Embracing Insignificance: A Death Valley Meditation

A Van, a Desert, and the Freedom to Feel Small

Death Valley. January 2025.

On January 1st, my partner and I set out on our first camper van road trip together—a ten-day journey that included a brief stop in Death Valley National Park. In truth, I wasn’t totally keen on stopping there. For someone who tenses up and shudders every time the phone buzzes, I was surprisingly nervous about being completely disconnected from the outside world.

Turns out, I don’t always know what’s good for me, and that was exactly the kind of digital detox I needed to recharge.

Once you get past the desolation and stillness of Death Valley, the remote landscape offers a sense of quietude, pacifying your loudest, most intrusive thoughts. It’s like anything can happen—or nothing can happen at all—and everything will remain unchanged, the world unbothered by your silly little human experiences.

There is comfort in being greeted with a reminder of your own insignificance. The real definition of quiet luxury.