Acquire experiences, not things! goes the contemporary adage (typically as the text on a gauzy, saturated Instagram bikini-beach photo that looks suspiciously like an artisanal beer ad). Whatever, I’m as perniciously materialistic as the next moaning zombie Costco shambler, but, yes, I’m totally on board with the notion in principle. And how apt: That’s kind of the theme of this issue’s travel feature, “ The Adventurous Traveler’s Guide!” (p. 50) The premise: to pump up the adrenalin and awe quotient of your typical day trip while also celebrating a Southwest sense of place. The result: thrill sessions with a side of chill sessions. For example, in this feature package, Scott Dickensheets and Scott Lien go jeeping (yes, it’s a verb) in Sedona, drinking in the vortex-rich beauty of Arizona’s high desert between smacks of their foreheads against the vehicle’s doorframe. Frequent Desert Companion contributor Alan Gegax spends some quality time at one of his favorite natural areas in Nevada, Cathedral Gorge, discovering even more of its hidden twists and secret curves — less like a hiking trip and more like catching up with an old friend. Staff writer Heidi Kyser goes land-sailing in Jean, racing along a dry lake bed on a wind-powered buggy. And in Joshua Tree, writer Greg Thilmont catches a cosmic-existential buzz during an evening of personalized stargazing with an astronomer whose enthusiasm for celestial bodies is truly stellar.
As for me, I jetpacked in Pahrump — and I did it with all the athletic elegance and poise you’d expect of a loudly screaming/flailing person encased in an extreme-sports exoskeleton. But, to dial up that adage again, sure, experiences may be better than things, but they’d be cheap, lunch-line, a la carte thrills without context, without story. How could one merely jetpack on an artificial lake in Pahrump without checking into the town’s larger story of its rebrand as a destination for pastimes other than those involving vanilla body oil and an egg timer? (Though it must be noted that, to Pahrump’s eternal credit, the development of amenities such as a noteworthy destination winery has not caused the town to forget its other historic economic drivers, beef jerky and fireworks.) We hope you consider these adventures as gateways to truly getting to know the places in your own regional neighborhood. I think they call it “cultural and experiential tourism,” but I just think of it as, you know, checking things out.
Of course, there are other adventures in this issue: Dan Hernandez reports on a day in a cop’s life from the front seat of a Metro squad car (p. 26), and Dave Clark writes about the colorful and storied rural bars that dot the region (p. 38) — and for culinary adventure, check out the pancreas-throttling guava chiffon pancake that Scott and I vivisected with our mouths (p. 48). With so many experiences packed into one issue, I suspect your Instagram filters are going to be working some serious overtime. Onward!