#transtravel

[naomitours]

Joshua Tree, CA: Where The Streets Have No Name

I was never a big traveler. As a kid there was the odd family vacation or the occasional professional event in college, but almost never more than a state away. All of that changed when I took a temp job in California, and I visited one of my favorite places in the whole world, Joshua Tree. For reference, this is a joshua tree:

Some indigenous names include sovarampi, humwichawa, or umpu. It has tremendous cultural and religious significance.

Now a joshua tree is not a tree, it's scientific name is Yucca brevifolia, and it's much better described as a cactus. But who the fuck is Joshua, and who thought he was so important to have a tree named after him? Well, like many problems, it's the Mormon's fault. When missionaries first saw these trees they were reminded, as Mormons often are, of a biblical story. Specifically, Joshua stretching his hands out towards god. (Of course, it must be mentioned that indigenous people were already living here, and had their own names for this plant.)

What I Saw

Joshua Tree National Park

Maybe it's just our way as humans to see cultural figures in nature. Take for example this rock, which immediately reminded me of a crew mate from the hit video game Among Us (an amogus, if you will).

Suspicious formations at Skull Rock Trail

Skull Rock Trail is famously very easy and accessible, so if you're not big on hikes it can be a good starting place along with adjacent Split-Rock Trail. If you're looking for something a little more challenging, my pick would be the Ryan Mountain Trail, which is a really stunning 3-mile, out-and-back route to the summit of this majestic desert mountain.

View from Ryan Mountain at sunset.*

Another interesting fact about the park is that it actually covers 2 deserts.** The joshua trees grow exclusively in the Mojave Desert, but JTNP is also home to the Sonoran desert, which is beautiful in its own right:

The Cottonwood Visitor Center can be found here, but you probably already went to the VC in the city proper before you came here so no need to stop unless you're for some reason really into seeing all the visitor centers.

The Integratron

We also visited The Integratron. Now I have not been a spiritual person for many years, but this sounded like a cool experience. Basically, this guy in the 50's claims he was inspired by aliens to build it as a place of rejuvenation and, yes, time travel. I mean, look at the building:

Mr. Spock, set phasers to Enlighten!***

I mean, this thing looks like a spaceship, inside and out. You go in, this guy gives you a tour and overview of the history and then we all (there were about 20-30 of us) climbed up these big stairs and you get into this large, domed room. There were mats to lay down on and this woman came in and we all laid down and were instructed to remain completely silent while she performed what they called a "sound bath" in these quartz music bowls:

Did I feel something bigger than myself in that moment? Did I connect with the sun, the moon, the stars and the cosmos? No. But was it a cool and unique experience, an interesting story? Yes, but probably not worth the almost $40/person we ended up paying. Nice people though, it was very relaxing!

Where I Stayed

There's a lot of accommodations in JT, its generally warm climate also makes it a good spot for camping. I've been a few times and I generally stay in these horrible little motels, but when I went back here with a friend we wanted to get somewhere nice and had a really phenomenal time at Joshua Tree AutoCamp, which is a glamping experience that is equal parts nature and luxury. After all, when you wake in the morning, it's hard to beat the view of the mountains:

The best part of waking up in the desert is that it's so hot right away. This might not sound like a benefit (please stay hydrated at all times!) but one of the best parts of AutoCamp is that it has a pool, and as early as 7 in the morning you can see people taking a dip and cooling off.

Come on in, the water's very cold and you're in a desert

After the swim you can shower back in the Airstream, there's even little pegs to hang and dry things, like these horrible Pabst Blue Ribbon swim trunks we found at Walmart.

Then, once you're ready for bed, which we were after hiking all day, there's this big, comfy king-sized mattress, or if you need more than 1 bed, there's a long couch that's fine for sleeping as well.

What I Ate

There's a lot of great food in the desert, but what always interests me in my travels are the novel, the regional, the one-of-a-kind foodstuffs you will regret not trying. Joshua Tree was my first encounter with curry pizza:

Two pizza from Sam's, my memory isn't great so I think the first is the Bollywood pizza, the second from my most recent trip, is the Mini Maharaja pizza.

At Sam's Indian Food & Pizza, you could call it a natural evolution in Indian, Italian and arguably British culinary traditions. After all, while the origins of tikka masala are debated, it remains a staple in Indian-American cuisine, of which I am a humble but devoted fan. And much like traditional pizza, it's a tomato-based sauce, the result of the adaptation in medium is a delicious, savory pizza with green onions, paneer, ginger, cilantro and more!

We also ate at JT Country Kitchen which is an honest diner with good food. And I had a pancake that morning, which is just a little dessert in the desert, am I right??****

Summary

Joshua Tree is like nowhere else on Earth, it's inspired so much culturally, U2's album comes to mind, and it's also neighbor to the nearby Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in Indio. The dry desert air, the sun beating down on your face, it connected me to my body in a new context, and I wanted to start this blog by commemorating somewhere truly special for me.

Joshua Tree was the place where I fell in love with national parks and the desert. It's where I take my friends whenever we're in southern California. And it's where, one fateful night, I decided I was going to transition medically and be my whole, authentic self. It was the start of an adventure, and I hope you'll join me on this blog as I take you along on many more to come!

Footnotes * Ryan Mountain is, of course, named after Hollywood actor Ryan Gosling, who was the first person to summit the mountain in 1994 when the park was opened. **** ** That's two more deserts than I grew up with in Ohio, I didn't know what I was missing! Thanks to climate change though, maybe we'll have our own Midwest desert someday soon! *** With all apologies to Trekkies, I've never watched so I don't know if the phasers were Spock's job, please don't do that Vulcan neck-thing that kills me, I'm ticklish. **** I apologize ***** This is not true, please don't spread misinformation online, it was just a joke!

[cleftanon]

🌙 some silly ideas for beings to coin / make flags for :

transfragranceallergy - ID as having a fragrance allergy

nullallergy - ID as no allergies despite bodily having them

transhousewife / transhousehusband / transhousespouse - ID as a stay-at-home ___

transtradwife / transtradhusband / transtradspouse - ID as a traditional ___ (in gender roles)

transonepiecefinished - ID as having finished one piece

transbugbites - ID as having bugbites

transspiderbites - ID as having spiderbites

transmicro - ID as being microscopic

transmacro - ID as being a giant basically

trans___fan - ID as being a fan of someone/something, like transP!ATDfan would transition to be a p!atd fan

transtravel - ID as having travelled to a place before ( includes real or fictional places )

trans___player - ID as playing a game basically, ex: transoverwatchplayer would transition by playing overwatch frequently

transhydrated - ID as being hydrated, would transition by drinking water / hydrating themselves

transselfcare - ID as doing selfcare even if they don't, would transition by practicing selfcare regularly

transipadkid - ID as being a grubby lil ipad kid /aff

transtonetags - ID as using / not using tonetags

trans___user - probably already coined before but ID as using a social media site (ie transXuser transredditor etc)

transplanet - ID as being a planet ( or being of a different planet )

transimplants / transplasticsurgery - ID as having implants and/or plastic surgery of some kind

transgamer - ID as being a "gamer" (derogatory or not)

transakademistudent - ID as being a student at akedemi

transwooden - ID as being made of wood

transbuff / transstrong - ID as being buff / strong

trans___major - ID as majoring in something (in american college, idk if other countries have majors) like transengineeringmajor or transartmajor

transpublicschool / transprivateschool - ID as going/have gone to public/private school

transcoiner - ID as a coiner (transid mogai mud etc)

transbioluminescent / transluminescent - ID as emitting light

transbrainrot - ID as having brainrot (skibidi toilet rizz)

transbrainless - ID as literally having no brain (like jellyfish)

transultimate - ID as the thing from danganronpa where they're the ultimate thing . yeah i never played danganronpa but if you have ykwim

transquirk - ID as having a quirk (superpower) from my hero academia

transrich / transpoor - ID as being rich or poor

transhomeless - ID as being homeless

transrunaway - ID as being a runaway

transkpopidol / jpopidol / vocaloididol / etc - ID as being a specific type of idol

transband - ID as having / being in a band

transleadsinger - ID as being the lead singer in a group

transbandkid / theaterkid / choirkid / orchestrakid - ID as being a stereotypical "band kid" or "theater kid" etc

transhologram - ID as being a hologram

transcolorguard - ID as being in colorguard (the thing with the flags at american football games)

transpokemon - ID as being a pokémon

transpokemonpartner - ID as having a pokémon parter ( intended to be like pikachu to ash but could also be like a romantic pokémon partner i don't judge )

trans___type - ID as being a "type" from pokémon

transgymleader - ID as being a gym leader from pokémon

transmafia - ID as being in the mafia

transgang - ID as being in a gang ( either gang in general or a specific gang )

transyakuza - ID as being in the yakuza

nullpuberty - ID as never having gone through puberty

transintrovert / transextrovert / transambivert - ID as being an introvert / extrovert / ambivert

transbutch / transfemme / transfutch - ID as being a butch (lesbian), a femme (lesbian), or futch (lesbian) + not exclusive to lesbian individuals

transbear / transotter / transtwink / etc - ID as being a bear an otter a twink etc etc all the gay subtypes + not exclusive to gay individuals

trans___streamer - ID as being a specific type of streamer ( transgamerstreamer transirlstreamer transhottubstreamer etc )

transtimeperiod - ID as existing in a different time period than present day . could be 3 years ago or 300 years ago

transcovert / transovert - ID as having covert __ or overt __ ( ex: covert npd instead of overt npd )

transpartier - ID as someone who goes to lots of parties

permasnotdrip - ID as always having that little snot droplet that cartoon characters have when they're sick

permafever - ID as always having a fever

translimp - ID as having a limp

transragdoll - ID as a rag doll

trans___princess - ID as a specific princess from adventure time

transhandler - ID as being a handler (ramcoa term) + not exclusive to ramcoa/cultist/fultist beings

transavian / mammalian / reptilian / etc - ID as being part of a different class of animals than you already are

transhydrophobic - ID as repelling water

hope this helps someone out there & sorry for any typos or listing something that's already been coined !! :Dc will be periodically reblogging with more ideas if i think of any !!! ☆ please tag me in any coining / flag posts i would love to see them all !!! :3c

[headmates-for-you]

an introject of (chimera) falin from dunmeshi with paras of sadism and fear philias but also likes cuddles / nuzzles? does this make sense… looks around

makes sense to us -🔪 and 🎤

Name(s): Falin, Fae, Kiki

Age(s): 23, ageweird ageless

Pronouns: she/her, it/its

Gender(s): trans female

Orientation(s): lesbian

TransID(s): transgender, transchimera, transmonster, transharmed, transeaten, transdragon, transsister, transfarmer, transadventurer, transtraveler, transcleric, transhealer

Source(s): Dungeon Meshi

Paras: sadism, phobophilia, traumaphilia, maniaphilia, angaliaphilia, opophilia, questioning consang

Emoji signoff: 🔀 or 🔀🐉

Positive trigger(s): chickens, dragons, cooking, long drives

Faceclaim:

[hajiumroh123]

travel umroh wonosobo MONICA AL HIJAZ TRAVEL HAJI UMROH TERPERCAYA, (0856-1022-280)

travel umroh wonosobo KLIK https://wa.me/628561022280, travel haji mandiri , travel umroh wonosobo , travel haji terbaik di jakarta , travel haji 2023 , travel umroh garut

AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA merupakan Travel Haji dan Umroh terbaik di Indonesia yang sudah ter akreditasi A. Memiliki pengalaman lebih dari 20 tahun, yang didukung oleh staf Profesional. Dengan berbagai program unggulan :

Haji Khusus

Paket Umroh

Badal Umroh

KANTOR PUSAT AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA Jalan Dewi Sartika Raya no.239A, Cawang – Jakarta Timur 13630

UMROH & HAJI PLUS 2023 Akun RESMI Marketing PT. AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA Tour & Travel Izin PPIU No. 490/2020 Izin PINK No. 340/2022 Berdiri sejak TH 2000

KONSULTASI GRATIS : 0858 777 8888 ( Fransiska Monika Pangaribuan)

travelhajinganjuk, #travelhajiumrohsurabaya, #travelumrohjannahfirdaus, #travelhajiterbaikdibandung, #travelumrohhotelbintang5, #travelhajisesuaisunnah, #travelumrohgorontalo, #x-transtravel, #travelhajibekasi, #travelumrohgranddarussalam

[annie-valentine]

A lot of y’all might find it weird, but it’s so much easier for me to rest on a moving train with the sound of the rails singing me to sleep #transtravel #punkrockgirl #trans #travel #girlslikeus #chicago https://www.instagram.com/p/B-feazvJGYK/?igshid=19c5j1etn8j9u

[thegirl-thatdied]

Mississippi River, Memphis, TN, ✌🏻goodbye Tennessee Hello Arkansas. In route to Tucson!

[mxmason]

Some shots from pride! @anastasia_maes @alexamarieeeeee #nycpride #pride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtpride #queer #genderqueer #genderfluid #transman #ftm #transtravels #friends #nyc (at New York, New York)

[kamalamackerel]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Kama La Mackerel (@kamalamackerel)

💜☔️🙆🏾‍♀️☔️💜 #transtraveler #marseille #travels #southoffrance #qtpoc #qtbipoc #transmauritius #transmontreal #transmarseille #lamackerel #kamalamackerel (at Musée des beaux-arts de Marseille)

[naijaboi]

75 years on this earth. What a blessings. Going to see my mom to celebrate her 75th bday. Grateful for her life, her being my biggest supporter and our lineage. #asimi #oloremo #ijebuode #nigeria #yoruba #mom #joy #celebration #oya #osun #queerafrica #transtravels #bday #spirit https://www.instagram.com/p/B0rDYQhgMCaqZkS5uz-Opw9dPQ_aH_ibDhKmVs0/?igshid=1wo3temtjejf

[trans-transformer]

I wanted to stay on this beach forever 🌴🌊🤙🏽 #365dayphotochallenge #day295✔️ #beachday #beachselfie #solotravel #trans #transtraveler #gay #queertravelers https://www.instagram.com/p/BoagGYBggIu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1j6z6hl9u29g8

[little-rascal-roarshack]

Leggo! Who wants to join me?! 😃😀😘😘🗻🌄 #colorfulcolorado #travel #transtraveler #lgbttraveler #ftmtraveler #crosscountry #crosscountryboi #queertraveler #justkeepswimming #notallthosewhowanderarelost Found this amazing planner at @arcthrift 😍😍 *obvioussssly (at Denver, Colorado)

[headmates-for-you]

Dealer’s choice genshin?

-🪓

Name(s): Scaramouche, Scara, Wander

Age(s): chrono 200, trans 14-145 ageslider

Pronouns: it/its, he/him, doll/dolls, mech/mecha

Gender(s): intersex male

Orientation(s): open to experimenting

TransID(s): transage, permachangingname, transconquerer, transking, lightningbloodic, transfemboy, transtraveler, permatraveler , transpsycho

Source(s): Genshin Impact

Paras: objectophilia

Emoji signoff: 💜⚡️ or 🗺⚡️

Positive trigger(s): gundam, any mecha anime

Faceclaim:

[hajiumroh123]

travel umroh wesal tv MONICA AL HIJAZ TRAVEL HAJI UMROH TERPERCAYA, (0856-1022-280)

travel umroh wesal tv KLIK https://wa.me/628561022280, travel haji mandiri , travel umroh wonosobo , travel haji terbaik di jakarta , travel haji 2023 , travel umroh garut

AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA merupakan Travel Haji dan Umroh terbaik di Indonesia yang sudah ter akreditasi A. Memiliki pengalaman lebih dari 20 tahun, yang didukung oleh staf Profesional. Dengan berbagai program unggulan :

Haji Khusus

Paket Umroh

Badal Umroh

KANTOR PUSAT AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA Jalan Dewi Sartika Raya no.239A, Cawang – Jakarta Timur 13630

UMROH & HAJI PLUS 2023 Akun RESMI Marketing PT. AL HIJAZ INDOWISATA Tour & Travel Izin PPIU No. 490/2020 Izin PINK No. 340/2022 Berdiri sejak TH 2000

KONSULTASI GRATIS : 0858 777 8888 ( Fransiska Monika Pangaribuan)

travelhajinganjuk, #travelhajiumrohsurabaya, #travelumrohjannahfirdaus, #travelhajiterbaikdibandung, #travelumrohhotelbintang5, #travelhajisesuaisunnah, #travelumrohgorontalo, #x-transtravel, #travelhajibekasi, #travelumrohgranddarussalam

[rambler-hostel]

Special Rice(Marsi Rice) with local chicken Curry at Rambler's hostel Pvt Ltd . . . #Nepal #Kathmandu #kathmanduvally #marsi #dinnerparty #mountainstories #enlightenment #blessed #loveandlight #transtravel #transtraveler #nepallover #southasia #sunnyday #colourseverywhere #colourful #coloursofnepal #ilovenepal #namaste #namastenepal #hostellife #backpacker #hostel #travel #hostelworld #hotel #anticoronafood #staywithme (at Rambler's hostel Pvt Ltd) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_sXpQmlQAN/?igshid=olvwa6fvvn6c

[annie-valentine]

‘Stop forcing yourself to be bad & you’ll be as kind as the sun’ #transtravel #girlslikeus #punkrockgirl #travel https://www.instagram.com/p/B-fArBopkgl/?igshid=1fgpjmm0hf3fh

[elliottorrin]

Backpack is ready for travel. Find me, queer bbs. Thanks for the patch Rachel! 🌈🦄✈️ #transgender #transtravel #adventure