The Story Behind My Bucketlist Shot!

Firstly, my first blog post! YAY!

So, here goes. 
My Mum and I decided to visit my brother in September of 2017. The overall trip was quite nuts actually. I celebrated my birthday there with my brother, and he likes to show his love towards me with materialistic stuff. Good for me, eh? It came with the cutest little cheesecake from Star Mart and a boat load of gifts photographers dream to have!

Turns out, that wasn't all my brother had planned for my birthday! Two weeks before our flight back home, my fab brother surprises my Mum and me with a trip! To where? 
VEGAS BABY! And he knew about the #1 spot in my bucketlist. It's the Horseshoe Bend! With Arizona being only a few hours away from Vegas, we HAD TO put that into our trip.

So, we're all packed (barely packed anything really), and we leave for our flight.
The flight was quite a fun one really. The pilot was such a baller. He set the mood for partying before we even landed in Vegas. Also, the dude legit made the plane dance mid air and scared the shit out of us! 

And so here we are! V-E-G-A-S! You don't even need to get out of the airport to start gambling. Just get out of the flight and enter the airport and you're welcomed by a gazillion slot machines. You know.. Just Vegas things. Get out of the airport and you're surrounded by a mad lot of fancy cars. Limos, Hummers, Hummer-Limos, Lamborghinis, etc. 

Gamble all night, sleep all day, a little hotel hopping in the evening, Cirque Du Soleil shows and a mad night at the fanciest club ever. To my surprise and insane luck, out of all the artists in the world, who was playing at Hakkasan? Above & Beyond! (The two artists I love more than anything in the world are Above & Beyond and Avicii) So, you get the excitement. 
What a night that was. Random trip to Vegas and you literally end up seeing an ad showing the featured artist at Hakkasan that night and its Above & Beyond ? My stars did line up perfectly that day!

So, after a couple nights of exploring Vegas hotels and Cirque Du Soleil shows, we were planning our trip to Arizona. My brother and I were looking at car rentals and since our Mum was along, we thought it'd be rather comfortable to take an SUV for the road trip. And I was so dead and kinda drunk (if you're not drunk when you're in Vegas, are you really in Vegas though?), so I passed out. 

The next morning, at 6:00am, we were at the car rental place and my brother's sorted the paperwork. We head into the parking lot to pick up our vehicle and my brother says, "Bro, I'm just gonna push the unlock button, see where the lights blink na." And quite a distance away, between the cars, I see a yellow light flash. We walk closer and he goes once again, and oh dear lord, I was in for the surprise of my life. Remember that SUV I told you we were about to take ? Yeah, no, my brother got a Mustang GT instead. That, my friends, is the car of my dreams! 

The drive of my life, in the vehicle of my dreams, to the #1 spot in my bucketlist. 
There's absolutely nothing that could have made it better. 

We reached Arizona, had some killer hot wings and went to explore the Lower Antelope Canyons. It's quite stunning really. The sheer fact that everything there's made naturally blows my mind. Look at the photos! I swear these don't do justice to the real thing. 

These are just my highlights. There's so much more! 

And right after, just around sunset, we made it to the magnificent Horseshoe Bend.
Ever since I first saw this place in a wallpaper on my old PC, it became a dream of mine to visit this place. And here it was, in all it's glory! I can't really explain how I felt in words. Any adjective would be an understatement to how I felt in that moment. It was a dream come true and how. Here's the shot, I hope you love it as much as I do.

Guess what ? It didn't end here. We were in Arizona. It'd be stupid to not visit the one of a kind - Grand Canyon. And so, we headed there the next morning. Trust me when I say this - there's no drive better than the drive from the Horseshoe Bend to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Call it luck, but we couldn't have asked for a better weather for that drive. 
Being one from a hot, humid city like Mumbai, we were in for the drive of our lives with the roof down and a chilling 10°c temperature! 

And finally, after that hell of a drive through the most beautiful roads with the most amazing views I've ever witnessed, we made it to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I wish I could have stayed there longer to be able to shoot and explore the Grand Canyon, but there was only time for a visit since we were to depart the same day. Nonetheless, here's the best I could capture of the Grand Canyon. Again, these pictures were shot on my phone and DO NOT do justice to how beautiful and magnificent this place is!

Tip for when you visit - The souvenir store at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon is a must visit place for everyone. There's a little something for everyone there! I actually snagged quite a few souvenirs and am more than delighted with em! 

This trip, this birthday present was more than I could ever ask for from anyone.
I'd like to take a tiny little moment to thank my brother for fulfilling this dream of mine!
Here's us wishing you all the happiness and cheer! Until next time, ciao!

PS - First attempt at a blog, don't hate me if I didn't do well. I promise I'll improve!