The ocean is a desert with its life underground
And a perfect disguise all above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love

You see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain

This song Josefine and I sang all throughout this 10-day trip completely wrong. Thankfully we were mostly alone in our singing. We journeyed out to the deserts of Arizona, Utah and Nevada. The first stop of our trip was just one night in Vegas. I will never forget this night.

Our flight was uncomplicated. As usual, full of laughter and talking about absolutely nothing at some points, then others will be the utmost in-depth conversations I could possibly have with anyone. We discover car rentals cost an arm and a leg in the U.S., but if you can walk across the street from the monopoly car rental group to alternative services like Sixt, you will save maybe your leg (nearly 40% of the cost).

We arrive at our Airbnb and quickly take off to our drinking adventure to see what a night out in Vegas is like. Running into over glamorized cars, buildings and clothing, we choose a random hotel. I am pretty sure Vegas is made for half blind, half deaf people who can withstand brights lights, giant signs and everything yelling at you to either buy something, eat something or do something. Nevertheless, I felt overwhelmed.

We run into some Italians who join us in the drinking. I recently discovered a delicious alcoholic drink called Captain Crunch (Rumchata and Fireball). Delicious and extremely dangerous I realize as the night quickly became a blur. I simply remember throwing up my brains at the Airbnb we were staying and being so incredibly hung over the next day. But it gets worse. We were on our typical sprint of “go cheap or go home” motto, and decided to buy all the camping gear we needed from Walmart.

Can you imagine the splitting headache, sensitive eye sight and nauseating spinning while in Walmart?

I quit drinking since then. Alcohol is no longer my friend. We had good, bad and ugly memories, but now its over. My body simply cannot accept your poison. Thank you and farewell.

The next day is a magnificent change of scenery. Just one little red Yaris, music and camping gear to take us anywhere we wanted. Second stop, Valley of the Gods.

The scenes are brilliant. The red structures are grandiose and royal. The natural formations look like the ruins of homes for Gods.

Sleeping the night and waking up to this view is nothing to complain about.

I think one of our best items we brought on the trip was the little kitchnette where you only need to buy the fuel canister in your destination. Being able to cook with a view is priceless. Also, it’ll save you so much money. Try ingredients like lentils and oatmeal! Great staple for traveling and fast cooking.

Being little critters crawling up giant rock formations.

Taking an 8-mile hike to the Devil’s Window.

The heat is quite brutal. Sometimes its just better to cover your skin to stay cool/not burn.

Having lunch under this mini Pride Rock.

Hiking up to the window.

With a smile on my face, but I was quite exhausted.

Getting to the view on both sides was breathtaking.

These natural formations are up to 250 million years old! Worth every painful step and sweat in the heat. I’ll push myself through this any day instead of drinking.

After our hike back, we made one big mistake: We didn’t mark our path. We ended up swirling a bit to find our way back to the car. NOTE: Always mark your path or use one that is properly marked! Aside from getting a bit lost, this first hike was a decent warm up for the rest of the trip, especially getting used to the heat!

Thanks for reading! Up next is Arches & Canyonlands!