The official Joshua Tree trip actually began unofficially. If you are a member of our Facebook group, you can create an event and invite fellow Outsiders to join. That is what member and admin Alex did when he decided we wanted to venture out to Joshua Tree National Park.

The trip quickly gained traction (as most events in the group do) and soon nearly 30 people were signed up to go. Since there was already so much hype around this event, I reached out to Alex and decided to make it an official Outsiders, Together trip.

Since there were already so many people RSVP’d to attend, I didn’t post about the trip at all. Over the course of the next two weeks leading up to the trip, 25 more people signed up for the trip, and I knew it was about to be a wild weekend.

I never got an official headcount at the event, but there were at least 40 people in attendance throughout the weekend. Talk about a great turnout! We had individuals from all over the U.S., and even had one Outsider, Ahan, fly out all the way from Quebec, Canada!

On Friday night everyone began arriving. We played corn hole, got to know one another, and kicked off the first bonfire. Outsider Wes even cooked up a large pot of chili for the group!

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Night one of these trips usually starts with campfire chats and then evolves into smaller circles, louder laughs, and deeper conversations as people grab drinks and begin to feel more comfortable around these strangers who are quickly becoming friends.

The second day is usually a bit of chaos—but the good kind. Everyone split off into smaller groups and did different hikes, climbing, and other activities. Some people went to the farmers market in town, others got lunch at a Mexican restaurant, and many were slithering their way through tight spaces in the Chasm of Doom inside the park (you should definitely check this out if you haven’t)! A bigger group all decided to stay in the Park for sunset and watch the sun dip behind the distant mountains together.

When I was in town during the day, I stopped at the visitors center and picked up a whole stack of post cards. When people began to arrive back at camp that afternoon, I gave them each a postcard and a pen, with the task of writing down one quote, memory, or good thing about the weekend. I took all of the cards back, and later in the night as the bonfire was roaring, everyone drew a random postcard and read it aloud to the group. Everyone went home with a card to remember the weekend and the moments that took place.

Sunday was a day of packing things up, playing our last rounds of corn hole, fueling up on coffee (thanks Alpine Start), getting some Outsiders, Together merch, and saying our final goodbyes. Many of us embarked on long car rides home with memories of the weekend running through our mind.

I could talk your ear off about this trip and the incredible humans who showed up, but I will let them tell you about it instead. Below are just a few of the postcards written during the trip that perfectly capture what that weekend was.