“What is the # 1 regret people have on their death beds?
– They wish they’d had the courage to live a life true to themselves, not the life others expected of them.”

On 1 April, 2017 (and this was no April fool’s joke!), Sasha and I packed our bags into our Honda Accord and set out for our six-month world travel adventure. This was the start of something extraordinary, I could feel it.

We had ten days to get ourselves from Seattle, Washington to Boulder, Colorado, where we would catch our first flight to Ecuador where we began our journey abroad in South America. The road was ours as we set out, bright-eyed and free, headed for everywhere.

We drove 8 hours from Seattle to Boise, where we stayed overnight and continued on to Salt Lake City, Utah the following day.

Naturally, our first stop was at Salt Lake City’s most popular Mexican restaurant, The Red Iguana. It did not disappoint.

We completed our day driving 4 more hours from Salt Lake City to Moab, Utah where we had planned on staying only two days but ended staying five. We stayed at the Lazy Lizard Hostel which is the cheapest accommodation at $38 per night for a private room, located just outside the main outskirts of downtown Moab. All common areas including showers and restrooms are shared. The beds were not particularly comfortable, but everything else was what you would expect for such an inexpensive price.

We immediately fell in love with the adventurous vibe of Moab, with its sweeping red rocks and 360-degree canyon views with La Sals (12,000’ snow-capped mountain range) just 30 miles away in the distance. This is an adventure town. There are more air streams, vans and trailers than normal cars, and campers, hikers, climbers and bikers abound.

Below I will share an itinerary via photos, day-by-day of things to do in Moab, Utah.

DAY 1: Arches National Park

This was the only cloudy day we had in the five days we spent here. Because we visited during early April, it wasn’t quite yet busy season so we had many of the trails to ourselves. (Click on each picture to enlarge it)

Sasha caught this stunning photo of me in dancer’s pose to show the perspective of Balancing Arch to a human

Sasha in a Tree part 1

Delicate arch, the most famous of Arches

Upside down in a headstand…a bit dodgy as there was sheer cliff on the other side…

Shows the perspective

Petroglyphs

Arches National Park, Utah

Fiery Furnace – you can only hike inside if you have a permit or hike with a guide. We just took photos from the lookout above.

La Sals Mountain Range in the distance

Where’s Sasha?

Sasha in a Tree part 2

Landscape Arch…super thin!

It looks like I have no arms. 🙂

Double O Arch

Looked like angel wings.

Looks like a hand coming out of the ground. Balancing Arch from a distance.

After a full day of exploring at relatively high elevations (Arches is just over 4,000′ (1,333 meters) above sea level), we were starving! Our first dinner was at Arches Thai downtown. We ordered the Tom Kha soup (coconut and lemongrass-based, which, keep in mind, is a natural diuretic) ;-), green curry with chicken, and pad thai with tofu.

Tom Kha Soup with veggies

Sasha likes Tom Kha soup

Pad thai and green curry

DAY 2: Canyonlands National Park

Canyonlands is just a 30-minute drive from downtown Moab, and you’ll want to be sure you fill up on gas in Moab before heading out. Bring plenty of water and lots of snacks for a full day of hiking and exploration. The views were otherworldly and too spectacularly monumental for words. So allow me to show you in photos. 🙂

Most of the road up to Canyonlands is open range for happy cows, so be careful driving!

Just sitting in a hole on a cliff…no big deal.

Some fun climbing

The Island in the Sky was truly spectacular…it looks like Godzilla (with three toes) took a giant step into the Earth over 1,000 meters deep

Otherworldly landscape

I borrowed this from another road trip blogger around the National Parks.

Stunning tower.

Such arid desert landscape

La Sals Mountains in the background

Cool spires

We must have been lizards or cats in a previous life…we are such sun babies!

I loved the textures of these two formations juxtaposed.

Sasha in a Tree part 3

Cradling the moon

Whale Rock…a very fun hike!

The moon and airplanes

Having spent the last 13 years of my life in Hawaii and Seattle (two places with incredible cuisine but lacking good Mexican food!), we ate Mexican food nearly every day! Dinner for this evening was at El Charro Loco.

Enchiladas Nortenas, a mixture of chicken with spinach sauce, chorizo and potato with cheese sauce, and pork with red sauce.

The horchatas are huge, but help reduce the heat and spice!

DAY 3: Bike tour through slick rock and Bar M, Moab

We did a tour through Escape Adventures, operated out of Moab Cyclery downtown. They were super responsive and got us on a last-minute tour which we had all to ourselves since nobody else signed up for that time slot! Our awesome guide was Ryan, a fellow adventure traveler and van life advocate. The bikes they use are Specialized top-of-the-line mountain bikes with awesome shock and suspension. This was one of the coolest things Sash and I have ever done!

With our tour guide, Ryan!

Hanging with Ryan in front of his van home

I love this accidental picture Sasha took of himself. This is pretty much how I look up at him all the time since I’m a whole 13″ shorter!

After 2.5 hours of biking, we were exhausted so we took a break at the Grand County Public Library to catch up on emails and correspondence since there is no reception anywhere outside of downtown Moab. The library is a beautiful and clean building with floor-to-ceiling windows and an outdoor courtyard in the sunshine. It has free 5G internet, which is where we got all our work done.

After a snack at Love Muffin Café, we headed out to Deadhorse State Park (at the same entrance of Canyonlands, about a half-hour drive away). This State Park is not part of the National Park system, so the annual pass is not accepted here. The fee is $15 per vehicle (up to 8 people) and it was well worth it! We did the 5-mile rim trail and got to Deadhorse Point lookout right in time for sunset (7:45 PM in early April). The rim trail was spectacular and felt as if we were on a deserted planet.

Sasha in a Tree part 4

Pretty much one of our life mottos.

Dead Horse State Park, Moab, Utah, USA

Well, Utah, that’s a wrap. You provided us with endless amounts of sunshine and friendly people, wowed us with your natural wonders and vast wild untouched beauty. You lured us in so much that we decided to stay five days instead of two. Thank you for being the best backdrop for incredible photos, and thank you for the memories. You will forever be etched in our hearts as our very first stop on our world travel adventure. We will absolutely return to you someday soon. The journey continues…