I love reading end of the year round-up posts from travel bloggers. It’s always fun to learn more about the stories that might not have made it on their blog, Instagram, or YouTube channels. Plus, I like to see what types of experiences and adventures other people value. Since we’re all unique and have different personalities and tastes, reading about other people’s “favorite” or “best-of” lists are like a window into their minds.
So why not do my own round-up list? I’m traveling more and more, embarking on adventures domestically and abroad, and not everything merits a highlight or its own designated post.
And hey – maybe you’ll learn something new about me and what makes me tick! So without further ado, here are my favorite travel moments of 2018!
Baby Brother’s High School Graduation in California
Nothing but pure love would make me spend my birthday driving for 10+ hours straight, across 4 states, trapped in a mini van with 3 little kids.
My youngest brother graduated from my alma mater in Southern California the day after my birthday, so of course I wasn’t going to miss it! I loaded into my sister’s mini van with her and my nieces and nephew, ready for a loud, fun, and highly entertaining road trip.
It was crazy being back at my old high school, reminiscing about my graduation, the many nights I spent out on the football field for marching band practice and football games, and noticing how nice the shot-put ring looks 15+ years after my time on the track and field team. It was also a nice bit of closure for me: realizing that I probably won’t ever be back. Life goes on.
Lunch in Idaho
Towards the beginning of the year, I took my brother Curtis up to Utah State to check out a masters program that he’s interested in. The college is located in Logan, about 75 minutes northeast of Salt Lake City, close to the Idaho border. If you keep driving north, you’ll run into Preston, Idaho, where “Napoleon Dynamite” was filmed!
Due to our schedules, I rarely get Curtis to myself in Utah, so I wanted to make sure that we had a memorable trip together. After a campus tour, I asked him where he wanted to have lunch. Nothing around town really sounded that exciting to either of us, so he smiled widely and asked me if we could go to Big Jud’s, a burger joint I introduced my family to while I was in college.
Always down for an adventure, I said HECK YES! I love Big Jud’s and we drove 2.5 hours north to get to the restaurant. Their specialty is the Big Jud: a juicy burger on a special-made bun…the size of your face. I would drive hours to get one, and my brother knew it. Needless to say it was delicious and worth the extra 5 hours in the car!
The Buffalo Scratch on Antelope Island
Wildlife behavior can be so unpredictable, and catching a particular moment on film can be hit or miss. Because of this, I have a great respect for wildlife photographers and am constantly amazed at their work. That being said, I experienced a memorable moment during my last trip to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake.
My friend and I were having a stay-cation and decided to explore Antelope Island: we drove up and down every road, hiked to the best vistas, and took all the pictures we could ever want. We learned that if we happened upon a car pulled off on the side of the road, chances were that a buffalo was close by.
As we were getting ready to head home, we passed a few cars pulled off at an intersection and looked around. Sure enough, there was a buffalo right next to the side of the road. Not only was he close enough to the road to see him clearly, but he was obviously enjoying a large boulder that was right next to him. We sat and watched the buffalo scratch his side at the rock for at least 5 minutes, the feeling of ecstasy clearly outlined in his facial expressions.
My First Festival of Colors
Every year for Holi, the Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah, hosts the Festival of Colors. I’ve known about the Festival for years, but never had considered attending. The way that my old friends used to describe the Festival to me was less than complimentary, so I had to wait for a new friend, an adventurous friend to sell it to me.
Ashley and I laughed, threw as much chalk as we could, danced, hugged complete strangers, and laughed some more. I had such a great time, I even decided to make a little video about it – my first ever!
I knew that the Festival of Colors involved throwing colorful chalk into the air and at each other, but I had no idea how much fun it would actually be. We bought our tickets and color packets ahead of time, donned our white shirts and busted out my GoPro (no need to ruin a phone or camera).
Whale watching in Boston
I’ve been whale watching multiple times before, but this year was my first in the Atlantic Ocean. When I was younger, I thought I wanted to become a marine biologist so I could swim with the whales and dolphins…until I realized that I am deathly afraid of sharks and gave that dream up real quick.
When I headed to Boston for a much-needed solo getaway, I knew that whale watching was going to happen. What I wasn’t expecting to happen was having our boat completely surrounded by a pod of critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whales.
Maritime law dictates that any ship within a certain range of whales must kill their engines until the whales pass. There we were, out in the Atlantic Ocean, bobbing along with the current, trying to grasp what was happening.
Although most of the tour group didn’t fully appreciate what was going on, the naturalist with the microphone more than compensated for their lack of enthusiasm. I smiled as I listened to her constant repetitions of “oh my gosh!” and “I can’t believe this is happening!” Nobody had ever seen so many Right whales at one time on this particular tour! This was a special moment and I’ll never forget it.
First Ride on a Wave Runner
Over the summer my ward took our youth to Bear Lake in Northern Utah/Southern Idaho for a Youth Conference weekend. I was excited to see Bear Lake for the first time, and even more so that I was able to ride my first wave runner!
I hopped on with our oldest young woman and I’m pretty sure that she tried her hardest to throw me off the back. I screamed like a little girl, giggling all the way as I tried not to hold onto her too tight. What a thrill!
Straddling the Four Corners
Sometimes the unplanned side trips yield the most powerful memories. I took a last-minute weekend trip down to Monument Valley in Southern Utah. While I was there, I decided to head over to Four Corners Monument. I figured I’d probably never be in the region again, so why not drive an extra couple of hours?
While I won’t recount my journey or the background on the exact point, you can read about my adventure here. The most memorable moment I had during this trip wasn’t necessarily getting the picture of me straddling the Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado borders, but the feelings I had after the shot was taken.
Our social media feeds are filled with epic destinations and thrilling adventures, our eyes are constantly assaulted with sandy beaches, lush jungles, and feet-first-helicopter-tour-arial-shots. Everywhere you look, it seems like everyone is trying to out-do, out-adventure, out-death-defy their friends, followers, and influencers.
With all of this focus on the bigger and better “keeping up with the Jones'” mentality, we forget to appreciate and acknowledge the little things in life, the smaller victories, the “unglamorous” destinations, the personal achievements of finally experiencing a destination we’ve dreamed about since our youth. Four Corners was my achievement. My goal. My accomplishment. And nobody can take that away from me.
Discovering the beauty of Wyoming backcountry
Speaking of unglamorous destinations that hardly ever get some Social Media loving…WYOMING is so beautiful! I had a different trip fall through at the last minute, and instead of sitting at home and sulking about it, I loaded my car Victor up with snacks, camera gear, and my friend Aly and we took off for Evanston, Wyoming.
We had a blast wandering around downtown and Bear River State Park, but I unexpectedly fell in love with driving around the backcountry. I really wanted to check out a ghost town, which we did, and then just kept driving along the dirt roads.
I do love a good road trip, but this was on a whole new level for me. I’m a city girl at heart, but there was something special about rambling along the boulder-filled dirt roads in the southeast corner of Wyoming. Maybe it was the stand-off with the herd of cattle along the way. Or watching cowboys in their element. Maybe it was the rolling green hills, speckled with glittering water holes and lakes. Possibly the stark contrast in natural colors.
When all is said and done, I’m not sure why this is on my list: there wasn’t one major event that stood out in my mind. But when I look back on my year, I always come back here. To Wyoming. And maybe you should give it a shot as well. Like this site tries to get across: you don’t have to travel far for an adventure!
Making it to Monument Valley for sunrise
There’s something magical that happens when you watch the sunrise. A sense of peace washes over you. A brief moment of rebirth and clarity as the day starts anew.
I took a last-minute weekend trip to Monument Valley and decided that I wanted to capture that iconic vista at sunrise: a total Forrest Gump moment. I was staying in the small town of Monticello, Utah, which lies about a 1.5-2 hour drive north, depending on how heavy your foot is.
Since I’m me, I woke up around 3:30am again and hopped into Victor (why do I keep doing this to myself??) to begin the drive into the unknown. I’d never been to Monument Valley before, nor was I remotely familiar with this corner of Utah. The sky was an inky-black, with a handful of stars sporadically strewn above me. As I began the drive, I noticed that wildlife crossing signs far outnumbered streetlights and I felt my shoulders tense…and they didn’t release until I pulled up at what’s known as “Forrest Gump Point.”
I giggled as I got out of the car, relishing in the fact that there were other crazy people out there: people who would brave the cold, sleep-deprivation, and the possible auto vs. pedestrian/photographer accident. I wasn’t alone. While we all waited for enough light to start taking pictures, we joked, laughed, hopped around to keep the blood flowing in our legs, and bonded in that short time.
This is the essence of travel: making connections and forming bonds, no matter how short of a time you spend with people. These interactions enrich our souls and help make us better people, I have no doubt.
Road tripping through Transylvania
Rounding out my list of 2018 highlights would be my trip to Romania, and rightly so. Although I’m still in the process of writing about all of my adventures across Romania, I think the penultimate experience was taking a road trip with my friend Nikki through Transylvania.
After a shaky start and finally getting our rental car Cha-chi out of Bucharest during rush hour, we braved the windy mountain passes of the Transfagarasan Highway (pictured above), crawled through colorful villages and narrowly avoided the occasional horse-drawn buggy. We sang along to Romanian pop radio stations, stopped for the occasional photo opportunity in a field, and laughed incessantly. Nothing beats a good road trip!
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