Self Discovery From My Favorite Trip
What I learned about myself after visiting Joshua Tree National Park for a getaway weekend.
Where was your favorite travel trip? What did you do that makes it to the top of the list? My favorite trip was going to Joshua Tree National Park because of nature’s view, scenery, and vibe. After all, this trip is still my favorite even though it wasn’t all flowers and butterflies, but Joshua Tree allowed me to escape from the stressful cities and experience the realness of nature. When I think of nature, I imagine the scent of the woods, the sound of the rain and moist mud, and feeling the breeze cool wind. I wanted to experience this version of life, and therefore, I chose Joshua Tree, and also because it was the SHIT from what I have seen on Instagram. I welcome you to learn about my favorite road trip to Joshua Tree National Park because of the overall nature’s view and experiences.
I wanted to go to Joshua Tree because of its natural aesthetic. Before our final decision to visit Joshua Tree, my boyfriend, Jimmy, and I wanted to visit Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego for a quick getaway weekend. We chose Joshua Tree because we have been stuck in the city for quite some time and wanted to explore something different. Our options were limited because most of the places were booked in the middle of July, and this was a spontaneous trip. So we had to book an Airbnb in Coachella. It was cute, and it was everything I expected it to be. We drove around 3 hours from Orange County to Coachella, but damn, traffic was a bitch. Anyways, we both enjoyed the ride there, and Jimmy especially enjoyed listening to me sing for 3 hours.
The weather was so humid to the point I felt like I could break down into pieces. When we got to our Airbnb, the air conditioning was a blast. We set the temperature to 55 F, and the weather in Coachella was 115 F. So it was like we were staying in an igloo in the middle of a desert. We then packed our water, flashlight, and blankets for the next day to Joshua Tree.
As we were getting up in the morning, we realized we were fucked, because we didn’t bring any sunblock. For some reason, I could already imagine Jimmy, and I will look like air-fried chicken nuggets after this trip. Our first instant was just, “Oh whatever, fuck it.” Coachella to Joshua Tree is around 35 minutes, but Joshua Tree was enormous. It is like a maze with land and more land. As we were driving into Joshua Tree, our phone service started to get lost. I said a dumb joke, “Hey, do we not have a signal? Because I feel like we have a real connection here.” He rolled his eyes and kept driving.
Our first destination was the Cholla Cactus Garden, basically a lot of cactus in a field, and it was beautiful. I remembered seeing a sign that says, “Beware of bees,” I gave zero to no fucks and went in with my tank top. I assumed insects like butts because Jimmy called me out and said a bee was on my butt. I shook my butt, waved my hand, and jumped up and down, trying to get that bee off my butt. He laughed while taking a video of me. I was annoyed with him, but the Cactus garden was lovely as we caught it at the beginning of sunset.
Our next destination was Keys View; by this time, the sun was already starting to set. Keys View is the highest point of Joshua Tree, and the images I saw online were amusing. We hoped to catch the sunset when we arrive at Keys View, but we lagged a little bit, and the drive from Cholla Cactus Garden to Keys View was around 30 minutes. On our way to Keys View, we saw many odd-looking trees. It looked like some trees that you would see in a horror movie. By the time we got there, it was already dark. So, the image expectation of reality is quite different because I can barely see anything. I would also assume that Keys View would look amazing during dawn and sunset, though.
We walked up the sandy and steep hill with our blankets, flashlight, and water. Many people were there, so I didn’t have to worry about being kidnapped by some wild animals. We found the perfect spot where we could see the city view and the stars just above us. We thought it might be very romantic if we could lay on the dessert and look at the stars. We laid down, took our shoes and sweaty socks off, kissed each other, and started our small talks about our lives. For some reason, the anxiety inside of me just felt like I needed to turn on some lights. Jimmy tried to reassure me that it was okay and told me it is how nature works — with no lights. I couldn’t help myself but started flashing the flashlight around us.
I guess this is what you get in nature; everything is just pitch dark, sandy, humid, dusty, definitely not what I imagined. It made me realize how grateful I am, having all the resources I need on a daily basis, everything is just there ready for you on the go. I also started thinking, how would it be like when someone is backpacking? At that moment, I felt like I had been spoiled with great advanced and technological things around me, and was so invested in the city life to a point where I completely forget about the greatness and realness of nature.
As I held my flashlight and pointed it towards the people around us, the ground, our stuff, I saw a huge black dot on the ground. My first instant was to move my flashlight back towards it, and I saw an eight-legged tarantula. Holy Mother of God, I jumped up and said, “Babe, get up, oh my gosh, get up!” I was basically in despair, I hated spiders, and I do not like insects at all. Jimmy didn’t know what was going on and asked me what’s wrong, and I pointed the flashlight towards the tarantula with my face on his shoulders. As expected, he said, “Oh my god,” and the next thing he said, “My shoes and phone are right there.” Being such a baby that I am, I told him that I don’t care, and I just wanted to leave while jumping up and down, feeling like the tarantula was already crawling on my body. Nature is so unexpected at times, just like the little tarantula decided to say “hello, welcome to my world” when we were there.
We screamed our way down the hill while thinking that I never want to come back here again. On the top of my head, I felt like the tarantula was so real to a point which it looked like it was fake. I thought I was in some sort of prank show, but no, it was just our lovely nature playing a little prank on us. When we got to our car, I quickly jumped in and used hand sanitizer rubbing it all over my body to get rid of that feeling.
As Jimmy was driving back to our Airbnb, he thought it might be a great idea to open the windows for me to get some fresh air. (That dumbass!) When he opened the window, another THREE flying insects flew in, and we both screamed so loud as we waved our hands in front of our faces. Wow, nature, you have given us such a great experience. When we got back to the Airbnb in Coachella, I laid down and sighed for a good 3 seconds. So many emotions and thoughts were going on for the past hour. We then looked at each other and laughed because we realized we were acting so embarrassing and stupid.
Although from this experience I learned that nature isn’t what I imagined it would be with all the woods or rain or how images portray it to be, I also learned that I am not a nature person. I will still want to explore our motherly nature more because I want to experience what it is like to be away from the city. You might think my favorite trip would be the excellent food, the significant tourist areas, but my favorite trip is my close encounter with our nature. Living in the city could be draining with all those attractions, people, work, social media, technology, and more. Exploring nature is when I could experience how it is like to be relaxed, be closer to earth, and learn more about those tall-looking trees that have been on earth for centuries. Traveling is a chance, experience, and concept to reflect on yourself and understand yourself through different experiences and destinations. I am glad I took a step in experiencing our nature, but I also have a bittersweet moment in which I feel like I could’ve done so much more to learn about nature. I am also grateful that Joshua Tree marks my first nature travel trip and gave me a push to explore more the realness of our nature. My experience with Joshua Tree marks the top one on my list because of the moments I feel closer to nature, and of course, the laughter I shared with my boyfriend.
