There is much to be said for those who are willing to go out and take a journey which is not entirely planned. I usually spend countless hours researching and looking into every possible scenario before departing. Typically this is how I, as a solo female traveler, feel the most comfortable taking off into the great unknown for another epic adventure. However, on this trip I have tried to play it more spontaneously and in doing so I have found the journey to be more the adventure than all of the typical stops I plan along the way.
A typical trip as a blogger revolves around planning a series of locations I find of interest, from there I make sure to document each of them and the journey to the location. While this has created a lot of memories and more than a few stories along the way, this sometimes also means that amidst all my fun and enjoyment I have to then go and remember to rewalk the location this time taking photos or video. This means that I usually either walk into a room or location and film first then go back and enjoy it or that I chop things up so much that it makes editing a hot mess between things I want to cover and silly stuff I do myself.
But this adventure I wanted to focus on the single mission of the event I came to participate in and everything else just be a bonus for me to enjoy. Sure I have a few things to accomplish along the way that are personal goals, but rather than creating unrealistic deadlines to arrive at one place or the next (a method which often is the first to be derailed by weather) I wanted to instead just go with it.
Departing Denver following Questival I have literally planed on a whim of wherever the wind might take me for almost a week now. I have seen sculpture gardens, beautiful lakes, a historic church, many trails, a picturesque campsite and a famed movie hotel. I have stepped foot into a snowmelt creek, watched prairie dogs play at sunset, watched wild elk eat in the middle of a sleepy Colorado town and thrown a snowball.
Many of these experiences are those which could not be planned and couldn’t be expected by research itself. Instead of being caught up on making it from one place to the next and enjoying only those highlight events, the entire journey has been an adventure.
Sometimes it is worth slowing down the pace and maybe not getting as much content, or seeing everything on a long list of places it is also about soaking in the moments which brought you to the location and will always keep you coming back.
