A short vacation in UtahDo you remember the feeling of knowing you have three or four days off and zero desire to spend them on a plane? Utah fills the void this way. It isn’t something you feel guilty about, but instead one can just go to see and it seems the far away corner far and away from the chaos left behind on your doorstep. Here, a short holiday doesn’t have to require weeks of planning, a kit-packed hiking suit, although you just so happen to want the route. Many of the best trips are the ones in which you just show up, inhale the dry mountain air, and allow the state to figure some of the rest out. The magic of a few days in Utah is the change in pace that comes with it. One minute you are stuck in traffic or answering email, the next you are gazing into red rock formations that look like they belong in another world. The state packs an almost unfair assortment in a relatively small space. In a single long weekend you can stroll across alpine forests, dip your toe in a salty lake, stand at a canyon so deep it's dizzying. This is not all about cramming everything in; it is about letting yourself be in a beautiful place for some time at a time. Salt Lake City is the obvious choice, with easy airport access and a downtown that mixes urban energy with mountain backdrops. Park City is just an uphill shot and has that charming ski town feel even in the summer, when the trails open up, and the patios are heavy with people drinking local beer. Farther south, Moab is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands, where the sunsets render the hinterland in some way painted. Zion, with its towering cliffs and river valleys, or Bryce Canyon, where hoodoos stand like silent stone guardians. Each spot has its own personality, so choosing one of them for a short trip usually pays off better than trying to race through all. The place where one is in determines as much the trip as where one goes, but Utah tells its full story. On the luxury side, you’ll also find mountain lodges with heated floors and views that make you want to cancel your return flight. A few boutique hotels in downtown Salt Lake have a smell of cedar in the lobby, and the coffee is actually good. Park City has plenty of upper-end hotels that cater to those who want spas after spending a day on the slopes or trails. But the budget side is equally inviting. Clean motels on the major highways, cosy Airbnb rooms in local homes and campgrounds that have zero price tags, yet place you just under a blanket of stars. You don’t need to spend a fortune to wake up somewhere beautiful. Utah was another surprised me with the layered sense of culture and history you feel everywhere. The state has deep ties to Mormon pioneer history, evident in the architecture of Temple Square as well as the grid-like streets of Salt Lake City designed back in the 1800s. But that is only one thread. You have an established Native American heritage from the petroglyphs of old through the desert rock to the Navajo Nation and many Native American tribes in the southern part of the state. Ghost towns, mining towns litter the mountains, reminders of boom and bust cycles that shaped mountain communities. It is a setting where the past isn’t enshrined behind museum glass. It is in the terrain, the town names, the tales locals continue to tell. And the food scene bears that same sense of tradition and surprising variety. Yes, you will find the iconic fry sauce, the funeral potatoes and the cultural affinity for Jell-O salads that locals either defend or sheepishly declare. But you will also find fine Mexican food in Salt Lake City, Basque-influenced dishes in northern cities and a growing farm-to-table movement capitalising on high mountain produce and locally-sourced meats in the countryside. The restaurants in Park City are global in lean, as when chefs come in for skiing, and the lifestyle remains a part of their lives. Even in small towns, diners serve pies with such flavour that they almost make people think their grandmother’s back in the kitchen, most likely. I recall sitting on a bench by downtown Salt Lake City one evening, the first time I got out of the car on a day off. People were heading toward restaurants or tearing through this after-work plaza. A tram rumbled past. Half a block away, someone was playing the saxophone. It was not quiet, not really. But having spent a day driving through canyons and walking through stone arches, the city noise seemed different. Instead of stressing, it seemed alive. I bought a coffee and watched the light on the mountain face east of town change from pink to purple. For a moment, the busyness was not an escape at all. It was something I was “jumping in” on for the visit, something I could be part of or observe, without being swept up in. That is what a short holiday can do to you, the gentle sense of reflection. You are fixing nothing. You are just forcing yourself to be present in a different rhythm anyway, and somehow that’s enough. Utah suits a fast holiday because it does not ask you to be someone else. There is no need to be an extreme athlete, a history buff or a foodie. You can be a little of any of them or nothing. You can sleep in a tent or a five-star suite. You could eat fried sauce at the roadside stand or sip wine at a resort. It’s that you drove or flew out of your routine and into that dry western air and gave yourself permission to just be a little elsewhere for a little while. And that truly was the whole point of a holiday, no? |
