The Story of the Travel Guide

Why a travel guide?

First, I hate travel blogs. I loathe them. I've used them for travel research but they are unfailingly ridiculous. The writers are the most important, enlightened people in the world. They think they're the first person who has ever: backpacked Central America, stayed in a hostel, visited a busy market . . . etc. etc. Travel bloggers are impressed by everything and state the obvious .. . "OMG, I left the airport in Mexico City and there were people and taxis everywhere!" or "I went to the local market and I had to haggle over prices". Someone get me a bucket, I'm gonna hurl.

So, I'm going on a trip and I want to keep a record of my journey but I refuse to have a travel blog. Therefore, I am writing a TRAVEL GUIDE. Manly men don't write travel blogs. They hike shit, kill stuff, and then talk about what they have done at the local watering hole. Guides lead tourists to places where they could die if unguided. That's more like it.

Second, I'm nearing 30, have lived in the US my whole life, but I've never seen the Grand Canyon. I have never seen much of the West. That's a shame. So myself and my brother decided to remedy that. We will start our journey in Texas, go to Colorado to visit some friends, go west to California, see Grand Canyon, and then head back to Texas.

First up is Big Bend, a park down on the Mexican border. There's supposed to be some amazing, quintessential western landscapes. We're gonna see desert! No travel deals involved here, we're independent travelers. Going out on our own,oh god this is sounding like a travel blog. Focus. Focus.

I've got high hopes: Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Old Faithful. We're going to see it all!

So, that's the story of our Go West Travel Guide!