In my new short film, Canyon Chorus, I describe how I spent years convincing my 75-year-old mentor to come on a multi-day river rafting trip with me.
He admitted afterward, “It was a life-changing experience, and I’m very glad Mikah persevered.”
Many people are unfamiliar with this type of vacation—although it’s my absolute favorite way to travel. So, I’ve compiled five reasons why you must experience a river rafting journey in your lifetime. And if my words don’t convince you, this 16-minute film will show you all the joy and love that comes from floating down the waterways with those you care about.
1. You Don’t Have to Do Any Rowing
When I invite people on these trips, many assume they’ll row all day and end up sore. But when you book a rafting trip with a guide company, they do all the work, including rowing, cooking, and cleaning. Rafting trips are more like floating trips because your only job is to relax and enjoy the magnificent scenery.
As you’ll see in this short video, this is the reality of what your “raft” down a beautiful river will look like.
2. Your Cell Phone Has Zero Service…And That’s a Good Thing!
Wholesome, old-fashioned fun.
Those words probably terrify any teenager hearing them. But if you’ve ever sat around a campfire playing a group game, hearing a great story, or staring up at the stars in awe, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s hard to have experiences like that nowadays, especially when cell phone signals reach virtually every corner of the earth.
…But not in river canyons.
The high walls surround the rushing rivers, making getting a cell phone signal impossible…meaning you can’t answer work emails or spend hours scrolling on TikTok.
On day one, this can be scary…but by the time day five comes around, you’ll be so thankful you were able to cut yourself off from the rest of the world, focusing on the wonderful people and the beauty all around you. If you haven’t experienced a digital detox in a while, I guarantee a river trip will refresh your soul and make you yearn for more vacations where having a cell phone on you is pointless.
3. There Are Trips of Varied Lengths
There are lots of commercial rafting companies offering epic tours. My first was an eight-day sojourn down the Grand Canyon with Grand Canyon Whitewater. Then, I did three trips ranging from four to six days in length with Holiday Rafting Expeditions. After that, I did a 12-day adventure through Arctic Alaska with Alaska Alpine Adventures.
Most recently, I did three trips—averaging six days—with OARS Rafting.
Whether you’re looking for day trips or 24-day-long excursions across national parks, there are plenty of providers across the US—and around the world. And many companies offer yoga/wellness-focused expeditions, photography workshop adventures, LGBTQ+ affinity trips, painting workshops, string quartet concerts, BIPOC groups, astronomy tours, craft beer tastings, hikers’ specials, and even gourmet wine and food specialty trips.
Every river within a National Park Service site will have a list of approved concessionaires on their government website. And in the United States, you can find trusted companies by seeing if they’re in the America Outdoors Association.
Whether you’re looking for a vacation close to one of the 50 states or as far-flung as Tasmania, Bhutan, Botswana, Zambia, Patagonia, or Canada’s Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and the Yukon, there’s a multi-day river trip to help you get lost in adventure.
4. The Food is Incredible!
Salmon on night one, pork chops on night two, barbecue chicken on night three, and steak on night four! You’ll be amazed at the meals. And even if you’re a vegetarian or vegan—or have other food requirements—they cater to your dietary needs.
Here’s a video showing the meat vs. veggie options my friend and I experienced on a recent trip.
5. Life Is Too Short Not To
As I discuss in the film, I lost my dad to cancer when I was 19 and he was 58.
That experience taught me a valuable lesson: none of us are guaranteed to make it to retirement, and we might not get the opportunity to pursue our dreams or have the experiences we want with our loved ones unless we make space for them as soon as possible.
It’s why, from ages 30 to 33, I visited all 400+ U.S. National Park Service sites on what became a world record journey. And it’s why I worked so hard to make the rafting trip seen in Canyon Chorus happen—to take a moment to experience God’s beautiful creation with the people I’ve been so lucky to have in my life.
I hope you’ll watch the short film I made to share all these above lessons with you, and I hope it inspires you to take your first adventure floating down one of the world’s many beautiful rivers.
If this film has you ready to hit the rapids, I’ve published my Ultimate River Trip Packing List to provide you with an expert checklist from my experience on many river trips. And you can outfit yourself with the same Eddie Bauer apparel I’ve worn throughout my many years of travel!
Mikah Meyer is a professional adventurer and LGBTQ+ rights advocate who became the first person to visit all 419 US National Parks in a single journey. A versatile adventurer, Mikah has paddled local waterways in his home city of Minneapolis, run across entire states, including Mississippi, Minnesota, and North Dakota, and biked the entire coastline of Oregon…all while capturing content and sharing his adventures through mixed media to raise awareness about how to make the outdoors more welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.
