It’s not only the wanderlust or the nice rigs (nicer than the hotels I visit). I’m betting the greatest appeal is the camaraderie. When I happen on a group of you at a campsite, I hear the same story. You’ve been doing this—with the same people—for years.
Makes sense to me. The pleasure of visiting places increases exponentially with the number of good friends who join you. Which brings me to maybe my biggest group of friends.
Trip friends.
Charlotte and I have Santa Fe friends and Ouray, Colorado friends and simply road-trip friends (where the destination doesn’t really matter).
For 20 years or so, I’ve had cycling buddies; mostly we’ve ridden mountain bikes along the Caprock Canyon Trail outside of Quitaque, but I’ve also done some road-bike trips—the longest from El Paso to Canyon (was fun—once).
For the last 10 years, I’ve done more peak-climbing with friends. Real peak climbers call what we do “walk-ups.”
They’re right of course, but walking at 13,000’ doesn’t feel like walking.
And we end up with good stories, which is part of the fun—sharing the adventure, sometimes years later, around food and drink where tales grow bigger with each retelling.
In a perfect world, I’d have a couple of road trips with friends each month—with several week-long adventures over the summer.
So many friends. So little time.
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Here’s a clip of Sunday school friends making their first trip up Wheeler Peak. We’re going again this summer. Any takers?