We did it!
We have officially been on the road for more than a month.

If you have been following our blog, then you know that the last month has been filled with surprises at every turn, countless teachable moments, and more spectacular views than we can even remember.

As a way to celebrate surviving a full month, we wanted to dedicate this blog post to the places we have been and the people we have met along the way. So, if you are a fan of pictures, this blog post is definitely for you!

Without further ado, here are our picks for the 5 best places we have been so far!

5. Arches National Park

Arches National Park is located just north of the city of Moab in the state of Utah. This desert landscape is decorated with more than 2000 arches that have been carved out of the sandstone by erosion, making this area the largest collection of natural sandstone arches in the world!

To see many of these arches, you have to be willing to put a little work in and hike. The majority of trails at this park are considered to be easy or moderate meaning that they are accessible to most people.

While the views at this park are stunning, Arches was ranked #5 because it is not very dog friendly. We could not take the dogs on any trails or let them walk around outside of parking lots or on main roads. As a result, we were pretty limited in what we could do or what we could see.

4. Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park was the first national park we visited on our trip. This park is located near Wall, SD and covers over 244,000 acres of land. At this park, you can see incredible geological formations and wildlife. We saw dramatic landscapes, canyons, mountains, cliffs, and spires. We also saw prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, and bison.

Regulations for dogs in this park were pretty strict. Dogs were only allowed on main roads, parking lots, and designated picnic areas. That being said, there were quite a few scenic viewpoints that were located just off the main access road, so we were able to get out and about quite a bit without going very far from the van. We were also very fortunate to cross paths with Chad and Paul on this trip. These two have been living out of their van for about a year and traveling around the USA full-time. They caravanned with us through the Badlands and were kind enough to offer us some sage advice and encouragement as we were still trying to adjust to vanlife. These two were a Godsend for us as the pressures of the first week on the road was starting to get to us.

3.Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Black Canyon of the Gunnison is a national park located near Montrose, Colorado. Full disclosure, this hidden gem is a park that neither of us had ever heard of before. In fact, an Instagram follower recommended that we put this park on our list- so we made it happen.

This park offers views of the highest cliff in Colorado that is twice the height of the Empire State Building. There are several hiking trails, but we decided to opt out of those and decided to take in the views from the side of the road. Another thing we enjoyed about this park was that it was not very congested. Throughout our time at the park we crossed paths with a few dozen people, which we thoroughly enjoyed during the age of social distancing.  

2.Canyonlands National Park

If breathtaking views is what you are after, then Canyonlands is the place for you!
This park is located in Moab, Utah and is a short 45-minute drive from Arches National Park.

Driving through this park is like visiting another planet. We were in constant awe of what we were seeing. There were towering plateaus, incredible rock structures, and of course, canyons.

We were lucky enough to have visited on a cloudy day because it added even more complexity to the landscape. The shadows of the clouds moving across the ground made the park feel alive.

This park is oriented to hikers with hundreds of miles of trails. Unfortunately, trails in national parks are almost never dog friendly so we could not enjoy those. That being said, temperatures in this region can easily top 100 degrees – so if you do plan on hiking make sure to bring a lot of water and salty snacks.

1.Great Sand Dunes National Park

If you have never heard of Great Sand Dunes National Park, you should definitely look it up and make a point to visit. Great Sand Dunes is located in Mosca, Colorado and is one of the most incredible natural wonders that we stumbled upon during our trip.

The drive to the dunes takes you through the lush Colorado wilderness which makes the dunes that much more impressive as they seem to appear out of nowhere. The dunes themselves encompass an area of 30 square miles. The tallest dune towers over the surrounding landscape at over 700 feet tall.

While many parks have heavy restrictions on what you can and cannot do, Great Sand Dunes National Park sets a different tone by opening up this massive sandbox to the public as a playground of epic proportions.

Dogs are allowed anywhere in the park and on the dunes (as long as they are on a leash) and people are allowed free reign of the dunes as well.

While we were there, we saw people enjoying the park by picnicking on the dunes, playing in the sand, and sand surfing (riding objects like wakeboards or cardboard down the dunes).

The dogs absolutely loved this park and had a blast chasing each other through the sand and romping down the hills.

One note of caution. During the day, the sun bakes the sand and causes the surface temperature to soar to around 200 degrees. If you want to enjoy the dunes go in the morning or the evening for the best possible experience.

Honorable Mention

Gold Hill, Colorado

“A place is only as good as the people in it.” ~Pittacus Lore

This quote exemplifies why Gold Hill, Colorado has made it on the list. Gold Hill, itself, is a sleepy mountain town located outside of Boulder with a few campsites available for anyone willing to venture to it. The campsite itself, while beautiful in its own right, isn’t really much to write home about when compared to the other places on this list, but it is cemented in our minds because of the people we met while we were there.

On our first night, we met Avery and Jason. These two are vanlifers who have begun the transition back to a more traditional lifestyle while still pushing themselves to enjoy life to the fullest. Their energy is infectious and their love for life is palatable.

Immediately after meeting us, they invited us to have a beer with them which resulted in a night of laughs and stories. To our surprise, we learned that they knew Chad and Paul, the guys we met in the Badlands. Meeting these two made us feel like we were a part of the vanlife community and gave us a newfound appreciation of where we were and what we were doing.

In Gold Hill, we also met the Black Wolfs. Every so often you meet people that you feel like you have known your entire life – and the Black Wolfs are some of those people. The Black Wolfs are incredible people who realized that the traditional lifestyle highlighted by the American Dream wasn’t for them and they risked everything to follow their passion and to find themselves. They also started a non-profit that they use as a tool to educate others about the rights and history of the indigenous people of North America. In retrospect, the Black Wolfs taught us that the quickest way to find happiness is by being your most authentic self and embracing vulnerability within community.

Other Updates

 What’s Next?

We are currently in Utah visiting friends and will soon be making our way towards Idaho and Montana. After that we do not have much of a plan because the Canadian border is still closed to non-essential traffic due to COVID-19.

We will decide what our path is after we spend some time in Yellowstone National Park.

Changes Coming Soon

We are going to be expanding our website in the next couple of weeks to include a section where we review national parks and attractions that we visit. Our reviews will be two-tiered. One tier will be a general review and the second will focus on how dog-friendly the locations are. Our hope is that the insights that we have gained from traveling with two dogs will be useful to others who might be traveling with a furry companion of their own!

Unearthing Fernweh Merchandise

As our social media presence continues to grow, we are considering making merchandise to help sustain us along the trip. We a currently looking at options to provide the following:

-Poster and canvas prints of our photos
-Puzzles
-Travel Themed Clothing
-Much More

At this point we are still in the early stages of planning this, but we are excited about the possibility of sharing our experiences in a more tangible way with people who are following along.

Podcast

As we travel, we have met so many incredible people with unique and inspiring stories that should be shared. As a result, we are looking into starting a podcast where we highlight different individuals that we meet along the way. This is still in the very early stages of planning, but our hope is that this will become available sometime in August, 2020.