From Home

Greetings from Arcadia,

Exactly two years ago today, I swallowed my terror and hopped on a plane to South America to satisfy my long-held dreams of seeing the world. I wrote a post that day from the airport, filled with nervous energy after years of saving up and months of planning, I was finally setting out with high hopes and absolutely zero solo travel experience to draw upon. It’s a well worn expression, but never truer than it was that day: experience is the thing you get right after you needed it. 36 misery-filled hours later, I landed in Punta Arenas and hoped like hell I wasn’t going to have to crawl back home after the first week with my tail between my legs.

I’ve had a bit of time and distance from the person who set out on that journey, and can say it was the most rewarding experience of my life, though it was filled with hardship, loneliness, and more than a few mistakes. It also permanently shifted my outlook and my view of my place in this world. No lightning bolts or life-altering revelations, just a step sideways, to a place that’s a little more optimistic, more worldly, and aware of the incredible privilege I have as a citizen of one of the richest countries in the world. But I also dealt with a lot of guilt for leaving my family for long stretches of time. Dan was balancing a new job, in a new state, setting up our life in a new city and handling it all as best he could. My animals survived without me, but the guilt nagged at me when I fretted over the lack of attention and care they got during that time. I spent a lot of lonely hours wishing I could be there to sleep in my own bed, help Dan plant tomatoes, or take my dogs for a walk. Simple things, but they seem like incredible luxuries when you’re cooped up in another soulless Airbnb room in a strange city halfway around the world. After 10 months away, we still loved and missed each other, but I started to feel disconnected from him, like our lives were diverging, and that’s when I knew it was time to come home. 

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But I’ve also learned that travel is not a curable urge. It’s a part of you, if you have the desire and curiosity to want to see the world up close. I have this strange thing that happens to me now; I’ll be doing a mundane task or sitting at my desk at work and have a picture flash through my head of a meadow full of wildflowers in France or a winding street in Peru. These experiences and images will be a part of me forever. Traveling solo was hard and scary sometimes, but it’s really clarifying to spend that much time alone with yourself. And you learn that you are more resilient and resourceful than you think you are. I’ll never not want to travel, but I also don’t forsee a future where I’ll make it my full time job, like I did for that year. My travels haven’t completely ceased though. Dan and I were invited to a destination wedding in Belize in August last year, and we spent a week exploring a corner of Central America that ended up completely and unexpectedly charming me, especially as I had no real desire to spend time in the tropics. Though I wanted to, I didn’t end up getting to see New Zealand during my year abroad, and if I can make it happen this year, you’ll see an update on my travels in Kiwi country. With Dan’s heavy work travel schedule it doesn’t leave him excited to leave the country during the time in between work trips, so I may have to tag along on one of his trips to Vietnam; I never made it to the Sapa Valley and would love to go back.

Aside from exotic destinations, I have been constantly awestruck by this place we now call home. It still doesn’t feel quite real, living in such a stunning setting, watching the sun rise over the mountains from my kitchen window. Utah is for outdoorsy people, and we really feel at home here with no shortage of places to explore. I live 20 minutes away from an island full of wild bison and antelope. 20 minutes in the other direction and I’m 8,000 feet up, riding among riotously-colored aspens on what feels like the top of the world. I spent an afternoon with 300 cowboys rounding up those bison in October, a lesson in horsemanship that I will not soon forget. Every month I get to tag along on a new adventure as we take the horses to remote locations to ride with the Backcountry Horsemen of Utah, Mountain Ridge. They’re experienced backcountry riders who, it seems, have ridden in every corner of this state. Whether or not there was a map to get them there, they always find a way back, and while being a little rough around the edges, they are generous and kind-hearted people. 

We have plans in 2020 to do more exploring of The West and all the amazing places that surround Utah. Dan and I have never been to the Pacific Northwest, so that’s high on the list. As are the wild and untouched places in our neighboring states of Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. I’d like to see Yosemite, and am interested in taking a trip to Banff in Canada (I have really missed dogsledding, so hoping I get a chance to pick that back up either in Canada or Alaska). I hoping to tag along on some backcountry riding and camping trips to southern Utah. There are so many places to see and things to do, that I can’t help but feel like Arcadia is truly my backyard now. 

I’m not sure who might be reading this post, since it’s been ages since I’ve updated this site, but if you are, just know that adventure awaits. It doesn’t have to be exotic locales or Instagram-worthy-bucket-list-picture-perfect places. It just has to be new to you and excite your senses. I hope 2020 is filled with adventure in whatever form that takes, for all of us, since that’s what shakes the dust off our daily lives and makes us feel more alive. 

Cheers from Arcadia,

Sarah