Why Basin & Range is Getting Back to Work in 2022

A Letter from the Editor on Why Basin & Range Magazine is getting back to work in 2022

The last article I wrote for Basin & Range Magazine is almost 2 years old now and I thought it was time for a quick Letter from the Editor on why Basin & Range is getting back to work in 2022.

That last article from 2 years ago was a “guide to safely traveling the western states in the era of Covid-19” and was in a sense, a temporary sendoff message to the Magazine’s community of readers. I wrote it shortly after the first few months of Covid’s original onset as it was then becoming clear to me that the world was just about to embark on a long term shift and the Magazine’s “business as usual” was about to undergo a dramatic change along with it.

That article was written to empower us all with the tools to safely (and at the time, lawfully) strike out during a time of great uncertainty and confusing travel guidance. Each state and each federal agency maintained their own pages and their own travel updates, and some were harder to find than others. So I decided to collate a list all the “Covid update pages” I could find and present them in a useful way that you could use to empower your travels and to knowledgably go forward.

If that article helped you get out and perhaps find solace in the empty spaces of the West, or maybe a reassuring sense of nature’s own underlying certainty, or maybe just some healthy outdoor recreation – than I feel like it was a worthy way for B&R to stand back and give the world the space it was going to need to adapt and change. But a lot has changed in the world since March of 2020 and here’s why I feel like its time for B&R to get back to work.

A Time of Reflection

Since then, 2020 has come and gone, 2021 has (just about) come and gone, and now I’m looking at 2022 with a newer set of perspectives. On a personal side, my family and I did our best to adhere to those original lockdowns for quite a while. We were also able to work our day jobs from home and manage our day to day lives reasonably well. We didn’t ‘travel’ until Thanksgiving 2020 and even then we kept it to a fairly sane overlanding trip to the San Rafael Swell in central Utah. Since then we have ventured out more, stretching beyond our usual Western haunts and exploring more of the USA. We road tripped through several states, with many of them as personal firsts – ranging from as far east as New York, as far north as Alaska, and as far south as South Padre Island in Texas.

Meanwhile at Basin & Range, I decided to let the magazine slip into a quasi state of dormancy, somewhat unintentionally and somewhat from shock & awe as I watched the world constrict, lash out, & cope with a worldwide viral phenomenon (that had nothing to do with digital anything). For me, the uncertainty of it all was hard too hard to authentically translate into “content,” especially about the topics I would normally write about like noteworthy breweries, interesting destinations, and fun recreational opportunities. So instead of just pushing through, I paused my journalistic efforts and used the time to polish up some other side interests (Beer & Food Course!) and reengage with some old passions (pencil & paper drawing!).

A Time of Renewal

So, as to why Basin & Range is getting back to work in 2022 – It is because the world has changed and our needs for travel, adventure, and finding solitude have changed with it. B&R has always been there to discover the best of the west – connecting you to its people, places, and things. In 2022 and beyond, the need for these meaningful connections; to people, places, and things is more important than ever. As we re-emerge from the fog of Covid, Basin & Range Magazine will step up and help connect us to this changed world in a way that is useful, accessible, and beautiful.

If 2020 was a year of “pause and reflect,” and 2021 was a year of thawing out, acceptance and adaptation, than 2022 is time to reengage with the Basin & Range Community, act on new creative inspirations, and roll out new content with an updated outlook on travel & tourism across the 11 Western States.

So for those of you who stuck around with us and for those that are new: cheers to a New Year with new Opportunities ahead. As always, wishing you and your families safe travels.