I want to hike every mountain range in the world and therefore whichever mountain range I have not hiked yet is very high on my list. This has been true for the Dolomites for many years, because once upon a time about 10 years ago I went to Italy with the intention of hiking the Dolomites and for some highly unusual circumstances, I never made it north :(

Fast-forward to this summer, I worked my pop-up city in Headlsberg, CA and afterwards my boyfriend and I were needing some much needed decompression!

My boyfriend had been to a music festival in Croatia in previous years called Hospitality on the Beach and desperately wanted to return to it, I desperately needed mountains AND dancing so we decided to leave for Europe 24 hours after returning home.

Croatia, after all, is driving distance to Italy…. (In my mind everything is driving distance because i love to drive anywhere and everywhere.) We spent our time in Croatia dancing to drum and bass, meeting new friends, watching the moonrise and staying up til sunrise healing our bodies with music and dancing.

Once the music festival wrapped up, we rented a car and drove through Slovenia, landing in Italy where we spent our first night in Asolo, which, as it turns out is the CUTEST picturesque fairytale village in Italy, where a single lane road winds up a mountain to a gorgeous plaza overlooking ‘1000 horizons’ or so it is said in Asolo.

We enjoyed our time there eating all of the pizza and pasta i possibly could - because as it turns out, in Italy, I am not allergic to the gluten. Which to be fair my ‘gluten’ allergy is more of a ‘glyphosate’ allergy and Italy has sued Monsanto, the creator of glyphosate (and Agent Orange to give you context), for crimes against humanity…. Anyways 😂

Our adventure began at Lake Misurina where we walked around the lake and took the gondola up the mountain to see the stunning 360 degree views of the mountain range. After picking out presents for our friends we went to Lake Landro where the water is light turquoise tropical blue, chalky, and freezing cold. It’s very shallow with a clay bottom so it was hilarious slipping and sliding around in the lake desperately searching for it to get deeper when it never did. Ryan went for a long float and then I called him back for more pasta - because if I can eat it - I’m gonna eat all of it!!

We journeyed to Lago de Brais - which in my opinion was the most beautiful lake of them all. The color is indescribable although I do try: the Forbidden Turquoise Jolly Rancher is the best description I’ve come up with to explain how stunningly unbelievably gorgeous the water is. We took out a rowboat while I took on my pirate persona and threatened to commandeer other people’s rowboats. Out on the water I made Ryan listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - an absolute classic especially if you are from Michigan!

Now, tiny travel note: when I travel I do it very much ✨in flow✨ as in I do not plan ahead - because sincerely how can you!? What if you want to stay longer? What if you fall in love with an area but you already bought a hotel in some other city? I just cannot travel that way - it goes against everything that I am 😂 Initially, when I looked at planning an Italy trip a few months back I was told to select mountain Refugio’s months in advance because they fill up quickly and if you’re thinking “Yes, Jess, but this is midsummer in Italy doesn’t it get full?” Actually no, it doesnt! We had absolutely ZERO issues parking and finding accommodations, we didn’t wait for food, we didn’t wait in lines. In fact - we drove up to Refugio Auronzo - the coveted Refugio up in the mountains near Tre Cime and I was able to snag the last room available!

Author’s note: It WAS my birthday that day so magic was all around me🏔️

The Dolomites feel like an incredible portal. All mountains have mountain magic - but the magic is similar in some ways and vastly different in other ways. The prana in mountain ranges can sometimes be super thick and visible, and others is very fine. The Dolomites feel so vast and expansive, they feel like everything is possible.

We hiked for sunset when we arrived overlooking beautiful valley while lightening and thunder threatened our timing - but due to the storms that were flirting with the idea of attacking, the sunset turned into a 360 degree sunset all around us. It felt like we were in heaven!

The next day we woke up early for sunrise without even trying. The excitement to finally be in the Dolomites woke me up at 5:00am and we were able to see the morning sunrise golden hour kiss all the peaks around us. We hiked that whole day, laying in the meadow, taking pictures, frolicking like mountain goats all along the trails.

The next place I absolutely needed to see was Seceda - it looks like you are seeing the tectonic plates push against each other in real time, in real life, right in front of your face. Then there is that sheer drop where the wind kicks up into your face from the valley below. Mountains are some of my favorite geologic formations - tied only with a really epic waterfall. I feel so embodied and free on a mountain top with nothing around me except for the vast spaciousness between the other mountains. The Dolomites of Italy are breathtaking and I highly recommend them to anyone who loves hiking.

I have always found that spontaneity is the best ingredient in travel. It allows room for the universe to make your trip even better than you could have imagined it.

Anthony Bourdain says “I’m a big believer in winging it. I’m a big believer that you’re never going to find perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I’m always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary.”

I have always found this to be true!

I had planned to go to Munich to get a tattoo, which ended up falling through, but then by the magic of spontaneity we found ourselves in Berlin for the Christopher Day Parade - one of the largest Pride Parades in Europe! Again by the magic of spontaneity and the hand of the universe we found ourselves in London during a Hospitality Block Party in Hackney Wick!

It was an absolutely epic journey, vacation and pilgrimage traveling through Europe and feeling blessed and guided the whole way.

As always, I can’t wait for the next adventure!

Xoxo