I was out hiking the other day with a friend and we were reminiscing about some of the adventures we had had back in “the good old days”. The days where we had spent hours, sometimes weeks together (thanks, COVID) deepening our friendship and making memories that would last us a lifetime. Whether we were kayaking on Lake Union, camping near Mt. Rainier National Park, or simply sharing laughter over home cooked meals, it wasn’t the activity so much that mattered as the people we were doing the activities with. To this day, those memories are some of my most cherished and today, I want to share one of them here.
Uncertainty + Adventure
It was October 2020. If that date means anything to you, then you will probably remember that it was the height of COVID-19.
After an uncertain spring (to put it mildly) and an even more uncertain summer mixed with brief moments of reprief before going back into lockdown, no one was quite sure what to make of the situation. All we knew was that the uncertainty was here to stay (at least for a while). With that knowledge, we decided that, as best as we were able, we weren’t going to let it stop us from creating memories together.
That autumn, a group of us decided to take a trip to Utah. As luck would have it, the travel ban had been lifted, so we hopped on a flight to Las Vegas (the first flight for all of us post pandemic,), picked up our rental car, and started making the drive to St. George, Utah.
If you’ve ever made this drive before, then you know just how gorgeous this part of the country is. Red rock mountains lined each side of the road and each corner we turned presented a stunning new view. With the song “Wonder” by Shawn Mendes playing the background, we wound our way through the desert, literally in wonder of the beauty all around us.
Exploring Southern Utah, One National Park at a Time
We spent our first full day exploring southern Utah and roaming the desert landscape and narrow slot canyons around our Airbnb. The fact that these types of places simply exist on the side of the road, open to all, is incredible. If this was what these areas looked like, I couldn’t imagine what the views in the national parks must consist of.
The next morning we headed to our first national park of the trip – Zion National Park. We woke up bright and early to experience a beautiful sunrise (and a wedding, but that’s another story for another day). Sadly, I have no film photos to share from my time in Zion, but the soft morning light rising over the mountains will forever be etched in my mind.
Over the next few days, we wound our way across the state exploring more of Utah’s 5 national parks. From the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon to the arches in Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, and even a quick pitstop to Grand Canyon National Park, we witnessed just how vast the southwest desert truly is.
As I sit here writing this, it’s the eve of my 30th birthday. While I haven’t experienced anxiety about entering this new decade (at least not in the way I expected I might), turning this milestone age has had me thinking about a lot of things. It has me asking myself questions like “What is my purpose?”, “What matters most to me?”, and “What am I meant to do with the time I’ve been given?” These questions feel big and are ones that may take some time to find the answer to.
While I roll these questions over in my mind though, one question pops up more than all the rest. “How do I stay present in times of uncertainty?” When I don’t know what comes next, it can be hard for me to not go into overthinking or planning mode. It’s easy to get sucked out of the present moment and into worry about what the future holds. This often leads to overwhelm and burnout or, something potentially worse, me finding myself wishing the time to pass.
But, as I reflect on my time exploring Utah, I realize that we didn’t wait for certainty to find enjoyment in the present moment. We didn’t wait for things to get better to make memories. We rallied around each other, despite the uncertainty, and made the most of the time we had (which yes, was a lot at that point 🙃). We took the moments we were given and simply lived them to the fullest.
My time in Utah taught me to embrace life, despite the uncertainty. The only moment we are guaranteed is the one we are living right now, so why not live it to the fullest and let the future reveal itself in its own time?
I wonder if 5 years from now I’ll look back and smile fondly at this time of unknowns in my life. I wonder if today, I’m living “the good old days” of my future self. I suppose only time will tell, so until then I’ll be curiously watching with wonder as life unfolds itself in front of me, one step at a time.
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