If you spend two weeks with someone couch hopping, camping in trees, sleeping in the car, abandoning your car for 7 hours because they may or may not have gotten it stuck in sand at the beach AND you only wanted to kill each other twice during the whole thing, then you 100% found the perfect traveling partner in crime (take breath here). Thanks Joey for not only being a cool individual, but for taking an eye opening and life changing trip with me.
My best friend, Joey, and I have been talking for months about taking a trip out west. When I returned from my four week trip from Germany, I caught the case of the travel bug and knew we had to do this trip. We picked a date and said no matter what, we are five thousand percent doing this. As I mentioned in my past blog post, Making Decisions I mentioned how I made the decision that I wanted to take a break from school. I couldn’t be more happy about this decision because if I went back, I would have never had this wonderful experience.
Our trip consisted of four states: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Each state filled with beauty, so different from one another. Traveling is so important, especially exploring the beauties of your very own country. It’s unfortunate that not everyone has the means or opportunity to go out there and explore. If you’re able to, don’t take it for granted!!
Here are some sights to see/stay when out west:
Chautauqua. Boulder, CO
White Sands, New Mexico
Absolutely amazing. We had no idea what to expect when we decided to take a trip down to the historic White Sands, but we are so glad we did. We both thought we would just stop by to take a look, and ended up staying for a good couple hours.
Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley Arizona
CAMPING IN MONUMENT VALLEY IS A MUST
Joey and I agree that this is the best campsite that we will ever go to. It cost $20 to enter the native land and another $20 to camp, but is completely worth it. You get to choose where on the site you want to set up, and then you are in for a night of beautiful views. While setting up, we met two absolutely inspiring people. One was a gentlemen from Quebec, Canada and the other was a young lady from Japan. Both decided to drive alone and travel the country!! Definitely an amazing way to meet people from all around the word!
Lone Rock Beach Campground Lake Powell, Utah
Another fantastic camping spot IF YOU DON’T GET STUCK IN THE SAND. Do not drive a FWD car on the beach… just don’t do it.. We had to leave my car by itself for 7 hours while we slept and then had someone tow my poor car out. But other than that, the views were absolutely amazing and so much fun camping on the beach! Only $14 for the night!
Middle Mountain Campground, San Juan National Forest in the Lower Rockies, CO
On our way from Monument Valley, we found a hidden gem in the San Juan National Forest. This was such a perfect spot along the lake. It had great reviews as well as a welcoming atmosphere from the owner. Only $24 to camp for the night! I wish we could have stayed longer, but we were running low on days and needed to make our way back up the rockies to Boulder, once again.
This 13 day trip out west was an opportunity not many people have, and I am truly grateful I was able to have such a fulfilling and successful trip with one of my closest friends. Let’s see where this adventure bug has me going next!!
Nina
yogansocialwork.wordpress.com 
