Without the App Store on iOS, we wouldn’t be able to play exciting games or get great utility out of purpose-built apps. If there’s anything you want your phone to do, it’s likely a third-party app exists to do it. This is not to say that the iPhone’s built-in apps aren’t good — in fact, there’s surprisingly a lot you can do with them. The calculator app, for instance, has a minimal user interface that places all the numbers and operators exactly where you’d expect. Previous calculations are saved in the history, and the app to will also convert units or currency. You can switch to a scientific calculator, too.
As long as you’re using the right order of operations, the calculator app on your iPhone can handle exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions. Apple also lets you perform calculations in a more organized and dynamic manner through Math Notes, which was introduced in 2024. You can switch modes on your calculator app, including Math Notes, by tapping on the tiny calculator icon in the upper right corner. Alternatively, you can convert a regular note into a Math Note through the Apple Notes app.
Now, instead of solving calculations the traditional way, you can write equations in a more notebook-style format. This also means you can assign variables, solve chained calculations, or even mess around with graphs. If you utilize the feature enough, you can turn your iPhone into a mini math workstation for all kinds of scenarios.
Using Math Notes on iPhone
Adnan Ahmed/SlashGear
Math Notes is a feature available on iPhones running iOS 18 or newer. If you don’t see the option to create a Math Note in the calculator or the Notes app, make sure your iPhone is updated to the latest version. While working in a Math Note, you can switch to the handwriting mode. This lets you write equations in a more natural way. Math Notes will solve an expression the instant you include an equal sign. You might also appreciate (or not appreciate as the case may be) how the result follows a similar font as your handwriting.
If there are any unsolvable expressions, Math Notes will highlight the error using a dotted red line. If you spot a dotted blue line, it means Math Notes was unable to decipher a character or number you’ve written. You can also calculate results using different systems — say, you want to add values of different currencies together — you can simply write “130 USD + 140 AUD =” and your iPhone will do the conversion on the fly and add them together. Math Notes are even saved in their own folder in the Notes app for quicker access.
Another way you can quickly calculate results or convert units is by typing an expression followed by the “=” operator in any app using your keyboard. As long as you have Math Results enabled in Settings > General > Keyboard, you should be able to perform quick calculations on your iPhone in any app.
There are places in the world where everything feels accounted for. The roads are smooth, the signs are clear, and the experience has been carefully arranged long before you arrive. Adventure exists, technically, but only within boundaries that make it predictable. Nothing unexpected happens. Nothing pushes back.
And then there are places that still feel wild.
Not reckless. Not uncomfortable. Just untamed enough that you feel like a guest rather than a consumer. Places where the land doesn’t bend to human schedules, where weather sets the tone for the day, and where nature isn’t something you observe from a distance — it’s something you move through, adapt to, and occasionally surrender to. Traveling somewhere that still feels wild changes you in quiet, persistent ways. It slows your thinking. Sharpens your senses. Reminds you how small you are — and how good that can feel.
Alaska is the clearest example we know. But the feeling itself, the pull toward the wild, extends far beyond one place on the map.
The Absence of Predictability Is the Point
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
When you travel somewhere wild, certainty disappears almost immediately. Plans turn into loose outlines. Timelines soften. The assumption that you’re fully in control starts to fade — and that’s exactly where the experience opens up.
In Alaska, weather doesn’t politely cooperate. Flights wait. Boats adjust for tides. Trails change overnight. Wildlife appears on its own terms, not when you’re ready with a camera in hand. At first, this unsettles people. We’re trained to optimize travel, to squeeze value from every hour, to move efficiently from one highlight to the next.
Wild places resist that mindset. They force you to slow down and pay attention instead.
Instead of rushing, you find yourself watching clouds crawl across a mountain range or listening for the distant crack of shifting ice. You wait because someone has spotted a bear across the river, and suddenly waiting doesn’t feel like lost time — it feels like the entire point. In wild places, patience isn’t a virtue. It’s a requirement.
Nature Isn’t a Backdrop — It’s the Main Character
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
In many destinations, nature plays a supporting role. It’s something you admire between meals and museum visits, a scenic pause before moving on to the next activity.
In wild places, nature is the storyline.
In Alaska, the scale alone recalibrates your perspective. Mountains don’t rise politely in the distance; they loom. Glaciers don’t shimmer passively; they groan, fracture, and move. Rivers aren’t decorative — they’re powerful, cold, and very much alive. Wildlife isn’t something you visit. It’s something you encounter, often unexpectedly, and always on its own terms.
That reality changes how you move through the world. You speak more quietly. You scan the horizon. You learn to read the land not just for beauty, but for meaning — wind direction, cloud movement, water levels. You stop expecting nature to perform for you and start allowing it to lead.
Comfort Looks Different in the Wild
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Traveling somewhere wild doesn’t mean giving up comfort, but it does redefine what comfort actually means. Luxury here isn’t about excess or polish. It’s about warmth after cold. Shelter after exposure. A solid meal after a long day outside.
Some of our most memorable places to stay in Alaska weren’t remarkable because of opulence, but because of where they were. Remote enough that silence felt complete. Close enough to the land that stepping outside meant being fully immersed — weather, wildlife, and all. Comfort in wild places is practical and intentional, and because of that, it feels deeply satisfying.
You notice and appreciate the basics more. Dry socks. Hot coffee. A sturdy roof during a storm. These aren’t assumed; they’re earned. And because you’re more present, they land differently. They feel grounding in a way that polished luxury sometimes doesn’t.
Your Senses Wake Up
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
One of the quieter gifts of wild travel is how it reactivates your senses. In daily life, we filter relentlessly just to get through the day — noise, movement, light, information. Wild places strip that filter away.
You smell rain before it arrives. You hear ice shifting miles off. You notice how light changes minute by minute. In Alaska, even the air feels sharper, cleaner, alive. You become aware of your body in space — where you step, how fast you move, what’s happening around you.
This heightened awareness isn’t stressful. It’s calming. It pulls you into the present without effort or instruction. It’s mindfulness without the app, presence without performance.
You Remember What Adventure Actually Means
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Somewhere along the way, adventure became a marketing word. But real adventure, especially in wild places, isn’t about adrenaline or bragging rights. It’s about curiosity, humility, and uncertainty.
Adventure means not knowing exactly how the day will unfold. It means trusting guides and locals. It means adapting instead of controlling. In Alaska, that might look like hiking through mist, unsure if the clouds will lift. Kayaking through ice-dotted water where seals surface nearby. Boarding a small plane knowing weather could change everything.
And when things don’t go according to plan, that doesn’t diminish the experience — it becomes the story. Wild places remind you that the goal isn’t perfection. It’s participation.
Time Feels Different Out Here
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
Wild destinations stretch time in ways that are hard to explain until you experience them. Days feel full without feeling rushed. Hours pass unnoticed when you’re fully engaged. Evenings arrive gently, not abruptly.
Without constant stimulation or packed schedules, your nervous system settles. You sleep more deeply. Wake earlier. Feel less urgency to check your phone. In Alaska, the light itself reshapes time, lingering late into the evening in summer, quietly reminding you that clocks are human inventions, not natural laws.
That shift doesn’t disappear when you leave. You return home more aware of how often urgency is manufactured — and more protective of your time because of it.
You Feel Like You’ve Earned the Experience
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
There’s a quiet satisfaction that comes from traveling somewhere that isn’t effortless. Wild places often require extra steps — small planes, ferries, long drives, patience. But effort creates investment.
When you arrive, you don’t feel like you stumbled into the experience. You chose it. And that choice creates respect — for the land, for the people who live there, and for the experience itself. In Alaska, simply reaching some destinations comes with stories before the stay even begins.
Wild travel doesn’t hand itself to you. It asks something in return.
Why We’re Drawn to the Wild Now More Than Ever
Photo Credit: Jenn Coleman.
The pull toward wild places isn’t accidental. After years of constant connectivity, crowded destinations, and carefully curated experiences, many travelers are craving something real. Something grounding. Something that doesn’t ask them to perform.
Wild places offer perspective. They remind us that the world is bigger than our inboxes, that discomfort isn’t dangerous, and that awe still exists — no explanation required. Alaska sits at the heart of this longing, but it isn’t alone. You feel it in remote coastlines, high deserts, northern forests, and far-flung mountain towns around the world.
What unites them isn’t geography. It’s restraint. These places haven’t been overly softened or simplified. They still ask you to meet them where they are.
What You Take Home From a Wild Place
Photo Credit: Deposit Photos.
You don’t return with just photos. You come back quieter, more observant, and more comfortable with uncertainty. You gain a clearer sense of what you actually need — and what you don’t.
Traveling somewhere that still feels wild recalibrates your sense of scale and self. It reminds you that not everything needs improvement, explanation, or monetization. Some things are powerful simply because they exist.
And once you’ve felt that — once you’ve stood somewhere that didn’t care whether you were there or not — it changes how you travel going forward. You start seeking places that ask something of you. Places that feel alive. Places that leave room for surprise.
Because wildness, in the end, isn’t something you conquer.
It’s something you experience — and carry with you long after you’ve left.
Hi! We are Jenn and Ed Coleman aka Coleman Concierge. In a nutshell, we are a Huntsville-based Gen X couple sharing our stories of amazing adventures through activity-driven transformational and experiential travel.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
