Phoenix :)

Greetings from sunny Phoenix. Today, I will also report about the city instead of just talking about the past.

My statement about Phoenix: Wooooooooooooooow :) It's so beautiful here. Sunny weather with up to 30 degrees, mountains all around and a beautiful city. For me, the absolute perfect place to enjoy life. I didn't think desert cities could be so great, but they definitely have their charm. Even though it's quite warm here, it's very tolerable (for me personally much better than in Florida), because the humidity is very low. After traveling to much colder places in the USA, it becomes very clear to me how much influence the weather has on us humans. I feel so much better in sun and warmth than in the cold. Although it gets dark quite early here in the evening, thanks to the warmth I still feel full of energy in the evenings. The warmth invites you to sit outside for a long time in the evening, enjoy your beer, and appreciate the beauty of life. Well, it's November... I'm not sure if I could live here in the middle of summer. But the residents of Phoenix told me that you can get used to the heat better than the cold. In summer, you just move most activities to the morning or evening, dress appropriately, and drink lots of water, then you can easily tolerate the summer.

But in addition, there are also hip artist districts, a beautiful old town, and a district that is covered in students. Just a few minutes from the city center, you can reach the suburbs, from where you can go directly into the mountains! Depending on your mood, you can go wherever you feel best in Phoenix. Fantastic selection.

What I like best about Phoenix is probably no secret ;) Of course, for me, mountains have the greatest appeal here too. Whenever possible, I drove to one of the mountains, walked or climbed up, and enjoyed the view over the city. The feeling of being on a mountain is simply overwhelming, all problems seem so unimportant and you feel so free. You see the city from above and as Reinhardt May sang, everything else seems insignificant and small from above.

And no, exploring the mountains in different states will definitely not get boring. The mountains in Arizona are so different from those in Colorado. Here in Arizona, they are more like 'desert mountains', and in many sections, you come across cacti or sand. Trees don't grow anywhere here, but occasionally you come across lizards and chipmunks.

I am really enjoying my time alone in beautiful Arizona! Here, I have plenty of time to think, free my mind, and above all, shape the trip to my liking. If I'm lonely, I meet people. If I want to be alone, I enjoy the trip just for myself. It's a great freedom =)

However, there is a big downside for me: Unfortunately, I have pain while running, I seem to have inflamed my Achilles tendon :( The most helpful therapy against it is probably rest and hardly putting any weight on the foot. But that's very difficult for me... I'm here above all to discover nature and go hiking. Just sitting in my accommodation drives me insane. Once again, it becomes clear to me how big a part of my life exercise takes up. I'm now stuck between resting, hoping that it will get better soon, and walking with pain to enjoy the landscape, in danger of not being able to cure the inflammation, or even provoking a tear. A huge challenge for me... on which I hopefully can only grow and make the right decisions. If anyone has any glorious tips for such an inflammation, I would be very grateful :)

After almost 4 days in Phoenix, it's time to move on, back to Las Vegas and from there to Utah. :) I only drove through this beautiful state briefly with Petra. In Vegas, I will now meet Anthony, a Frenchman I met through Couchsurfing. We will explore Utah together in more detail and hopefully enjoy the national parks intensively. I'm very excited about this time =). Utah seemed so beautiful at first glance that I'm bursting with excitement about the parks there. And of course, I hope to improve my French through Anthony ;) I'm very curious how it will go for me to travel with someone again. Honestly, I really enjoyed the time alone. But I still hope that the time with Anthony will end better than with Petra and that I can also enjoy traveling together with another person. Anyway, Anthony seems very nice, so I hope for the best :)

So if my next entries take a while to appear, don't be surprised. I'm probably enjoying the beautiful nature in the middle of a national park without Wi-Fi. I promise to send you a bit of the sun from there =)