On Sedona
“Sedona was an escape into a world I thought was going to be serene and peaceful, and it was. I’ve heard about the energy vortex. I wanted to experience the energy, if there was any. They say the trees are twisted because of the energy vortex spinning into the earth and out of the earth. Other scientists say it’s just the wind. But I don’t really know of any other place that has twisted trees like that.
I went with [my boyfriend] Tommy. We went during the week of Thanksgiving in 2017. When I went there, I found out the energy was you. You don’t feel anything crazy. You feel at peace and you feel serene. And it’s just gorgeous. You wouldn’t believe the stars. Imagine complete darkness. It’s like you see the whole galaxy. You see all these shooting stars. It’s like 70 percent darker there.
Flights and Hotel
We flew into Phoenix and then we rented a car and drove into Sedona. It was about an hour and a half. We flew Southwest. Tommy has reward programs with Hyatt and Southwest; he has this whole Southwest free flights and free Hyatt. We were trying to use that.
We stayed at Hyatt Canyon Point, right in the middle of the city of Sedona, which is small. Our unit was on the second floor. It had a balcony. And our patio was overlooking the rocks. There was no city, no people around. It was just very secluded.
When you go to the city, there were families everywhere. They’re out hiking, eating ice cream. They weren’t loud, even the kids were quiet [laughs]. There were a lot of kids but it was really quiet. Everyone went to sleep when the sun went down. People there were so tired because all you do is walk all day.
On Hiking and the Sedona Rocks
Every single day, we woke up, ate breakfast and went hiking for eight hours. One day, we did three separate hikes. That was the most exhausting day. If you go with a family, you can drive. There are points you can drive to. You don’t have to hike to see the “look” but we wanted to.
We went to at least eight sites. But there were so many. We saw Bell Rock, Courthouse, Devil’s Bridge, Chapel of the Holy Cross, Airport Mesa and Cathedral Rock. There was an all day parking pass for $5 we had to buy each day.
Each rock has a hike. The most memorable was the Bell rock and the Courthouse. They’re massive. And they’re huge and you can feel their presence. The camera doesn’t capture it at all.
We’d hike, we’d come back into town, we’d do a little lunch, shopping around, grab a drink and go home and just take a shower. They had a spa in the room. We were sore. Just chill with the jets. And go to bed. And we’d wake up early and do it again. Hike, town.
Souvenirs
We didn’t explore Tlaquepaque arts and crafts village, we just shopped on the main strip. [While hiking], I would always look at rocks. Most were boring red rocks. But there was one rock with a crystal in it. When you go to town, it’s like a big gimmick and crystals were being sold for like $80 but you can buy it on Amazon for like $10. But there was one store that was cheap. I bought two big quartz for $10. It was like a souvenir for me to remember how beautiful it was. There were art exhibits but we weren’t into that. We were just so into nature.
Sunset and Stars
The sunset is like a thing. The whole town shuts down. There’s no nightlife. There’s no point. So when you go out in your balcony, it was the most stars I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Guaranteed shooting stars. There was little lounge chairs so we’d just hang out, pop open a bottle of wine, have some beer and just look up. We’d see shooting stars every 30 minutes. So many stars. You can’t even imagine, just covered in stars. A blanket of stars. It looks like those posters of galaxies. And you can actually see the colors.
Food
The last night, we were kind of sick of the town food, so we just went to Whole Foods and bought hot dogs and buns and grilled it on our balcony. It was the best meal of the trip. It was a balcony overlooking the rocks. And we thought people were walking around but they were wild pigs. We’d sit and hear them. And it was exciting. If you were with kids, that would be really fun. It’s so silent. You could hear crunches of leaves every night.
On Travel
After I came back, I had one more week of work off. And I did that on purpose because I wanted to really feel the energy that I got. And I felt totally stress free, totally at peace, no anxiety. Travel is an escape. Feel free for a little bit from your life.
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