Sights: Camping

My dad’s ideal vacation is camping. Not glamping. Camping. Carrying a big backpack into the woods for multiple miles until you feel sufficiently away from the human world. No wi-fi. No bed. Just sleeping in a tent and spending every night talking, laughing, telling stories, and making music around the campfire. Every day was spent on epic hikes. My dad had us climbing mountains through the Sequoias and Big Bear for 7 hours. I saw real bears. I saw the biggest trees you could possibly imagine. It wasn’t the most luxurious type of vacation, but it was an incredible opportunity to unplug and immerse ourselves in nature. I feel that an environment without Wi-Fi allowed us a lot of quality family time. I only have good memories of camping (and also some that are so bad they’re hilarious).

Mt. Baldy, 2019 (near Los Angeles).

This trip was SO fun. Well, fun and brutal. But the best camping trips are both. It was a solo camping trip my dad and I took when I was 19, only a few days after the family got back from Colombia. We hiked about 7 miles (uphill, in 90-degree weather. Thanks, Dad), but once we got to the top of the mountain and found a shady spot, we were having the best time. The nature was beautiful, and it was very peaceful being up in the mountains and getting quality time with my dad. During the day, we hiked. At night, we made up scary stories and played guitar around the campfire. My guitar knowledge is pretty rudimentary, but I can play a couple of songs. (This might sound like the most hippie vacation ever. That’s because it was). Fast forward 8 hours into this trip. I’m like, are we gonna have red beans and rice? Then he tells me he FORGOT THE EQUIPMENT TO COOK THEM ON. So we survive on granola bars for 48 hours. On our way out of town, I ate two giant quesadillas with black beans, mushrooms, spinach, pico de gallo, vegan cheese, and guacamole (I was still vegetarian like my parents, and had not gone vegan yet, but I was exploring with vegan cheeses). I could never be one of those bitches on Survivor who only eats berries and fish for 25 days. I’d be in psychosis on day 4. When I told my mom that, she said I’m so hangry that I’d be in psychosis on day 2. Definitely go to Mt. Baldy. It’s gorgeous. But do NOT forget the shit you need to cook food on.

Sequoia National Park, 2016. (Northern California).

Yes, my dad is literally hugging a tree. Yes, this trip was full of 7-hour hikes and my brother, Aidan (the one with longer hair), frantically trying to stream the last season of Pretty Little Liars on his iPad and then crashing out because, shockingly, there was no wi-fi in the middle of nowhere. Mateo, on the other hand, was more concerned with learning how to identify every single bird he saw (in case you ever thought twins were the same in personality). It was one of the most beautiful vacations of my life. We kept our tradition of hiking and learning about the local plants and animals during the day, then telling scary stories and playing music by the campfire at night. My dad DID remember the right equipment for food, so we had a lot of red beans and rice, avocado arepas, and mac n cheese. At the time, I was 16, and my brothers were 12, so we did a more serious backpacking trip that was about 5 miles out from the car.

Olympic National Park, 2017 (in Washington State).

I was extremely into photography at this age. Still am, but I’m proud of these pics.

More Olympic National Park and Sequoias !! My dad felt compelled to take his shoes off in the forest. My mom was convinced he was going to contract a million and one diseases, and he was like, “it’s just the earth, man.” All parties survived.

I invented photography way back in 2016, because this was our campfire.

Family Love, 2016 up the West Coast. The funniest part of this is that Aidan is now way taller, but I’m still the same height. Mateo is so cute here with his little baby teeth.

Crater Lake, Oregon. 2017.