What’s Better? Lifetime of Weekend Trips or a Grand Adventure of a Lifetime?

Inspired after watching Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman ride around the world on their BMW motorcycles back in 2004 in The Long Way Round, I couldn’t get this idea out of my head. Especially after having a chat with my buddy who’s traveled all over the world, who proceeded to tell me about his motorbike trip from the top to bottom of Vietnam in his 20s. But one thing these guys have in common, besides epic stories from trips on two wheels, is that these adventures come around once in a few years. Which had me wondering which is better? A life with smaller adventures every month throughout the year, or building up to one epic journey every few years?

Of course there’s no real way to answer this hypothetical, but I look back on big trips and adventures in my life with so much fondness and nostalgia, it seems like there’s a clear winner. When I used to live in Connecticut, far from the mountains, all I could think about was the next big trip and perpetually reliving old trips through my photos. Too many hours of my work day were spent staring at Google Maps just exploring the world, different mountain ranges, and all the possibilities in between. Sure, there were hikes and fun adventures between the annual big trip, but very little could compare to the experience of traveling to a new country and all the new experiences.

To me, every international trip is a once in a lifetime trip. To make any trip happen, you need the time, money, opportunity, health, and ultimately the sense of adventure to embark on such a trip. With vivid details, I can still remember my lightning-paced trip to Iceland on the back of a $200 flight with a random airline. Months of planning to pack in, every single hour, of a trip halfway around the island. Moving every single day to a new place hostel, thriving on a single meal a day supplemented by beef jerky. The four of us just wandered hiking areas and posing in front of countless waterfalls, one after the next. By the time the five days were up, I was exhausted and was honestly looking forward to sitting at my desk to recover from the trip. Embarrassing to think of now, but that was what adventure looked like in my twenties with limited vacation days at a new job.

On the flip side, I look at the years spent living in Utah when every kind of adventure was either within biking distance or a drive over the weekend. Months of planning for a trip turned into a quick text that usually read, “Hey, wanna go climb Mount Timpanogos this weekend?” Or better yet, “After work, do you want to go downhill mountain biking at Deer Valley?” I’m aware that these sports aren’t cheap, or easy, to get into, but once you have the gear, it’s pretty much free to keep going out day after day. Even more, the cycle is self-fulfilling in the sense that the more you do, the more friends you make that also want to keep going out day after day because everyone is always looking for a partner to get out with.

Of course, this is all perspective. If you ski at a western resort once a decade, it will be a trip of a lifetime. But if you are fortunate to be able to ski every weekend that very same mountain, it becomes as normal as heading out with the dog for a 5K run in the neighborhood. Of course I am only referring to skiing groomers becoming normal, not when it’s a foot of fresh powder that conversely becomes a core memory in your life. The same thing can be said to the opportunity to go on a grand hike in the white mountains or in the Rockies, surfing the local break, or climbing a 5-Star route in the Gunks of New York or the Tetons. The effort it takes to do any of these once in your life requires so much planning to execute. But if you live near any of these towns, the activity becomes much more attainable with a significantly lower barrier of entry.

So what is better? I’d love to say I continued to stay motivated to plan elaborate trips to the far corners of the country and world to have a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But I do find it much easier to head back down to Moab over and over again to repeat the great experience that I know I’ll find every time. Maybe it’s my aversion to gambling, which, any unknown or new trip destination is a gamble. Sure, you might have the best time of your life, or you might find yourself driving across the country to explore a mountain biking area that’s nationally hyped up. Only to find the trails are no more challenging than your average blue trail in New England or in the Mountain West. Looking at you Bentonville.

If it isn’t obvious by now, I moved to Utah to have the weekend and weekday adventures become my normal. And one of the best thing about these places, is that there will always be somebody to look to that is always doing something bigger, faster, farther, or logistically more insane. Plus, it takes years to feel comfortable accessing these remote places with confidence. Showing up to a new range or country and expect to be able to explore or have a perfect experience is wishful thinking. Being able to combine the knowledge of a place with the motivation to go further or higher, I hope to have a lifetime of adventure in my own backyard. And maybe a few of those might be once-in-a-lifetime trips.

With that being said, I still dream about a hut-to-hut ski trip across the alps and riding a motorcycle through Africa. One day.