So, I got a little crazy and quit my job, with no new job to go to, then went on a month-long road trip. Ok, the truth is that I was planning the road trip anyway, so quitting was just the icing on the cake of what I like to call “early retirement,” aka a return to freelancing and new opportunities.

The real truth is that I needed a break — and a new perspective — before I could be a designer again. And just as I had to quit my job to figure out what I love about design, I’m sure I’ll need some time at home to truly appreciate everything I did and saw on my road trip.

In the last month, I’ve seen winter arrive early in Glacier National Park, sunrise over Great Salt Lake, hiked the backcountry of Zion, peered at hoodoos, laughed at chipmunks, squeezed through slot canyons, sweated my way over slickrock to Delicate Arch, been surrounded by German and French tourists, crawled in ancient cavedwellings, marvelled at the sheer size of the Grand Cayon, lost on the slots in Vegas, walked at 238 feet below sea level, and was humbled at the base of the largest tree in the world. It’s a lot to take in.

I’ve had a chance to do something most people don’t, and that’s pretty amazing. While there’s really no place like home (appropriately, I saw “Wicked” performed a few days before hitting the road), you really have to leave home to appreciate how much you love it.

And I really had to stop designing for a month to realize how much I love being a designer. As we hiked around red rocks and deserts, I kept thinking of new interactive projects I could work on when I got home, got excited about new possibilities for work, and saw how much design — of all kinds — goes in to the development and experience of a national park.

Now I’m back, it’s raining, and I love it. I’m surrounded by my pets, in the place I love, and ready for the next step in my journey — whatever that may be.

Tagged as change, Inspiration, travel, vacation + Categorized as Inspiration