A Narrative Journey Into the U.S. National Parks and Around the Globe
(A version of this essay was a semifinalist in the 2017 I Must Be Off! travel writing competition.) “We made it!” I whooped as our rental car rushed past a mustard-yellow sign decorated with chili peppers. After several hours on the road, we had entered New Mexico. “Make sure you pick up a rock for …
Outside our motel window, the rising sun illuminated the boisterous San Juan River and the red rocks of southern Utah beyond. The sight enchanted us so much that before departing, we chose to spend a rare unscheduled moment to take in the landscape. We walked across the parking lot and looked down at the river …
Saturday had arrived, and reaching for the lamp on the bedside table, I realized with a tinge of sadness that our trip was more than halfway through. Having already hiked and driven across deserts, up mountains, through canyons and into rivers I might have guessed we had been travelling for two or three weeks, not …
On the Fourth of July, my dad has a tradition of grilling succulent burgers in our backyard for supper. My mom slices juicy tomatoes from our garden to accompany the hamburgers, and once we are well-fed, my family travels forty-five minutes to Colonial Williamsburg, a re-creation of a historic town which served as Virginia’s capitol …
The Barefooted Soul 