FROM ZEN & BACK TO THE EVERY DAY WORLD: ANATOMY OF A FAMILY RIVER ADVENTURE PART 3 December 19, 2011

By Luisa

The transformative powers of the Grand Canyon were beyond anything I expected. The therapeutic energy and amazing scenery of the Grand Canyon worked their magic on me during our week-long Grand Canyon Expeditions river rafting trip while touching my nine-year-old son Ethan in a profound way too.

Mind you, our first 24 hours on our GCEX family river rafting adventure was no walk in the park. My son Ethan wanted to go home during our first day of rafting on the Colorado River. However, by the first evening, he experienced a transformation and was quickly sold on what a cool adventure this was shaping up to be!

As a non-camper from very suburban New Jersey, I did not find it easy at first to adjust to roughin’ it at night at our campsites. However, prior to the trip, I did not expect it would be a fast and easy adjustment for me since I had only “car camped” once on an overnight. Within 24 hours on the Colorado River, though, the Canyon’s awesome beauty wooed me to abandon my corporal routine from back home and instead embrace the gift that was given me:  a week IN the Grand Canyon.

Surprisingly, what was more of a shock – and the hardest to acclimate to – was returning home after the trip to our fast-paced lifestyle. I didn’t expect the transition from the Zen of the Grand Canyon to my hectic, suburban lifestyle to be challenging. In hindsight, I see how I could have done things differently for a smoother transition. Here’s how:

….Stays in Las Vegas

GCEX trips start and end in Las Vegas due to its accessibility to the Colorado River and the prime air connections. While this makes perfect sense, for me the serenity of the Grand Canyon was so juxtaposed to the glitz of Las Vegas.

Although we did not opt to stay in Las Vegas overnight after our GCEX river rafting trip, we did have an entire afternoon and early evening in this glittering metropolis since we had a very late evening flight home. I made the mistake of promising the kids to spend an afternoon at Circus Circus. While they had a blast, I felt very overwhelmed with the noise, lines, and man-made atmosphere that prevailed. Mind you, 15 years prior I commuted daily to the urban jungle of New York City. So what was this all about?

It was about the enormity of nature’s “grandest” wonder. It was about the peacefulness of the Canyon. It was about the parts of the Canyon that had become a part of me but are so very far from the neon and man-made canyons of Vegas.

My advice: If you do stay a few days in Vegas, pace yourself. Start day one with relaxation in your hotel’s pool and build up to the casinos and Circus Circus.

Take It Slow When You Get Home

Make sure you have a day or two off when you get home before you get back to your job. These days will help you transition from the lack of a timetable during your Grand Canyon adventure to the schedule that most of us must adhere to in our working lives.

Once you’re back at work, try to schedule a soft week the first few days back on the job. While this is not always possible, it makes sense for two reasons. First, it’ll help you transition easier from the pace of Canyon life. Second, you will NOT be up to your normal speed the first few work days anyway and will most probably be  operating at a slower speed.

I almost thought something was wrong with me because I found the transition from Canyon tranquility to my usual “energizer bunny” lifestyle challenging. However, upon speaking with GCEX personnel a few days after my return, I was told that the more you truly connect with the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, the more it gets into your very being. I then realized that once energy so beautiful becomes a part of you, there’s less space for Type A lifestyles. In retrospect, I do see some important and necessary changes I made in shortening the length of my work days and nights AFTER my return from the Canyon.

Reclaiming Grand Canyon At Will

Being deep in the Grand Canyon for a week and camping alongside the banks of the vital Colorado River is not something that you can immediately return to by clicking your heels like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

However, there are ways to reclaim the feelings that the Grand Canyon evoked. These include closing your eyes to visualize the peacefulness of the experience when you find yourself getting into the Type A stress mode as well as perusing photos and video clips of your trip. When I look at our pictures of the Grand Canyon, at first I can’t believe I was actually there. But after a few minutes I feel as if I’ve been transported back to the surreal – yet very real – multi-hued canvas that the Canyon walls painted everywhere I looked during our family vacation. I once again feel as if I am an actor playing a very cool part in a movie!

The easiest way to evoke the Grand Canyon and Colorado River, however, is by planning another GCEX trip. One of my friends did just that and his second GCEX adventure was even more awesome than the first!