“I like the mountains because they make me feel small,’ Jeff says. ‘They help me sort out what’s important in life.” 
― Mark Obmascik, Halfway to Heaven: My White-knuckled–and Knuckleheaded–Quest for the Rocky Mountain High

Colorado changed my life forever. I will always find my way back there. The people, the silence, the majestic beauty of the mountains in their magnificent splendor.

I’d been wanting to go to Colorado for years but, I did not know when, how or who. After Nikki, one of my  best friends went, I knew I HAD to go! In December 2017, I told a couple of friends casually that I was going but I was not certain. However, when writing my new years resolution, I knew I had to take my travel dreams a bit more seriously. I prayed about it and I told God that if I got a plane ticket for less than $200 then I’d go. The first week of January 2018, God answered my prayers. I found a plane ticket from Houston to Colorado for $151 ROUND TRIP!!! I texted all my girls and told them about the deal. Four of us booked our ticket that day and BOOM, Colorado here we come!

Pre Trip

Anyone who has traveled with me before knows how detailed oriented I can be. I always make a travel itinerary to help me with budgeting and planning my trip. I don’t like major surprises so I like to be as prepared as possible.

I had a list of things we had to pack especially since this was the first time most of us had braced a colder climate. Thankfully, my friend Nikki hooked me up with some great gears (Btw, I’m so sorry Nikki!!). We left the week before my birthday and we flew with Southwest Airlines.

The Trip

We landed in Denver, Colorado at midnight and we took the airport shuttle straight to our hotel. The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed out to buy some goodies for our trip to Breckenridge. We used the Colorado Mountain Express from the airport to Breckenridge. We spent $456 round trip for four passengers. It may have been cheaper driving but, none of us had experience driving in a mountain with ice so we decided the shuttle was a safer option.

The shuttle ride was about 2 hours from Denver Airport to Breckenridge. We stopped midway at a Starbucks during the ride.

Upon arrival, we went straight to the Ski Rental place to get our gears. After that, we headed to our lodge. We used Airbnb to get a gorgeous place. Our place was up on the mountains and the view was magnificent.

 

We went out to explore the area and my, was it beautiful.

 

When we were ready to head out, Jasmine, one of my friends was not feeling too well. She wanted to stay back but, we did not feel right leaving her alone in the lodge. When we got into town, we realized that she had altitude sickness and she needed to get oxygen. Altitude sickness is a physical distress from difficulty adjusting to lower oxygen pressure at high altitude. Some symptoms are intense headaches, shortness of breath and dizziness. Luckily, Breckenridge has oxygen bars at every corner so she was able to get oxygen. Actually, we all got oxygen cause we started to feel weird.

On the third day at Breckinridge, we went to our ski class. We booked our beginners ski class at Breckinridge Ski Resort. Our instructor was really great and he helped us get comfortable using the skis.

 

The class was all day and we had an opportunity to take a lunch break. We learned so much that day and had the opportunity to skii on our own. I got injured while skiing cause I fell and hurt my knee very badly towards the end of the day. It took about two months to heal from the injury. Despite the injury, I had fun skiing and I’d definitely do it again!

 

After skiing, we returned our gear, ate and met some new friends. We had so much fun exploring the town. We danced, laughed, ate and much more. The food in Breck is really good. You just have to know there is a waiting line for everything!

Waking up to a breathtaking view was spectacular. However, it was hard to breathe that high up so I suffered nose bleed from the dryness. We were also very dehydrated on this trip. Next time we’ll buy enough water.

 

All around, I had a blast in Colorado and I was sad when our trip was cut short due to bad weather alert. We had to leave 6 hours in advance so we were unable to explore Denver.

Here are some lessons I learned on my trip:

1. Be Flexible: There were so many things I wanted to do that we had to cancel such as the Ice Castle show which we had paid for in advance and other activities we planned. The weather was soo bad so we did not want to risk the 20 minute drive to another city and get stranded. I was lowkey sad when we couldn’t go but I realized that there are just some things you cannot control.
2. Don’t Be Shy To Make New Friends: We met a lot of cool people who made our experience even more fun. I don’t think we’d have had the same experience if we were shy or snobbish. Now, I’m not saying just trust everyone blindly. You have to use discernment when studying other people. One thing I know is vibes don’t lie so if there’s a connection, don’t be shy!
3. Try New Things Often: Skiing was very weird at first and it seemed so foreign. However, we were not scared to fail. We fell, we laughed and we learned. Don’t be afraid to try something new. You just might be great at it.

 

Check out our PODCAST for more details about our trip. I hope you found this blog helpful for your travels. Thanks for reading beauties! Until next time, you can keep up with me on Instagram @iam_Deborah.

Love,