Get In Loser - We’re Setting Goals and Achieving Them.

I have visited Colorado (almost) every year since 2020. It has become a new travel “tradition”, and quickly growing into one I look forward to every year. You’ll catch me in Grand Lake on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, or Estes Park on the east side of the park. Both are beautiful towns and worth a visit at least once!

Grand Lake was the destination of my first big solo trip, and it was more than I could have dreamed of. I still can’t shake the feeling of doing something like that on my own. I was 30 years old and balancing a lot of grief that was present in my life. This trip kick-started my solo travel journey, and wow at the places it has taken me since then!

Last October, I found myself back in Grand Lake to witness a Colorado Fall (spoiler alert – fall in Colorado is breath-taking!) When I arrived in town, I grabbed a late lunch at a local restaurant chatting with a local who recommended the Monarch Lake Loop not too far from town. The next morning, I headed into the Arapaho National Forest to Monarch Lake.

As I hiked around the lake, I was taking in the sight of the kayakers and paddle-boarders on the serene lake with the mountains in the background. I found myself thinking “that looks so peaceful, I wish I could do that.” Then I was like “wait, that could be me if I finally moved out west like I’ve always dreamed of.” I continued my hike and didn’t think about it much after that, but little did I know, I would start making small improvements in my life to get me to a magical moment just shy of a year later.

Fast forward to September 2024 – I’m paddle boarding on Monarch Lake with the mountain views behind me, just like the people I watched the previous Fall. Talk about setting goals and doing everything in your power to achieve them.

There are many reasons I chose to Utah as my new state, but the main reason was how centrally located it was to my favorite places and other places that were on my list to visit.  Moab, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Montana, Rocky Mountain National Park, Hot Springs in Idaho and the Sawtooth Mountains are all within driving distance from me now.

Now that I live in Utah, my favorite mountain town and National Park is an easy weekend road trip down I-80 through Wyoming. Being driving distance to places that were already my favorite and my way home including passing the Colorado and Wyoming state lines is a literal dream I have had for decades and now I get to live it! This season of life is for my inner child.

Achieving a life-long dream is something most people want, and few have the courage to do. So many people get caught up in the “someday” mentality.

I want to go there “someday”

I want to do that “someday”

I want to move away “someday”

I want to hike that mountain “someday”

I will visit that town she mentioned “someday”

Someday is a myth. Forever isn’t a thing. We are not guaranteed tomorrow, or next week, or next year to do the things we dream of. Life expectancy is 78 years old (average) – we’re already middle aged. You will never be this age, and this healthy ever again.

Retirement is something you may not get to experience. Traveling after your kid’s graduate is something you may not be able to do. You get today, and this moment to do the things your heart is begging you to do.

My dad retired December of 2015. The following summer, he found himself as a full-time caregiver to his mother-in-law that was diagnosed with Dementia, and the year after that he fell ill with acute pancreatitis that ended up taking his life. If he had waited until he retired to travel, he literally would have never experienced the world.

It’s not lost on me that I live a life significantly different from others my age. I don’t have children to drop off at daycare or take to after school activities and my money doesn’t have to be spent on someone else, so I am able to take off on a random Thursday and be in Montana if I feel like it. I am and will always be grateful for that. But reality is that it will never be the perfect time to travel. Your finances will never be perfect, and the time may not always be right, but you just have to make it happen, like you make that Starbucks run happen every morning. If you have small children, take them with you. If your kids are in school, let them miss a few days (nobody cares about a perfect attendance record when you grow up, FYI.) Your children may be “too little” to remember the trips you take, but know that you are shaping them into the person they will be when they are older – how they will interact with the world, the traditions they’ll carry on, and most importantly the reasons they’ll list when they’re asked why they had such a great childhood – “because mom and dad made it happen.”

So, go on that road trip, alone or with someone. Explore the places you have saved on your Pinterest board. Camp in the woods. Climb the mountain. Try out the coffee shop in that small mountain town. Watch the sunset in Joshua Tree and the Elk rutting in Colorado.

Seize the hell out of life while you still can.