When you read this on April 24, 2026, I will be 36. I will also—hopefully—have arrived at Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona early in the morning. It’s a trip I’ve wanted to take for years. Travel has often been a luxury for me, a luxury I’ve ignored to focus energy and resources on other priorities. I make regular trips to Memphis, Tennessee, but the last time I traveled for leisure outside the two-hour radius of Greenwood, Mississippi, was to Boston, Massachusetts, five years ago.

I am originally from El Paso, Texas, and though I will not drive through El Paso on this trip, this will be the furthest west I have traveled since leaving El Paso 26 years ago. In fact, I’ve never gone further west than El Paso. This is all uncharted territory for me. 

I can’t tell you why I picked the Grand Canyon specifically, other than feeling like I have to go there. And I’m driving the entire way—I consider it part of the experience. What I can tell you is that I’ve always missed the mountains and the desert. I don’t have any grand designs about this trip other than sitting on a rock and gazing out at the wonder before me. 

There’s so much about the world and the universe that I’ll never be able to experience. But rather than lament that fact, I will experience what I can. I plan on taking my time and soaking it all in—the drive, the visit, the walks and the return.

I consider it a privilege to have this opportunity. And one of the things I’ve learned as I’ve aged is to appreciate the moments as they happen. There’s so much anticipation: Then you blink, and it’s four weeks later, and you wonder how the time flew by.

A portion of the Grand Canyon at sunset
“I can’t tell you why I picked the Grand Canyon specifically, other than feeling like I have to go there,” Assistant Editor Kevin Edwards writes. Photo by Jennifer Rogalla on Unsplash

What’s not lost on me is how working for the Mississippi Free Press made this possible. When I started in September of last year, I knew coming in that I’d finally be able to save to make travel like this possible. The landscape for journalism jobs isn’t great. The industry has permanently lost thousands of jobs since 2000.

Just this year, BBC has announced it is cutting 2,000 jobs, the Washington Post has cut more than 300, and the Associated Press has cut an unspecified number of jobs. And that’s not counting the hundreds of newspapers and other publications that have cut staff or ceased to exist altogether.

With that said, I’m glad to be with an organization that is expanding and has aspirations for more expansion. Your support is key in all of this. We hope to continue to earn your support to make the Mississippi Free Press a symbol of journalism’s perseverance. We have reporters and editors—plural—who work to bring you news from all over the state. 

As for me, I’m looking forward to enjoying Earth’s wondrous features. It’s our only planet, and we’ve only scratched the surface of learning about it. I’ve spent enough time looking at Grand Canyon photos that I wonder how I’ll react when I finally get to see it with my own eyes. It’s been a long time since I’ve been so excited about something. 

I will take plenty of photos, record plenty of audio logs and share my experiences in my next column. 

This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.

➡️ Read more stories from the Delta Bureau here.

Assistant Editor Kevin Edwards joins the MFP after spending more than six years in newspapers around Mississippi. A native of El Paso, Texas, Kevin moved to Cleveland in Bolivar County when he was 10 years old and has spent most of his life in the Mississippi Delta. He graduated from Delta State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in liberal studies, as well as a master’s in journalism from the University of Memphis. Following his education, he spent a year with the Birmingham, Alabama-based nonprofit Impact America in its Memphis office as an AmeriCorps member, providing free vision screenings to young children and free tax preparation for working families. His time as a reporter includes nearly four years with The Greenwood Commonwealth in Greenwood, as well as The Bolivar Commercial in Cleveland and The Commercial Dispatch in Columbus. Kevin lives in Sidon, just outside Greenwood city limits in Leflore County.