Out of the Pacific Northwest…and Into the Desert

We spent ten days exploring the beautiful, misty forests of British Columbia. And then we drove 20 hours to Moab. So, you know, that’s a contrast.

It’s kind of like out of the forest and into the frying pan, literally. Whoever decided that doing a bike race in Moab in August was a good idea….oh wait, that was me.

I’m not going to write a “things to do in British Columbia” post because a) I hate posts like that and b) our trip through BC was kind of like a cheese sampler. As in, go ahead try all these delicious cheeses and if you want more, well, YOU CAN’T HAVE ANY. And obviously you’re going to want more.

pemberton

And I really, really wanted more. I’m already planning an extended trip to the Pacific Northwest — it will involve a camper van (because I’m over being wet in a tent) and it will take several months. This trip really reminded how much I HATE rushing — I want to explore BC the way I did New Zealand. Slowly, thoroughly. Because I think I might fall in love. Or maybe that already happened. Yes, it’s true, I might be in love with a place that rains 300 days a year.

This, of course, prompted a bit of an existential crisis. Earlier this year I wrote a post titled “10 Reasons to Live in the Desert” and it’s one of the most popular posts on this blog, go figure. When I wrote that post, I sort of thought I had myself figured out — I was a desert girl. Albeit a desert girl who grew up in the Midwest and went to school in the Northeast and who hated any temperatures over 85 degrees fahrenheit.

And according to that post, everything the desert has going for it is basically the opposite of the British Columbia.

The desert has 360 days of sunshine and no mosquitoes and no humidity.

During our ten day venture through BC, we had seven days of rain and mist. We had lots of mosquitoes, one flooded-tent disaster and a lot of laundry that refused to dry. The van now smells like the worst variety of wet dog and Macky and I don’t smell much better (Sean smells worse). It was basically everything I love about the desert, blatantly reversed.

Still, I loved it. Because this:

Photo: Sean Leader

Photo: Sean Leader

And this:

Photo: Sean Leader

And this:

britishcolumbia4

OOPS.

This whole dilemma reminds me of the scene in Juno where she tells her parents that she’s pregnant and her dad says something along the lines of “I didn’t think you were that kind of girl” and then Ellen Page says, with all the wisdom of a prophet, “I don’t know what kind of girl I am.”

Or something like that. We all know how good I am at quoting movies. Regardless, DEEP STUFF.

The point? I don’t know what kind of girl I am. I might be just as into coastal rain forests as I am into deserts. Maybe I belong in Taos, maybe I belong in Squamish. Maybe I don’t belong anywhere at all. Traveling is a little bit like trying on clothes, only you’re trying on places where you might want to live. Once you’ve seen a lot of places, it’s tempting to combine them in your head and create the perfect home in your head — like, the sunshine of Taos and the soil of British Columbia, plus the coffee shop from my hometown and a roadside stand that makes Kiwi-style real fruit ice cream.

News flash — that place does not exist. It can’t exist. It’s not real.

For example, last night we camped outside of Moab and an epic windstorm deposited an inch-thick layer of sand in our tent. So, if it’s not raining, it’s pouring (sand on your face). No place is perfect, and that’s a good thing, because if there were a perfect place, everyone would be trying to live there and it would be crowded and boring. Because, frankly, perfect is overrated.

So I guess I’ll just keep moving, and keep trying places on.

bellingham

Has travel changed your idea of where you want to live, or where you belong in the world? Please share your thoughts!

Syd Schulz

Pro mountain biker.

Average human.

I write about bikes and life and trying to get better at both.

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6 thoughts on “Out of the Pacific Northwest…and Into the Desert

  1. A van instead of a tent, there are whole groups on that subject :)

    Not THE answer but one of my favorite sites (I’m a VW guy from way back but I still like this one). http://thegroveguy.blogspot.com/2011/06/toyota-sienna-van-conversion.html

    I can’t mention a van with this purpose without mentioning Bob Wells & his site that answers the questions you didn’t even know you wanted to ask. http://www.cheaprvliving.com/

    With all that said the world is full of places you’d like to stay longer…
    Good luck!

  2. Pingback: 2014 in the Rear-view Mirror - Nomadically InclinedNomadically Inclined

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