A Case of Wanderlust

Ever since starting this blog, I’ve come down with a severe case of wanderlust. It’s hard not to, since I have been reading everyone else’s blogs about outdoor adventures.  Reading about people camping across America, departing on indefinite road trips or bikepacking across South America left me feeling a little inadequate.

 I began to think that all of these bloggers at some point or another up and quit their jobs, sold all of their possessions and now have great stories to share. I started to feel like my adventures, and blog, are weak sauce.  I even told Ryan and my family that I wanted to quit my job and live in a VW van….wow, how insecure am I?! Then to make matters worse we joined Yonder, which is like Instagram on crack for outdoorsy people. Every photo is amazing, I could seriously spend hours just scrolling through the trending feed tapping the little heart for each photo. Then Friday night I came across this quote, on another awesome blog, “Travel does not exist without home….If we never return to the place we started, we would just be wandering, lost. Home is a reflecting surface, a place to measure our growth and enrich us after being infused with the outside world.” – Josh Gates

On my bike ride this past weekend, there really is nothing like a good long bike ride, I was thinking about how true that quote is as I was pedaling along the familiar roads.  I came to terms with the fact that my life is great just the way it is.  There’s no reason to keep longing for more, or looking for something different, if I’m constantly searching for something else I’ll be too preoccupied to enjoy the moment.  I’m incredibly fortunate to have job I love, it is challenging, flexible, fun, and pays well.  I also have this habit called triathlon, which takes a lot of time, money and dedication to support.  Even when we can’t travel because of work commitments or because Ryan is busy coaching the high school mountain bike team, we can still explore in our own backyard. Two weeks ago, feeling inspired by Yonder, we spent almost the entire weekend outdoors.  Friday night we went for a swim at Lake Pleasant, we even brought our dinner along and ate on the beach while taking some fun photographs of the sunset.  Saturday we went out to Mount Ord on our mountain bikes and finally got to do the long dirt road climb that we’ve been dying to do all summer.   We didn’t camp, backpack or do anything extreme, but during the week that followed we heard comments from coworkers and friends along the lines of, “You guys are always out doing something” or “You guys are everywhere!”

So with all that in mind, I’ve decided to start a new series on this blog all about Arizona.  Arizona has a lot more to offer than the Grand Canyon, and after seven years of living here I plan to start exploring the parts I haven’t seen.  I hope that this will help give people ideas for new places to go or things to do in Arizona, and also inspire others to get out and explore their own state, neighborhood or town.  To start I put together some information on Mount Ord.  Now, go explore!

If you want to be inspired by some truly amazing adventures and people, check out some of the blogs I mentioned earlier in this post.  I know I will keep reading!  The Campsite Blog, Fresh Off the Grid, While Out Riding and Trail to Peak. Check us on Yonder @btwntwopines