Tag: photography

The Best Place I Never Want to Live: Traveling the Southwest United States

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The number one place I wanted Steve and I to visit on our road trip—the number one place on my bucket list, in fact—was the Grand Canyon. After we left Las Vegas we headed into the southwest where even in early spring we were faced with the dry heat of Arizona and Utah. We spent almost two weeks traveling from Sedona to Moab before making our way into Colorado, visiting five national parks in the process. Including, yes, the Grand Canyon, which was even more amazing than I could have imagined. In fact, the entire reason was incredible; the national parks we visited were some of the highlights of the trip, there were ample free campsites for us to stay in (ranging from extremely nice to extremely weird, but all conveniently located at the least), and the rock formations both in the parks and along the road were awe-inspiring to witness.

One thing that interested me, though, was that as much as I loved visiting the Southwest, I could tell right away I would definitely not want to live there. Usually when I visit a place I love, I start daydreaming about what my life would be like if I moved there. And I did that a lot on this trip, not entirely hypothetically—Steve and I will eventually have to settle somewhere (probably), and there’s a 50/50 change it’ll be in the USA, so we talked about whether we could see ourselves living in Chicago, Colorado, and other favourite locations. But, and I mean no offense to people who live there and love it, I just couldn’t see myself living somewhere with so much red sand and desert. By the time we left, I was more than ready for rain and grass and more rain.

Still, visiting the southwest was one of the most exciting and exhilarating parts of our trip, and it’s a region I’d love to visit (key word) again. In the future, I want to get a permit to hike the fiery furnace at Arches NP, camp in the Grand Canyon, and explore the more remote sections of Canyonlands. In the meantime, please enjoy these photos of Arizona and Utah:

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Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Lauren (thebestpossibletime.com)2 Comments

When I first moved to Seattle, I started following a ton of Pacific Northwest-based photographers on instagram. While obviously most of their photos were of places like Olympic National Park and the Oregon Coast, there were also some amazing pictures of places outside of the PNW. And the one place that it seemed like everyone loved more than any other was Alberta, Canada. I must’ve spent hours looking at photographs of Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, the Icefields Parkway, and more, and visiting Alberta—particularly Banff National Park—rose higher and higher on my bucket list.

A few weeks ago, Steve and I made the trip happen. We rented a car, made the 9-ish hour drive from Vancouver, and spent four nights camping in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

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Lake Louise

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Six Months in Seattle

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When I was young, living in the same house in the same town in the same state in the same country for the first 18 years of my life, I used to think that I could live there for my whole life. I thought visiting relatives a five hour drive away or— wow—relatives who lived so far I had to take a plane ride to reach them were unbelievably distant. Funny how things change. I always knew I would travel, but never how much.

After living in three countries outside my country of birth over the past five years, moving to a different state is a much more minor change. There were no visas involved, for one. But moving from the East coast to the West is practically a different country both in distance and culture, and the difference this time is I didn’t have school or a plan waiting for me. I figured it out, as I usually do.

There have been a lot of unexpected challenges: the aforementioned lack of plan (i.e. job) being a main one, navigating a long distance relationship being another (while the relationship is the best thing in my life, the long distance I could do without), but those same challenges seem to bring the most rewards.

I don’t want to turn this into a cheesy naval-gazing reflective post so I’m going to stop there, but since I’ve wanted to live in Seattle since I first visited here over a decade ago (on an orchestra trip in high school, also the reason I first got a passport for the part of the trip that was to Vancouver, a city I now visit at least once a month), I think that the fact I’ve been living here for six months this week is worth mentioning.

Anyway, photos:

The view from Kerry Park. The hill was steep, but the view is worth it.
The view from Kerry Park. The hill was steep, but the view is worth it. When I first moved to Seattle I walked everywhere to get my bearings.
Almost immediately after arriving in Seattle I headed up to Vancouver where Steve and I went to a USWNT match against Nigeria. Abby Wambach scored the winning goal.
Almost immediately after arriving in Seattle I headed up to Vancouver where Steve and I went to a USWNT match against Nigeria. Abby Wambach scored the winning goal.
My first hike in Washington. Unfortunately it's hard to reach a lot of the best trails without a car, but I'm trying.
My first hike in Washington. Unfortunately it’s hard to reach a lot of the best trails without a car, but I’m trying.
Back to Canada, this time to Victoria and Tofino for whale watching and camping
Back to Canada, this time to Victoria and Tofino for whale watching and camping
Finally Steve came to see me in Seattle where we saw this amazing sunset over Lake Union walking home from Capitol Hill.
Finally Steve came to see me in Seattle where we saw this amazing sunset over Lake Union walking home from Capitol Hill.
I'm not abandoning the Philadelphia Union just because I left Philly, but I'm definitely impressed by the Sounders fans' enthusiasm.
I’m not abandoning the Philadelphia Union just because I left Philly, but I’m definitely impressed by the Sounders fans’ enthusiasm.
We went camping in Olympic National Park for Labor Day weekend, and drove to some amazing beaches on the coast.
We went camping in Olympic National Park for Labor Day weekend, and drove to some amazing beaches on the coast.
Thanksgiving was spent at a friend's family's house on Vashon Island. The view of Mt. Rainier was so clear.
Thanksgiving was spent at a friend’s family’s house on Vashon Island. The view of Mt. Rainier was so clear.

 

Looking back (aka obligatory 2014 picture post)

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Killarney, co. Kerry (13 December 2014)

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Ever since I arrived in Ireland, I’ve been told that County Kerry, and particularly Killarney, is one of the most beautiful parts of the country. I finally got the chance to see it for myself this weekend and I was definitely not disappointed.

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