Is there a Proper Way to Travel?
Wild Horse Butte and a few of the hoodoos overlook Goblin Valley State Park in Utah. September 2026
Hello Friend,
This past week I was traveling through Utah and Arizona with my wife. I got to spend a few days with my mother-in-law. While there, we explored a few places, did some off roading we didn’t plan to do, and hiked around a few new places while there. Even though my wife grew up in Utah and I lived there for five years, we had never gotten to the Southeastern desert area before. We decided we would head to that area and check out Arches National Park and Goblin Valley State Park.
As many of you know, Arches is a very popular location – and for good reason. Since we didn’t have a lot of time there, we stopped at a few overlooks and then spent a few hours exploring the Windows Section area of the park. I don’t often get to do grand landscapes, and this was a treat to add some nice sky and clouds into my photos for a change. Though, I did spend a fair amount of time checking out the ground looking for more intimate details.
And because I wanted to be a little contrary and different, I had us go to Goblin State Park for a day. I had heard about the park from my photo manager in Utah in the early 1990’s. It’s a fun place since it has all these cool formations called hoodoos. And you get to wander pretty much wherever you want.
The moon rises over the Windows Section of Arches National Park September 2026
My wife and I explore and enjoy places like these in very different ways. She has a tendency to want to get to as many places as possible and check them out as quickly as possible. Though, she also stops to read most of the informational signs along the trails. Where I am more likely to checkout just a few places and really explore in a small area. These somewhat contradictory approaches can cause some issues; like me losing my wife – or more accurately thinking I’ve lost my wife. We did have an interesting conversation about it one of the evenings on our vacation. It got us asking the question: What do you want to get out of travel? When we are in a city or museum, we tend to stick closer together and check out things together. Out in nature, it can often be that we are off in opposite directions and at different speeds causing a little bit of conflict.
During our conversation, we brought up the other people we saw at these two parks. I use to look down on the people who would get off the tour buses, snap a few photos, get back on the bus and go to the next spot to do it again. But looking back at what I saw, all the people who got off the buses or were in a group, seemed to have wonder in their eyes, big smiles on their faces, chatting with their companions and pointing and showing each other the cool thing they just saw. They would get their photos and selfies and then – regardless of their age – they often would bounce back to their car or bus excited for the next destination.
Some of the hoodoos and rock formations of Valley 1 of Goblin Valley State Park Utah September 2026.
While at Goblin State Park, we noticed many older people who rolled up in their RVs and slowly made their way to overlook to see what they could see. Then bring out their lunch to eat and talk with the people around them. Often bringing up the interesting place they just came from, or the interesting places they were headed to next. They didn’t venture far from the overlook, though they looked delighted to be where they were. Down below on the valley floor, I did see and talk to a few others like me, carrying cameras and stopping to really check out a formation or the clouds above the nearby buttes. I also noticed individuals and couples walking from place to place enjoying being out in nature in this very unique landscape.
There is plant life around Goblin Valley State Park September 2026
A couple of ICM images of areas of Arches National Park September 2026
A 9-images multiple exposure of some of the hoodoos in Goblin State Park September 2026
View from Double Arch to the Windows Section parking lot and towards the Turret Arch area September 2026
During the past few years as a landscape photographer, I have really appreciated and internalized the ideas of the “Slow Photography Movement.” The ideas of slowing down to really explore and value what nature has to offer. Though, sometimes like what I realized on this trip, if I slowdown too much, and explore too deeply in one spot, I completely miss the opportunity to explore and appreciate what is around the next corner – or the next arch or hoodoo. I know when I am in the local parks and wild places on my own near home, I have the luxury of returning again and again. I can go deeper each time I return to a location. But when at a place for a limited time with someone else, do I need to readjust? Maybe something like “Medium Photography”?
I do get excited seeing new places. Though, is the enjoyment seeing as many places as possible? Or getting to know fewer places well? To go wide and shallow or narrow and deep? When our time and money is limited, how we each approach our travels is a personal choice. I think one of the goals is to make sure you know what type of traveler you are. And to know who you are traveling with and their attitudes. The more you all aligned, the better time everyone will have.
September 2026
Sandra Scott surveys the view after climbing up to the South Window in Arches National Park September 2026
I just found out today is “World Tourism Day”, and it got me back to the original questions my wife and I were asking: Why do we travel? What do we want to get out of travel? Experiencing other places and cultures is important to us. Seeing and really walking around a landscape is something we want to do while we can. Understanding and appreciating the wider world around us is always a great benefit of travel. It is good that my wife and I like to explore the same types of places. It’s just that by exploring in our different ways, we cause a little friction. We don’t travel like this very often, and this trip gave us the opportunity to see new areas of the world and to better understand how we each see it and how to experience it together in a better way. As well as to see and understand a little better how others may travel and experience it in their own way.
The sun peaks over the North Window in Arches National Park September 2026. The South Window is on the left.
I don’t want to give the impression this trip did not go well for my wife and I. We had a great time together. It allowed us the opportunity to see what we wanted and to better understand each other. To better travel the world together throughout our lives together. To see what are the advantages and disadvantages of each different way. To keep returning from trips like this one saying, “Wow, that was a lot of fun.”
My challenge for myself and for the rest of us, is to be a little clearer on what we hope to get from a trip. And to hopefully be around people that have similar goals and move at a similar speed. There’s nothing worse than feeling like you are missing something you wanted to see because others are holding you back. Or that you are being pushed along faster than you would like and missing the details you wanted to dive into. And your goals and speeds can change each time; just be clear with yourself and your traveling companions. Now go out and explore – both close to home and around the world.
Thank you, and keep creating what you do.
Patrick Krohn
Some trees and rock formations around the Windows Section of Arches National Park September 2026
