This is a guest post by Daria Bachmann of The Discovery Nut.
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You have probably heard about Utah’s mighty five national parks. And if you haven’t visited them, they are probably on your bucket list.
In April 2010, aka Month #9 of Funemployment after quitting my first-ever corporate job, I took a spontaneous trip out west, flew into Vegas, rented a car, and roadtripped for a week with my old Brooklyn roommate Lauren.
I feel like there’s a lot of pressure in visiting Arches National Park. It’s seemingly not enough just to go and take skillfully-composed pictures of the arches – no, you’ve got to go to the right arches at the right time.
Canyonlands plays second fiddle to Arches when it come to Moab’s national parks, but you know what? I don’t think that’s well deserved. Plop this stunner anywhere east of the Mississippi and it would easily be the most visited (and most beautiful) national park.
It was a happy little accident that I came upon this oft-unheard of park in Moab. Desperate for a campsite during the overcrowded mayhem that is the Easter Jeep Safari, I took google’s recommendation and drove about 10 minutes out of Moab town center and up-up-uphill to the park entrance.
Moab is an outdoor adventure playground. I planned my recent long weekend trip to Utah around this desert town, intent on taking advantage of everything it has to offer that I can’t do at home in New York City.
Doing good on my goal to take more long weekend trips, I spent this past Easter weekend out west in Utah. After a tumultuous transition from winter to spring in New York, all I wanted was to feel the heat from the sun again, to be able to enjoy nature outside of the city grid.
A week from now I’ll be in UTAH, frolicking around the desert and doing all the things that life in the big city does not afford: hiking, star gazing, climbing real rock.
I’m going to Utah for 4 days next month and I’M SO EXCITED!! It’s not often enough that I get to escape the big city and hit the open road. Current plan is to rent a car from Salt Lake City, belt out some tunes with the windows down, and head down to Canyonlands and Arches National Park.
In month #9 of my (f)unemployment stint and quarter-life crisis, I was as restless as I’d ever been. I had all this time at my disposal, and all I’d done with it was start my wedding photography business and apply for jobs.