DORÉ

I feel like everyone has that one friend that will randomly text you something along the lines of, “I want to go to Greece! Wanna come?” “You know where we should go? Texas!” and you just know that whatever it is, it’s going to be so much fun and you just have to go… Well, that’s my best friend. Ever since I’ve known her, she always sends random ideas on where we should go next, what to do, etc…

It all started freshman year of college, six months into our friendship, she told me she wanted to study abroad in China and Tibet for the summer and, without hesitation, I was already texting my parents asking if I could go too. I wasn’t really sure what the trip was about or what we would be studying, but I just knew I wanted to go. And it was an unforgettable trip (albeit really crazy, but that’s a story for another time!).

Ever since then, any idea she throws my way, I’m definitely down. So, over drinks one day with our mutual friend and her boyfriend, she brought up going to FORM in Arcosanti, Arizona. Needless to say, we didn’t need much convincing and the next day, our trip was booked. We just had a couple short months to wait until we were in the desert.

The time finally came. We left on a Friday at 7am. Five hours later, we landed in Phoenix, and an hour car drive later, we were pulling up to Arcosanti. The best way to describe this trip and Arcosanti in general is… well, magical. This may seem like a big statement, but that’s truly how it felt. You can’t help but have a smile on your face the whole time you’re there (I swear my face was hurting from smiling so much!).

You could describe FORM as a musical festival, but honestly, it’s so much more than that. It feels more like a community. It wasn’t hard to make friends, it was actually really easy. Everyone there was so nice, so welcoming, so interesting and just coming together to experience the magic that is this place. It’s not just music either, there were comedians, interesting panel discussions, astrology talks and more. We spent our three days in the desert swimming, dancing, sleeping in tents, waking up with the sun and just taking it all in.

Back to Arcosanti though, the architecture is just so incredible, I’ve never seen anything quite like it.. You could probably spend a full day going around the area taking pictures (there are SO many photo ops because everything is THAT pretty). We didn’t get to take a hike up the mountain either, but next time! I can’t even explain the magic of the place, so I’ll let the pictures do more of the talking…