jordan’s journal

The name of this post is a summary of a lot of feelings. My “recent” trip was in June but now I am just finding the time to post about it. Every now and then, usually late at night I find myself with my headphones on listening to new music and trying to broaden my tastes. Couldn’t scroll on my phone because it paused my music audio so now I find myself on here. Truthfully I forgot about my blog for moments. My summer was full of 9-4 and 4-9 shifts, a summer class, hanging out with friends, some anxiety, but at the beginning of the summer I went on a trip with my family.

We went “out west.” I don’t mind long car rides but when I was told I was going to be stuck in the car for 8-10 hours, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous. However, I found myself reading, reconnecting with my favorite video game, and looking out the window romanticizing life as one does. Our first official stop was in Minnesota.

I remember getting out of that car and stretching out the stiff limbs to find myself completely enthralled with the world. OK that sounds cheesy. I don’t know what it was, maybe the endless fields of long grass and my imagination of me frolicking, or the atmospheric music I had been listening on the way there, but I was just alive. That’s a moment of peace I haven’t felt in a while. I was on a campground in the middle of Minnesota with green trees, a cool breeze, and a feeling I can’t quite describe.

Anyways, taking a walk with my family on a dirt road down to a historical ground on the camp ground of old houses that used to be there, me and my younger sister started crafting up a scary movie script based on the buildings there. We “promised” we would come back and film it one day… TBD. Lastly, we met a kindred spirit in the form of a cat that was surprisingly open to love and followed us around.

Getting back on the road we saw the wildlife and nature of Yellowstone- I could spend days there and still not have enough time-, the peaks of the Grand Tetons, the South Dakota landscapes, swam in a hot spring, and moments of true beauty I can’t forget.

This trip I was hoping would be a moment of solitude and a break I had long needed from the previous college semester and work, to which it was. But when I got back I didn’t find myself truly rested. I think in a way I was, but it made going back to the city and the mundane everyday a tad harder. A summer class started up, work resumed, and I found myself wishing to be back on that campsite and roads, even if I was stuck in the car for half the time.

My younger sister kept saying things like, “and now it’s just a memory” after a moment passed. First off a statement like that makes you: 1. sad, and 2. Committed to living every moment in the present.

A sappy way to say although escaping from my everyday stress and struggles didn’t make them go away, it gave me moments to reconnect with the world and the people I love. I think we all need moments that we can step away and see the world for exactly what it is, and soak it in, because now, it’s just a memory.

I’ll add photos below… some being very album cover worthy.

These were just a couple of my favorite moments. I 100% would go back in a heartbeat, but til then I will continue on with my life back home and all the good moments in between.