Normally, I write about video games for this weekly article.  But 25 years of life experience has taught me that even the most hardcore gamer needs a little fresh air now and again.  Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to me and online gaming, I might as well be a plant that requires nothing but fresh noobs to beat up on to survive.  But even I have my limitations.

In my last “might have missed” article (sorry for missing a couple weeks in between this one and the last one, btw), I talked about how gaming is something you can do together with your friends without being online.  I encouraged you to download Slender and invite some friends over to play it.  Hopefully, some of you managed to pull that mammoth of a feat off and enjoyed some quality time with your friends.  This week though, I’m asking for you to take an even bigger leap of faith.

Late in August, I spent 7 days on vacation with my 2 younger brothers and my father.  We drove all over Arizona and Utah.  We hiked 12 miles roundtrip in the Grand Canyon, rode horses through Bryce Canyon, walked across a 4 foot wide rock ledge with a 4,500 foot drop on one side and a chain pinned into a wall of hundred-million year old rock on the other.  Believe me when I say I spent those 7 days living the hell out of life.

What those 7 days taught me is that life is best lived actively not in front of a computer monitor.  Technology would have us believe us the opposite.  Why travel or enjoy the outside world when you can visit far away galaxies and kill people in video games?  Well, there’s nothing like standing inches away from a 4,500 foot fall to your death.  There’s nothing like walking into a hole that was carved out of the solid earth by a river over 200 million years.  There’s nothing like traveling hundreds of miles and seeing a wide and diverse range of people and cultures.

Now I know not everyone can afford either the time or the money or both to go traveling for a week, but there’s always something worth doing out in the real world.  There’s always somewhere to go, somewhere to be.  That place obviously isn’t the same for everyone and hopefully you find it before it’s gone.

Below are a selection of images I made during my trip.  Outside of my capacity as a writer for MP1st, YouTuber, and a regular 9-5 job, I work as a freelance photographer.  You will find these and more images available for download and sale here.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you get to play the game of life too.