My story might be a bit (or very) cliché but it is likely the most important experience I’ve had in the last 12 months. Last summer my boyfriend (Nicky) and I left college to travel the country in my car. We did so knowing almost nothing about our future and along the way we both picked up job offers in two different states. His in Chicago and mine in Salt Lake City. Our road trip became the last time we would get to spend together in the same place before starting our first jobs and a long distance relationship. At the end of the road trip we were joining my older sister and many of our closest friends for a Grand Canyon raft trip. It was the first time I was able to show Nicky my favorite sport, it was the first time I had ever seen the Grand Canyon, it was our first multi-day rafting trip, and it was the best 16 days of 2017. I discovered that nothing brings people together like sleeping under the stars, braving Lava Falls, and learning more geology than you ever thought you wanted to know. I paddled the whole thing in my kayak and got to show Nicky everything I have learned over the years but up until then had been unable to share with him. At Phantom Ranch Nicky hiked out to begin his job in Chicago, and there, at the bottom of the inner gorge, we said goodbye to a blissful summer of tent-sharing and adventure-having and began our adult lives of visits ever 4-6 weeks and a regular work schedule. Worse things have certainly happened to people, but it was hard to say goodbye to a best friend in the middle of one of the greatest experiences of our lives. Especially to move 1,500 miles away from each other.
Whenever we are sad or lonely we send each other our favorite Grand Canyon camp photos and river selfies. Those memories keep help keep our future bright when we are down. We consistently talk about rafting the Grand Canyon more than anything else we’ve done in our 2.5 years together and it reminds us of the adventures we must have in front of us and the amazing things we’ve already done together.
The Colorado River remains a powerful force in my life, and every time I leave Salt Lake to climb or bike in Moab, I make a point to jump in the Colorado to wash away the long-distance anxiety and remember the beautiful days on the water in August of last year. Nicky and I still have a wonderful relationship and we get excited just thinking about the other river trips in our future!