Lessons From 2024
6 Lessons I learned this year on my adventures
Hey friend,
I hope you've been well!
The last year has been one of the best years of my life. From adventures to the Grand Canyon, Sedona, Zion, the Oregon coast, Mojave Desert, to amazing concerts like Odesza at the Gorge, Shambhala, Swedish House Mafia, John Summit, Hans Zimmer, and Taylor Swift, to finding out I am going to have a daughter in February… It was a hell of a ride!
With the New Year around the corner I thought I would wrap up some of the lessons I learned this year, and what I am looking forward to for 2025.
Lesson 1 - Enjoy the amazing moments in the present even when you are sick or not feeling well
When I was on a road trip from BC to Arizona, I had the remnants of a cold for a solid week of our 10 day trip. Every new city we stopped in I was visiting Wal-Mart to get something else from the pharmacy. I kept having more annoying symptoms from a sore throat that wouldn’t go away, to ear aches, until eventually I had a whole pharmacy in my Jeep.
Even though I was kind of miserable at moments with my symptoms, I kept telling myself that this trip was one I would remember forever, from the unreal experiences like kayaking through canyons and watching the milky way over the Grand Canyon, my mere head cold would barely make the memory bank.
I realized that if I wasn’t present now, enjoying this trip despite my cold, than I would miss the incredible moments that we were living through each day. I learned that even if we are suffering, we can still enjoy our time in the present.
Lesson 2- Travel more, experience different cultures, foods, and incredible landscapes, they fill the soul
In the last year I was lucky enough to travel across much of the US, but also I spent my honeymoon in Costa Rica. We ate local Costa Rican dishes like Casado, took a tour of coffee and chocolate plantations, learned about the history of the Arenal volcano in La Fortuna, hiked through the jungle across hanging bridges, and learned to surf in Tamarindo.
Driving through the South West, we visited places like Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and California, looking at the most incredible landscapes, and eating delicious mexican food, and learning about the history of Route 66.
Along the Oregon coast we hiked to beautiful cliffs overlooking the ocean, and hidden little beaches where nobody stops you from having a bonfire in the sand. We gazed out into the sea and contemplated how we would be as new parents to our soon-to-come daughter.
All of these trips filled my soul with fulfillment and wonder, and it’s something I plan to do a lot more of in the future!
Lesson 3 - Go see live music whenever you get the chance, you will regret not buying the ticket far more than spending the money
There have been a few shows that came to town that I regret not buying a ticket to, that I will never get to see again. I have never once regretted spending money on going to see a concert.
My wife and I had plans to go to a festival in July on a Friday and Saturday in Vancouver, yet one of our favourite groups, Odesza, were playing at the Gorge in Washington on Thursday night for their finale show of their Last Goodbye tour. We contemplated going but I thought it was too much for one weekend, even though the cost was not the issue. After some thought I realized we would regret not going far more than being a little tired, so we bought tickets and drove 5 hours down to the Gorge. It was one of the best shows I have ever seen in my life! From the incredible views, to the 25 piece band featuring an orchestra, a 10 piece drum line, 5 singers, and the most incredible pyrotechnics and stage lighting, it was a show we will never forget. To top it off we camped in my Jeep next to the Columbia river gorge and we woke up to an amazing view!
Another show we knew we wouldn’t forget was the finale of Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour in Vancouver. We managed to get tickets when they went on sale, so we didn’t pay thousands for our seats like some people, but they still weren’t cheap! This was also one of the best shows i’ve ever seen, and one we won’t ever forget!
Buy that ticket!
Lesson 4 - Go on road trips and appreciate the beauty of the journey, not just the destinations
Flying to far away places is really fun, but road tripping is something else entirely. Some of my favourite moments from our road trip were listening to music or podcasts while driving through little towns, epic mountain ranges, and getting to landscapes change from green forests, to grasslands, to red rock deserts, and back again.
Road trips hit different because of the sightseeing along the way, something you don’t really get when you fly places. Some of my favourite memories were stopping in small towns for gas in the middle of nowhere in California, or driving through sketchy looking Hills Have Eyes towns in Arizona, all the while looking for our next place to camp in the desert. It really is about the journey and not just the destinations.
Lesson 5 - When you are in nature, try and connect with it deeply and not just capture it with your phone
When you go to popular spots like Sedona, or the Grand Canyon, you are inundated with people trying to take pictures and videos in every direction. Sometimes you have to wait for the crowd to clear, or find a spot where there are less people. It can feel overwhelming and leave a bad taste in your mouth about this beautiful spot. You can easily write off somewhere cool just because it’s so busy, but if you can actually just take in what it is that all these people came to see, you realize the incredible beauty of what you are looking at.
I have never seen such a busy crowd as what we saw at the Horseshoe Bend overlook in Page, Arizona. There must have been thousands of people there with us, but we did manage to find an area that was a bit less crowded where we could take it all in.
We are all going to take a picture or video these days, and there’s no changing that. However, after your photo, sit and just enjoy the view for a while. Some of the most centering, peaceful moments were just sitting at Bell Rock in Sedona and looking out at the most incredible red rocks I had ever seen, or looking at the Milky Way over the Grand Canyon at midnight. We spent hours in Oregon looking out at the ocean from a number of amazing view points.
Try and remember how those places make you feel.
Lesson 6 - If you want to experience something or go to a specific place, plan it, research it, it might be more attainable than you think
A road trip down to the Oregon coast doesn’t really cost us that much. A tank of gas each way, a few hundred in food, maybe a hotel costs a lot of money, but camping doesn’t cost much at all. Building a bed in the back of my Jeep was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Our road trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona cost us less than 1 of our flights to Costa Rica. Not every trip needs to be long, or expensive. Weekend road trips are doable and make some of the best memories. I am certain there is something really cool you can road trip to within a few days from where you live. Plan it, research some cool things to see, and go!
Goals for 2025
In 2025, we are welcoming our daughter in February, and we can’t wait to take her on adventures with us!
I want to go back to the Oregon coast and explore more of it, camping at different beaches along the way, checking out the dunes, and Crater lake.
I’d like to road trip up Vancouver Island to San Josef bay, and stop in all the cool fishing villages along the way.
I am also working on my debut album to be released later in 2025, so I plan to make a lot of cool content along these road trips in beautiful locations! I have always wanted to release albums, and have felt a call to adventure in writing this album for years. I’m not sure how the reception will be, if it will be heard by many or just a few, but I do know that I need to put this album out into the world!
I am also getting a new synth in January that I have been wanting for nearly a year, the Oberheim TEO-5. I look forward to many long nights playing with it, and filming cool content with it in some of the locations we visit next year!
2024 was epic, and I am looking even more forward to 2025!
Take care my friend,
- Niko