closed my eyes and let the breath of the Angel hug me the way you hug a dear old friend, I was feeling in my bones life was worth living.

From this point emerged a life changer question for me: How many places in the world could make me feel this? I want to explore more, and to travel just to figure it out.

That night at the Jacuzzi, we met a couple from Hawaii, they were spending the last years traveling together, the guy was a Physician but he got rid of it and became a Real Estate agent because it allowed him to have more time and money (that’s what he said).

This gave me hope about 2 things: That it’s possible to find someone to share your life, and it’s possible to live having enough time to explore the world without any rush. That conversation with them was truly inspiring for me, then the stereotypically “Karen” joined us while her family were at the pool.

Thanks to her I could taste how most of Americans feel about immigrants. Funny part was when she asked me if I speak Colombian, because according to her I didn’t look as one, she thought I was Italian. (In Colombia and almost every Latin-American country, we speak in Spanish)

(To be continued…) 

Read the second part here