The Girl Who Goes

independent, intentional travel

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What I Miss the Most About Traveling

travel-italy

Last night, my family and I finally had our Christmas. Yes, on January 9. Most of my family, except for me & Matt, and my sister Carrie, came down with COVID, so we had to postpone our celebration until everyone was healthy again. Luckily everyone is doing well! And while we were all together, we also did one of our New Years traditions — we each write down as many predictions as we can for the new year. Then, we take turns reading the last year’s predictions to see how many we got right.

I was first up. As I scanned through my typed list, which I’d emailed to my dad since I was in Europe last year, all I could say was… “Wow. This is sad.” Because of course, at that point I had no idea we were two months away from getting hit with the pandemic that would be life-changing for the next year, if not longer. [Read more…]

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Why We Decided to Move to Helena, Montana, for a Month

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A snowy day in Yellowstone

Ouch, it’s been two months since my last post. That’s definitely the longest I’ve ever gone without writing something new here, and I want to be clear that The Girl Who Goes is NOT over… it’s just that the girl isn’t able to go very much these days.

But I haven’t given up on traveling forever, and with the first COVID vaccines being administered in the U.S. today, I’m feeling excited about my travel prospects for 2021!

Anyway, today’s my birthday so I decided I should write SOMETHING today, of all days. So I’ll share the story of my last travel adventure, during the month of October in Montana. [Read more…]

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Why You Should Visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

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The view from Tomichi Point at Black Canyon National Park — hazy from western wildfires

“Several canyons of the American West are longer and some are deeper, but none combines the depth, sheerness, narrowness, darkness, and dread of the Black Canyon.”
— Duane Vandenbusche, author of Images of America: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Have you ever heard of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park? No? Well, you’re not alone. But when we stayed in Grand Junction for a week in September 2020, we were so close to Black Canyon that I couldn’t resist the chance to check off another National Park from my personal list.

Matt had never heard of it but was also happy to make the 1.5 hour drive and spend the day exploring. And the more we researched it, the more excited we were to visit. Keep reading to find out why you should visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. [Read more…]

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How to Spend One Day at Arches National Park, Utah

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THE Delicate Arch, seen during our one day at Arches National Park recently

Out of the 29 National Parks I’ve been to, there’s one that I’ve returned to time and time again: Arches National Park. Located in eastern Utah, not far from I-70 and near the small town of Moab, Arches wasn’t even a park I knew about until my family visited for the first time in 2012 during our annual road trip. Our memories of its fiery red rocks and blue skies came second only to our memories of a particularly ill-advised hike.

Let me just say… hiking to Delicate Arch at 3pm in the middle of July with inadequate shoes and insufficient water isn’t something I would recommend. Also, it’s 1.5 miles each way, not round trip like we’d thought. All I remember is both of my sisters crying the entire time — Becky because she had a migraine; 10-year-old Carrie because with each corner we turned, we weren’t yet at the famous arch. [Read more…]