I love a ghost town. I love places that are still extant but clearly decayed from their glory days. I love the sense of mystery and layered stories these places exude. I love the aura that floats thick in the air of unknown people whose lives were lived there and unknown occasions the places have seen.

First, some bird watching.

Second, some oasis watching.

Third, some watching of… I don’t know what the hell Pioneertown is exactly.

I’ve bid my darling friends farewell and camped in Joshua Tree National Park and avoided all information about the Oscars until the flood of text messages that came in today when I came back out of the park.

Some highlights and thoughts from the past two days.

These ladies are ride or die. We’ve seen each other through so many hilarious moments and traumatic ones. We’ve been through major life milestones together, and also little moments whose only consequence is that we’ve shared them.

Six ladies hiking

Sunstruck in Joshua Tree

Impaled desert rat

A 5-senses list today (on these next few days that I’m spending with friends, I’m likely going to do shorter posts, since Friend Time needs maximizing).

Because driving was a headache (literally and figuratively… don’t know how people manage this kind of driving on a daily basis), today’s blog post is going to be pictures+haiku.

This trip, to me, is a collection of places to see and experiences to be had, and partly that’s mundane realities like getting my first ever Del Taco or chilling out at a funky rental place without feeling like I “should” be going out to see or do something new wherever I’m at.

That’s the stuff that makes travel memorable: the idiosyncracies, whether they’re positive or negative.

Taking a moment to be publicly proud of myself for getting out of my anxiety spiral about unknown plans. Listening to my physical needs (last night, that was sleep; today, that was leisurely soaking in hot tubs) was indeed what I needed. I’m glad to have come to a place in my life where I can get out of my head and not let that anxiety spiraling completely dominate my choices.