College is stressful, and it can feel overwhelming somedays with the classes, homework, part-time jobs, responsibilities for organizations, and finding time for yourself. It can be a lot, and the feeling of being overwhelmed is completely normal when you are in the hustle that you have planned for yourself. But at such times, when your body starts feeling that is overworking itself, giving yourself a day off, doing things that you love as a part of your relaxation process, becomes a necessity and as well serves as a way for you to rejuvenate yourself for your upcoming tasks. Now how one relaxes, can range from sitting and watching a movie in your dorm to going out with your friend.

For me, I love being out nature, which not only helps me emotionally , but it also rejuvenates my energy and my physical wellbeing. This past weekend, I and my Bestfriend Dwi were feeling overwhelmed with work; therefore we decided that once we completed our assigned works, we would spend a whole day going out in the nature and just getting ourselves re-energized. Being the person who is always up for a trip and loves planning one, I took charge and started looking for one-day-getaway places around Cincinnati.

There are three major hiking places around Cincinnati: Hocking Hills, Smoky Mountains and Red River Gorge. While Hocking hills and the Smoky Mountains are more of weekend getaways, Red River Gorge is a place that offers you a combination of great hiking and one of the best scenic views in Ohio, all within a day. Being an international student can be difficult for me to navigate around the places here; therefore, I utilized Google Search and the hiking tips for Red River Gorge of my in-state friends (shout out to both the Donovan’s) for they had already been to Red River Gorge.

Red River Gorge is a huge geological area, about 13400 acres wide, yet I was planning to hike there only for a day. It turned out, surprisingly, that it was one of the best nature experiences I’ve ever had. Our team had 6 members: me, Dwi, Vedant, Darshit, Nur, and Nachiket, all of whom are interested in hiking. Since none of us had a car, we only had two options: rent a car or book a Zip Car. We chose the latter, and we left Cincinnati for Red River Gorge around noon. Our first place on the hike was the Road Bridge from which we could find the Creation Falls and the Rock Bridge. After spending an hour hiking here, we set off for our next major destination of Red River Gorge, The Natural Bridge State Resort Park. We started off going to the Natural Bridge, then to the Skylift Overlook, followed by the Lookout Point, and ending at The Lover’s Leap. The view from all four of them was, without a doubt, breathtaking. We intended to walk to the Chimney Top Rock, but because it was getting closer to sunset, we decided to just pause and enjoy the sunset from the Natural Bridge. I would say that was one of my best decisions, for I had never seen such a beautiful sunset.

Wrapping up the trip, our last stop was a local yet famous pizzeria of the Area “Miguel’s Pizza”. I would highly recommend having a stop at this pizzeria and enjoying the vibe the place holds. We returned to Cincinnati before midnight, marking that one day escaping from the city buildings and surrounding myself with Nature. It was the perfect one-day getaway I could have imagined!