With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of traveling has been seemingly off limits for the last year and a half. But with continued safety measures, traveling no longer feels like a pipe dream.

To celebrate a personal milestone—finishing my master's degree program—my mother and I went to New Mexico. While I'd never had much interest in seeing the state before, my mother promised it was worth a visit—and she wasn't wrong.

In all my travels, I've never been in a place quite like New Mexico, with its unique culture that combines Indigenous heritage and the historic remnants of the cowboy era as well as Spanish and Mexican rule. The adobe homes with their round-edged walls and brightly colored accents make for picture-postcard sights in town, while the highways wind through the stark and stunning beauty of the desert plains.

To start our trip, we flew into Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, and stayed at the Hotel Andaluz, which was placed on the Natural Register of Historic Places in 1984. Home to New Mexico's first elevator and a gorgeous interior, the hotel also houses MÁS, a restaurant known for its unique take on traditional Spanish cooking. The restaurant didn't disappoint our party and was accommodating to our vegetarian needs, making this one of the best meals we had in the state.

After Albuquerque, we drove to Santa Fe, taking the scenic route through Jemez Springs and its famed hot springs. To take part in the local culture, my mom and I went to a local hot spring with four different pools. The pools' temperature usually hovers around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but on the hot day of our visit, the pools were warmer than usual — one pool was even too hot to enter with more than a toe. Bracing ourselves, we slipped into one of the other, cooler pools for a relaxing day in Jemez.

Next we headed to New Mexico's state capitol, Santa Fe. At more than 7,000 feet above sea level, it's the highest state capital in the United States, and with a founding date in the early 1600s, it's also America's second-oldest city.

Our stay in Santa Fe remains my favorite part of the trip. Our hotel of choice was the Hotel St. Francis with its iconic entryway and its proximity to the heart of Santa Fe. We spent this part of the journey walking the gorgeous old streets and drifting through the town's galleries and museums, including the New Mexico Museum of Art. We ate crepes at the French Pastry Shop and got coffee at the Café Des Artistes, and then it was back for more strolling and shopping. The culture of Santa Fe was on full display at the Palace of Governor's Native American Artisans Program, where scores of local Indigenous artists display their craft skills and artisanship.

One of the memorable shops we wandered into was Rocki Gorman's jewelry and clothing store in the La Fonda Hotel. On the day of our visit, the counter was staffed by a man named Mark Stoffel, from Castle Rock, looking particularly photogenic in a black cowboy hat and bolo tie. When I asked Stoffel his thoughts on Santa, Fe he said, "There is nothing quite like the culture around here—the food, the clothing and the spiritualness."

On our way out of town we visited Canyon Road, Santa Fe's historic arts district and mile-long artists community. The vitality of the Canyon Road art scene made me wonder if I would find these same works hanging in the New Mexico Museum of Art in 30 years I guess only time will tell.

To end the trip, my mom and I headed to Taos, a northern New Mexico town and unique artist community in the high desert. The peak of this part of the trip was catching a gorgeous sunset on the plains.

While Taos was scenic, I wasn't in the mood for more art galleries at that point. We soon left the town behind in favor of a detour to the Farmhouse Cafe and Bakery, an adorable and vegan-friendly establishment with a backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. We then headed through the small but memorable community of Arroyo Seco, and from there we headed straight to Taos Ski Valley. The valley, according to my mom, was picturesque enough to be the location of a Hallmark movie come winter.

Next we backtracked through Taos and headed along the Rio Grande River once again to Albuquerque. There we finished out the trip with dinner at the Farina Alto restaurant, sharing a delicious pizza, salad and each other's company.

After a year and a half confined inside four walls, with no sounds but the clicking of my keyboard and nothing to see out my window but urban Seattle, a trip to colorful, lively New Mexico did my soul good.

If you're looking to brighten your life with the sight of sunflower-strewn fields, bright blue doors and sunsets on the plains, New Mexico might just be the place for you. But be prepared; a trip like this is more fun with sturdy sandals, a fully charged camera and — most importantly — fond companions.