Growing up in Colorado did not mean I had already seen everything worth exploring in my own country. Some of the most remarkable journeys available to me were road trips through the American West, where the landscapes and places can change completely within a day’s travel.

From Colorado’s dunes to its hot springs

One memorable route began in Colorado and took me to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Pagosa Hot Springs. These are both unmistakably Colorado experiences, but for very different reasons. The dunes are an extraordinary landscape; the hot springs are an entirely different kind of stop.

Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon

From there, the journey continued through Mesa Verde and onward to the Grand Canyon. Both places invite a longer story: one about the history embedded in a landscape and the other about the scale of the landscape itself. They are exactly the kinds of destinations I want to document with my own photographs.

Las Vegas and the way back

The trip also took me to Las Vegas before the return through Glenwood Springs. Putting those stops together is a reminder of how varied travel within the United States can be—from archaeological heritage and national parks to an intensely built-up entertainment city and then back into the mountains.

A home-country travel chapter

The United States counts as one country in my world tally, but within it are many journeys still worth telling. This road trip is one of them. I’ll continue expanding the account with specific places, images and memories.

Explore the United States country page in my World Project.