Have you ever felt the pressure to “see it all” when on vacation? We have definitely fallen into this trap – me (Melissia) more so than Alex. It’s hard not to especially when you read about other people’s adventures….I want to experience all the things! But that isn’t always realistic.
Utah’s Mighty Five
Earlier this year we traveled to southern Utah to explore the Mighty Five national parks. We had two weeks which included travel time in Vannah. Because we had the pups with us, we knew we wouldn’t be able to hike all the trails we would have liked (pups aren’t allowed on many of the trails). I made a list of shorter hikes and areas I wanted to try and see and Alex helped to map them out before we left.
We started our trip in our favorite place – Stanley, Idaho, and stayed two nights there to enjoy some more local exploring. We then headed out into Utah planning to start in Zion after spending the night near Park City. From Zion the plan was to head to Bryce Canyon, then Capitol Reef, wrapping up in Moab to knock out Arches and Canyonlands. We would then head home stopping for one night in the Uintah Basin.
It all sounded like a great plan. We even told each other we’d go with the flow and if we couldn’t hit every spot, it would be ok. Don’t get me wrong, we had a really great time. However, we didn’t account for how tired we’d be staying in a new spot almost every night. And since to go anywhere we had to pack up Vannah every time to get there, that kind of sucked too.
Lessons Learned
In the end, we learned some things and will do a trip like this differently next time.
- First and foremost, do not try to fit so many places into your itinerary unless you plan to stay longer. Who says you have to follow the same itinerary as someone else? Do what feels right for you.
- Consider having a “home base” you can stay at and explore from that spot outward.
- For point #2 to work, you may need another vehicle with you. This could be bikes, a car you tow or rent, or even a motorcycle you can hop on to get to your destination. This will allow you to keep from having to pack things up when you want to go someplace. *NOTE* We recognize you could simply stay at an Airbnb or a hotel but that’s part of why we have Vannah…so we don’t have to.
- Be prepared if you go during a windy spell. It felt as though we had about 500 pounds of red dust in the van by the time we finished our trip. Because of this, we recently purchased a rechargeable handheld vacuum….this has been a life saver!
We will definitely head back to southern Utah in the near future. There is SO much to explore that will keep us returning for years to come.
What lessons have you learned on your adventures? Share them with us in the comments.
See you out there!
