That One Time I Quit My Job And Traveled Around Texas

A few years ago, right after I started Adventures in Texas, I did one of the craziest things that I have ever done in my life, I quit my job. Now quitting your job is great as long as you already have another job, but I didn’t have another job. So you must be thinking “what did you do with all your free time?” The answer is very easy. I took a lot of “Adventures in Texas”.

I’ll go ahead skip all the details on quitting my job, and get right into the great part of this story. On January 1st, 2017 I sat down at my kitchen table and planned out a long trip to explore parts of Texas that I had never been too before. The number one spot to visit on my bucket list of Texas state parks was Big Bend Ranch State Park! So in the early morning hours of January 2nd, I got in my car and made the trip from Canyon, Texas to Big Bend Ranch State Park in Presidio, Texas.

The trip was roughly 500 miles and took me over 8 hours to get to my campsite. The drive there was just so peaceful and pleasing to the eye. Everywhere I looked and the closer I got to the park the more beautiful it got. I ended up staying at the Arenosa camping area, which is right on the Rio Grande River. As soon as I got there I wanted to dip my toes in the water. That’s what everyone wants to do as soon as they see water right? Well, that was when I realized very quickly that it was still winter, because the water was freezing cold.

After setting up my tent and unpacking everything, I had a little bit of sunlight left for the day, so I decided to go on a small hike. I got in my car and drove down to the Hoodoos trailhead. This is a small .7-mile loop that runs right along the Rio Grande River. The whole time I was on the trail, I just kept thinking how amazing this place was. I took what seemed like 300 pictures just on that small little trail. Everywhere I turned it looked like a Bob Ross painting.

As I headed back to my campsite and the sun was setting, it truly hit me how much freedom I had in my life at that moment. I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have anyone telling me what to do, and I didn’t really have anything to cause me stress. For the first time in a very long time I could say that I truly felt relaxed. For the rest of the night I sat there in my lawn chair looking at the amazing view of the night sky and just smiling.

It is weird to say but one of the best nights of my life was when I was all by myself in the middle of nowhere and all I was doing was smiling and looking at the stars. That night I had realized just how important getting outdoors and relaxing meant to me in my life. There are these statistics out there that say less stress and being more relaxed can be equated with people who spend a lot of time outdoors. This statistic has shown to be very true in my life that’s for sure.

My piece of advice for you, if you don’t already do so, is just to spend some time outdoors. It can be as simple as going for a hike, visiting your local state park, or even just sitting in your own backyard. Try out this hypothesis and see if it will make just as big of a difference in your life as it has done mine.

Now if you want to hear the rest of my story about my trip to Big Bend Ranch State Park, make sure to read next week’s blog. I also have some exciting news and that is that Adventures in Texas now has a podcast! The first episode will be released on Wednesday, June 12th, 2019. To stay up to date with all the amazing things happening at Adventures in Texas don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our emails.