Why Water Guides Our Journeys
At Let’s See America, we don’t just travel to see places — we travel to feel them.
And if there is one element that has shaped more of our journeys than any other, it is water.
Water determines where towns are built, where roads bend, where life gathers, and where stillness can be found. It carves mountains, nourishes forests, and quietly reshapes entire landscapes over time. When we plan road trips, we instinctively follow water — rivers, springs, creeks, lakes, and especially waterfalls.
That instinct is not accidental.
It sits at the very core of our travel philosophy.
Why Water Matters to Us
On many road trips we’ve designed, there’s a familiar pattern:
- A scenic byway follows a river
- A trail leads toward falling water
- A pause happens beside a stream or cascade
- Perspective quietly shifts
Water has a way of slowing us down while simultaneously moving us forward.
That’s why, whenever possible, we seek out waterfalls — even small or overlooked ones. They act as natural checkpoints on a journey, moments where motion and stillness coexist.
Over time, this became intentional.
We began to realize that water wasn’t just something we enjoyed photographing or hiking toward — it was shaping how we understood travel itself.
Water, Flow, and the Tao
In Taoist philosophy, water is the ultimate teacher.
It:
- Moves without force
- Shapes stone without resistance
- Finds the lowest point without losing power
- Adapts to any container
- Never fights — yet always prevails
Lao Tzu famously compared the Tao itself to water.
When you travel slowly, deliberately, and with openness, road trips begin to reflect this same principle. You stop trying to “conquer” destinations and instead allow the journey to unfold naturally.
This is why waterfall travel resonates so deeply with us.
Each waterfall is a visible expression of Tao in motion:
- Gravity and surrender
- Movement and patience
- Power without aggression
You don’t conquer a waterfall.
You arrive at it.
Water, Flow, and Tantra
In Tantra, awareness is not something you think about — it’s something you enter through experience.
Walking a trail.
Hearing water before you see it.
Feeling temperature shifts near falling water.
Standing in mist.
Slowing your breath without trying.
This is Tantra in its most grounded form.
Not ritual.
Not abstraction.
But direct sensory presence.
That’s why road trips — especially those centered on nature — align so naturally with tantric principles:
- The road becomes a moving meditation
- The body stays engaged
- Attention stays present
- The journey becomes the point
Waterfalls amplify this effect because they combine:
- Sound
- Motion
- Depth
- Rhythm
- Cooling air
- Visual focus
They naturally pull the mind into the body.
Water, Earth, and Earth Tools
At first glance, water and stone seem like opposites.
But in reality, they are collaborators.
Saffordite — a rare, naturally occurring silica-rich stone found in Arizona — is believed to be volcanic in origin, shaped not only by heat, but by time, erosion, and water movement.
Whether one views it spiritually or geologically, the story is the same:
- Fire formed it
- Earth held it
- Water shaped it
- Time revealed it
This mirrors how landscapes — and people — evolve.
Water does not create by force.
It creates by persistence.
That same principle appears in both Taoist philosophy and tantric thought: transformation happens through flow, not resistance.
What Comes Next
This exploration of water is only the beginning.
In the articles ahead, we’ll continue following water as both a guide and a teacher — across landscapes, philosophies, and ways of moving through the world.
You’ll find:
- Spectacular road itineraries shaped by water, where rivers, waterfalls, springs, and coastlines naturally guide the route
- Deeper reflections on Taoism and water, exploring how flow, yielding, and rhythm appear not only in nature, but in the way we travel and live
- Explorations of Tantra and water, looking at how movement, sensation, and presence reconnect us to the body and the moment
- Stories and observations from the road, where water (and waterfalls) becomes a mirror for inner experience
Rather than treating water as a destination, our deeper reflections treat it as a companion — something that quietly teaches us how to move with more awareness, patience, and intention.
Over time, these threads come together into a single idea:
That travel, when approached consciously, becomes more than movement through space.
It becomes a practice of flow.
And water, in all its forms, shows us how.
And if you’re following the flow — you’re exactly where you’re meant to be.
