Traveling has not always been a passion of mine. My family took a cross-country road trip from California to our house in Pennsylvania, and as a moody teenager whose only two real concerns at the time were the girl I had started dating two weeks earlier, and the upcoming release of the 6th Harry Potter movie, being on the road for two weeks wasn’t high up my list of high-priority items. I had fun, sure, but I didn’t care like I do now, let alone appreciate the experiences I was gaining at the time.
On that trip, we stopped in Vegas, the Hoover Dam, a slew of National Parks in Utah, Yellowstone, and from there, a whole lot of roadside attractions and towns between Wyoming and Iowa (and yes, we did see Harry Potter 6 on opening day in Provo, Utah, of all places). Two of the more memorable stops in that longer stretch were at Wall Drug in South Dakota, and Deadwood, also in South Dakota.
I’d put a picture of that trip here, but after looking extensively,
I don’t have a single one on the internet. Plenty of printed photos in shoe
boxes at my parents’ house in PA, though.
These may be fighting words to some, but let me put it this way: the highway billboard signs for Wall Drug put Buc-ee’s and South of the Border to shame.
I said what I said. I’m fairly certain Wall Drug’s billboards started popping up 400+ miles out.
I also mentioned Deadwood. I know we did gold mining there, but, oddly enough, the reason that town sticks out to me is because it’s where I had my very first and only Redbull (no hate) at a tiny drink shack in a parking lot.
Throughout this trip, we stopped at every state border sign. Pretty sure I was about as unenthusiastic as you can get – minus the glorious game of “PT Cruiser Bruiser” my sister and I had going for two straight weeks. *evil laugh and a lightning strike*
Insert another non-existent digital picture of that trip.
Looking back on that cross-country road trip, I want to go back in time, grab my shoulders, and scream, “APPRECIATE THIS, YOU IDIOT!” Because the truth of it is, 16 year old Alex didn’t appreciate it in the capacity I do today. Sure, I was a boy scout and hiked and camped, climbed trees and swam in lakes and rafted down rivers. But I’m not sure I appreciated any of it in the way I would today. Heck, in 2007, I started having panic attacks and excessive shortness of breath causing dizzy spells leading up to a three-week camping trip at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It got so bad that I had to see doctors to make sure I didn’t have an underlying condition.
Went on that camping trip. LOVED IT. Incredibly cool experience. My panic attacks stopped immediately upon arrival, and never happened again. In 2010 I did another three weeks at Philmont and wanted to apply to be a ranger in college (never did, but to this day would absolutely do it).
Similar to astronomy, I can’t pin down an exact moment when my attitude and appreciation for extended hiking and camping trips grew to what it is today. Growing up, sure, I always liked those things. But today they are obsessive passions of mine. Who needs walls when you have nature to explore and the universe to marvel at?
I joke about how I should only have to pay half my house rent, because between my near-constant science and astronomy outreach in the surrounding cities, and doing my best to hike and travel in the humid hellscape that is Florida (except for that tiny window in February when the temperature is a frigid – wait for it – 75 degrees)…I am simply never willingly home these days.
There may very well come a point where I’m comfortable enough to sell a lot of personal belongings (or dump them in a cheap storage unit) and test out van life. Who knows? I’m running my science and astronomy nonprofit full-time now, though, so it’s a bit more difficult to truly separate myself from being planted down until it truly takes on a life of its own and opens me up to a little more freedom. So, for now, I steal away every chance I get to hike and explore and seek out opportunities to embark on longer and farther trips in the in-between.
What’s most important is that despite financial and other life struggles that pop up time to time, building a life of passion writing books, running my nonprofit, and traveling when able, versus a life of obligation, has helped me sustain my own long-term happiness and create the stories I will always love to tell. I may not travel as much as an adult as I did as a kid, but I appreciate the opportunities and experiences so much more, valuable to me in every way.
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