Part 1 My Development: Travels Through North America

Hi everybody, I’m Jules! A 23 year old Aussie who’s come back from 8 months abroad and now keen to get started my blogging journey of myself and professional development. I visited many so many interesting places in my travels that included many highlights. I’d like to share my experiences of the beautiful national parks the west coast of the US has to offer in this blog and hope to inspire other travellers.

Living and studying in San Francisco for 5 months and experiencing what it’s like to live hyper progressive city while enjoying the beautiful coastline California has to offer. During that time I was also able to snap up some flash sales and travelled to Mexico and Guatemala (tip: not learning any Spanish before travelling to Latin America is shooting yourself in the foot). After the semester in SF I was fortunate enough travel in a Juicy Van for 12 days with my sister across 6 national parks including Zion (Utah), Grand Canyon (Arizona), Sequoia (California), Yosemite (California), Kings Canyon (California), and Valley of Fire (Nevada). All of these places offer a wide variety of nature porn that include: The world’s biggest granite cliffs, the world’s biggest canyon, the world’s largest tree (by volume) and an ancient 150 million year old colourful desert just to name some highlights.

Next I had planned another van road trip, but this time with two mates I had met at college in SF. Our trip only had several checklist items: Travel from Vancouver (BC) to San Diego (Cal) in 5 weeks and to spend as little money as possible. The rest we decided it was best to have no plans and to just simply wing it and enjoy the journey.
If anyone is looking to do a similar west coast trip there are a few preliminary tips I feel would be very valuable.

1. Download the Maps.me app. This is an OFFLINE navigation app that works really well in black spots, tunnels and completely off road locations. Simply download the map location of your choice before going offline and you will have access to landmarks, nature hidden gems like caves, lookouts and points of interest.
2. Most if not all National Forests (not to be confused with national parks) in the US allow free camping in unmarked road turn offs. I would say any budget road trip traveller would benefit from this as we spent the majority of our nights in these beautiful and quiet locations.
3. Freecampsite.net is a useful tool to find free (or paid) campsites on your travels. Mark these points in your GPS on Maps.me and you will be set for a few days.
4. Purchasing an Annual Pass to the National Parks is a great way to save money if you plan on seeing at least 3 parks. Each entrance is a one off ~$30 and a pass is only $85 making a good investment if your holiday is going to be centred around them.
5. AT&T offer mobile plans for $40usd a month that include phone and 6GB data that also work in Mexico and Canada.

The next 5 weeks included scenic drives through the mountainous and lush region of Washington State with highlights including Olympic National park, home to one of seven temperate rainforests in the world- Hoh Rainforest and a beautiful surf town called La Push home to tiny islands with pine tree forests (no one has still given me a good answer as to why tress can grow on rock without soil…. Still waiting!).

The next south was my favourite, Oregon! Oregon is also blessed with being a super green foresty state and has many gems within it. My favourite without doubt had to be Crater Lake. A gigantic volcano that erupted leaving a giant hole of 585m to be filled only with snow and glacier water. This thing is of epic proportions, 55km in diameter and a fantastic deep blue colour that is so pure (and cold, 7deg delicious) that you can drink and swim in it.

Not far from the crater is a three hour drive to Oregon Caves National Monument that is home to 4600m of pure marble tunnels. Its one of the only caves in the world to be made entirely out of marble and the $10 2 hour guided ranger tour of the cave is definitely on the most undervalued tours you will have in your life. Some of natures most amazing million year old creations are hidden in this cave.

While we are still talking about nature check out Mt. St Helens right at the border of Washington and Oregon. The before and after photos of this volcano that erupted in 1980 are some of the most jaw dropping photos of natural phenomena you’ll ever see. The remaining forest is only just starting to be reborn and gives you a perspective of how powerful the blast really was. The hiking track surrounding it is 7km away and there is still very little vegetation.

While you’re in Portland check out Washington Parks International Rose Test Garden in the summer. A giant garden of over 5000 different roses, it’s another spectacle you need to witness in the flesh. If you’re down to try a new experience while in Portland try some their LEGAL organic and regulated cannabis. The budtenders are there to guide newbies on the right product for them for the right activity.

The final national park we made it to on our road trip was Joshua Tree National Park in south eastern corner of California. A two and a half hour drive from LA this impressive park is home to two eco systems; Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert. The main draw to this place is the crazy rock formations. You will be left wondering how the hell some of these rocks got there. Perfectly sculptured rocks shaped by wind and sand leave a stunning and mesmerising landscape that offer great opportunities for hiking, rock climbing and a night sky that will leave you breathless.

This is my very first blog, please feel free to leave some constructive feedback on how I might improve my writing for next time. Have a nice day!

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