One of my dreams was to travel to all 50 states in the U.S. I was able to cross this off my bucket list a little over a week ago with a trip to Idaho and Montana! I flew into Boise, not knowing what to expect. I mean really, what have you heard about Idaho except for potatoes? I was pleasantly surprised. Pristine, rugged outdoor landscapes greeted me as I woke.

When my family and I traveled out west our parents would stop every 15 minutes to take pictures and inevitably family photos too. Apart from the family photos, I'm following in my parents' footsteps. When you're accustomed to flat Midwest corn country, driving through mountains and whipping around bends following a bubbling creek, you're bound to stop countless times to take in the splendor with your iPhone.

Now, one thing that I didn't prepare for, but will in the future (at least as best as humanly possible), is the wild outdoors, specifically for bears. I read 'after' the fact about how often bears appear on some of the trails I went on. I should have picked up on it after going to Alaska earlier this year, but... It wasn't like I saw a bear or anything, but when you constantly keep seeing signs that bears are around, your adrenaline starts pumping a little bit. Bear spray next time, check.

I've heard a saying about a local in Ireland that was talking to a tourist. The tourist was complaining about how the weather was always raining and that it wasn't good for doing 'touristy stuff'. The local kindly reminded him that the weather is perfectly fine, it's only ill-prepared tourists that's the problem. The local then walked out into the pounding rain like it was any normal day.

That's how you had to take Glacier National Park and Montana. It rained the whole time I was there, but it was breathtaking. I relished the rain because you felt like you were in the sky sometimes, with the clouds and fog all around you.

Glacier National Park was the gem of a reason why I went to Montana. My uncle, who also has have traveled to all 50 states, once told me that out of all the places he's been, Glacier was the prettiest of them all. It didn't disappoint. With fall around the corner, the trees and wildlife were all preparing for the winter. You couldn't ask for a more astounding trip.

Well, if you want to hear more, next week will have some cool videos from some of my hiking adventures, tune in next week. Till then, go explore!