- Hello from Joshua Tree National Park. (slow tempo music) I was getting pretty tired
of the rain in Seattle, so I got online, I looked at flights, and I found round trip, direct flights to Palm Springs for $117. I hopped on a plane, I rented a car, and I've driven out to
Joshua Tree for a few days. I am so ready to soak up some sun. I swear, when I stepped out
of the airport yesterday my skin was stinging. It was like, I was a vampire
emerging from the darkness. Joshua Tree has been on my
travel list for a while now, like my actual, like I have a list saved on my laptop of places I wanna go. I'm staying at the cutest
little Airbnb out here in the desert. It is so beautiful, like
beautifully decorated. In the backyard, this was
like the selling point for me when I saw it on Airbnb. There is a bath tub with
string lights strung over it and you can sit out in
the desert in the bath under twinkly lights. ♪ Meet me where the meadows
grow, by the waterhole ♪ ♪ Lucid dreams of you and me ♪ ♪ Sky high busy life, I wanna leave ♪ - What I quickly discovered
about Joshua Tree is it's a really easy
place to just drive around and stop and look at things. I didn't have a really solid
itinerary for this trip and focused more on just
finding things as I drove along. I've just driven out to the park, and I'm bringing all my camera stuff, and I'm gonna go take some pictures. ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah ♪ - For anybody wondering
how I take photos of myself while traveling, I have my tripod right there and then I just put an
intervalometer on top of my camera. I set it to take a photo every second and I just set it, put my focus zone, and then I walk out and take pictures. I love doing the like selfie photography in a place like this
that's just big and open, and I kind of have the place to myself so I don't feel super awkward doing it versus like, in an urban area in a city. It definitely draws looks
when you set up a tripod and take pictures of yourself. I just recently picked up the Zeiss Batis 85 millimeter, 1.8 lens. And oh, the footage out of
this is so creamy and buttery. You can point this lens in any direction and it will make it look beautiful. ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah ♪ - So last night I had a
realization about myself. I think I've known for a really long time, but had never actually
vocalized in my head, and it's that I'm afraid of the dark. I realized this at about 11:30 p.m. when I headed outside of the Airbnb to go try and take some
photos of the stars. I'll show you guys here at how, like what this looks like out here. Yes, so I came out here
because, as you can see, it's just wide open space. And I got to about that bush right there and I was like, no, I will die out here if I go out here in the darkness, which is just funny because I would say that I'm a very adventurous
person during the day, but it had me start thinking
about all of the times I've been spooked really
easily in the dark. And I'm like such a scaredy cat, and I'm a little bit bummed because I really wanted
to try to take some photos of the stars last night. And I got out there and I was like, it's just, it's not gonna happen. It's not in the cards for me. So today is just going
to be a day of exploring. Gonna be pretty relaxed. Just drive around and see some things. But first, I'm gonna go get food. (slow tempo music) ♪ On the balcony ♪ - I've driven back into the park and I'm going to go hike
the Arch Rock Nature Trail. I think the trail is just
over a mile round trip and it doesn't really
have any elevation to it which is something I'm finding a lot of the trails are flat
and pretty easy to walk on. So if you're looking for
a national park to visit that has things to go see, that's maybe not as strenuous to go see, like as opposed to somewhere
like Zion or the Grand Canyon where you're definitely hiking
straight up or straight down, I think Joshua Tree is pretty nice for like more of an
easy-going nature spot. I have to say, I love having a rental car when I'm traveling. Something about it just puts me at ease, like having my own vehicle and I can just go anywhere on my own time. A car is just like so nice and easy. Like I love a good getaway
where I have a rental car. (slow tempo music) This is one of the most
popular trails in the park and people aren't here. February, early March seems
to be a real sweet spot for Joshua Tree. Something I didn't realize
about the Arch Rock Trail is that it has a lot more
than just the Arch Rock. It's actually an entire area of boulders and it's so cool to walk through, and at sunset, everything glows. ♪ No one knows it's home ♪ ♪ I swear I drank ♪ - It's about 5:30 in the
morning, I set my alarm for four, and I actually got out of bed. I got up and I've driven
about an hour into the park to the Cholla Cactus Gardens. Sunrise isn't until 6:18 I think, so I have about 40 some minutes to wait, but I wanted to be here early to see the colors all change before the sun actually
breaks the horizon. (slow tempo music) Cholla Cactus is nicknamed Jumping Cactus because the stems are
barely attached to the plant and they stick to skin and
clothing really easily. So there's actually warning
signs around this garden. And if you do come to Joshua Tree, the sunrise here is so
unbelievably beautiful. It's definitely worth getting up for. Last night, I stayed at a hotel in, I think it's pronounced
Yucca Valley, Yucca Valley. It's about 10 to 15 minutes
west of Joshua Tree. Because I booked this trip so last minute, I booked it like two weeks ago, the Airbnb that I was staying at was only available for
the first two nights that I was going to be here, so I had to find somewhere else
to stay for my third night. And I saw this motel and it was like, I think I paid like
$52 for the night here, but it was pretty highly rated, and I decided to just go for it. And honestly, it was pretty great for a 50 some dollar
hotel room for the night. I'm pretty impressed with it. It certainly doesn't have
all of the bells and whistles of a like Boho Chic Airbnb, but it does show that you
can do a Joshua Tree trip on a budget. There are three main areas you can stay in on the north side of the park. There's Joshua Tree, like
there's a city Joshua Tree, and then there's Joshua
Tree National Park. So you can stay in Joshua Tree which is pretty quiet, pretty
small, pretty residential. You'll find lots of Airbnbs there. Some small local shops and restaurants. I don't think I saw a single
like chain restaurant. And then there's Yucca
Valley, or Yucca Valley, whichever way it's pronounced, which is definitely much
bigger, much more commercial. All of the chains like
McDonald's, Applebee's, Starbucks. There's even a Walmart
here, lots of drug stores. So if you're looking to stay somewhere that has more stuff in it, more access to things you
might need while you're here, this is a good spot. And then there's also 29 Palms, which is on the opposite side. It's east of Joshua Tree
about 15 to 20 minutes or so, and I would say that's
kind of a mix of the two. It's not as small as Joshua Tree but it's not as big as Yucca Valley. And then a fourth option is
to camp inside of the park. After a few days here, I am feeling, and I think looking a little bit weathered from all of the sun and the dry air. I burnt my lips, like sunburned my lips I think on the drive
here from the airport. Like that's how quickly they got burned, because as good as I am about remembering to wear
sunscreen everywhere else, I always forget my lips. And I can just feel that my
skin is like very, very dry. I love a good three night trip. I find that a three night trip is just the sweet spot for me in the sense that it's
long enough to get away and feel like I've gotten away
and have time to do things but it's not so long that I feel stressed about
like packing, and planning, and being away for a
certain amount of time. It's like, it's just three nights. Like if I forget something,
it's not gonna be a big deal. I do feel though, like I could
come back and see more here because the park is so
huge and there's tons that I didn't get to see. To drive all the way through
the park from north to south, I think it takes about an hour and a half if you're not making any stops. So you could just take one big full day and drive through the park, and stop, and see as much as you can, and
you could do a lot that way. Or you could stay here a week and get into all kinds of things. Like I know that rock climbing is really popular around here. I also saw a lot of activities
on Airbnb Experiences. Like there's lots of stuff
that you can sign up for that looks cool. So if you're looking for a
good, just quick weekend trip or something a little bit longer, I would definitely recommend it. Well, now I'm off to the airport. I'm just getting all packed up. I hope you guys enjoyed
coming along with me on this little solo getaway. If you enjoy this video,
please give it a thumbs up and hit the Subscribe button down below, and I will see you guys in the next one. Bye. (slow tempo music) ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah ♪ ♪ Ah, ah-ah, ah-ah ♪
