Say yes to road trips.
Do it for perfectly planned playlists and spontaneous switch ups because there’s nothing better than an hour of pop punk interrupted by The Jonas Brothers. Do it for the memorized route you’ll have to leave behind for a longer stretch of back road where you’re able to admire homes and businesses and visit fruit stands. Do it for all of the time spent in preparation only to have natural disaster lead you astray. Do it for friends that go five over the speed limit, contributing to your irrational fear of speeding tickets. Do it for new music discoveries, deep conversations, crazy anticipation, mishaps and bad parking experiences. Do it for the moments you’ll get to experience because your friends make you live up to the promises you’ve made yourself.
“You will buy flowers from Amelia’s Flower Truck.”
“You will wake up early and drink coffee on the porch near the stream.”
“You will ask more questions and connect with people here.”
There’s nothing quite like the love you’ll have for naps in between turns driving and the many stops along the way because one of you will always need something. The eye rolls at “I need a restroom break” will never get old. If you travel long and far enough, you may even have to ask a stranger where on Earth you are. They’ll laugh, brush you off and then realize how serious you really are by the look of desperation on your face. When you spend entire days driving, you grow delirious and scatter brained.
When you finally get to your destination, you’ll feel different. You’ll feel freedom and a sense of accomplishment. Just breathing new air is so rewarding. Eyes seeing new sights, feet digging into foreign land, body feeling a different wind. Changing skylines and landscapes bring moments of such clarity. Monuments and mountains and waterfalls remind you just how beautiful this world is. Your problems seem so small in comparison to such a great planet. Its nice knowing you’re better off than you thought you were.
You’ll find coffee shops on random streets where you’ll sit outside talking about the future with the ones who braved the trip with you. Strangers will strike up conversations with you just to ask about where you’re from, you might end up telling them about your goals and aspirations, and they’ll probably give you some quality advice.
You will accidentally stumble upon locally owned businesses that will steal your heart. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a complete culture shock, adapt new ways. You’ll discover the city’s secret places and you’ll feel a connection to them, knowing how special they are to the people who live there. Feeling a part of something and some place other than what you’re all too familiar with will change the way you see things. You will realize all of the things you love about the place you call home and maybe even certain things it is lacking of.
At the end of it all, you’ll probably be ready to sleep in your own bed in your own home, but you will miss the places you got to see and fall in love with. You’ll miss the people you met and the moments you experienced. I can’t promise that you won’t feel some sort of sadness in returning back to real life, but you will be changed. You’ll be inspired, refreshed and ready to take on another trip in no time. So say yes to road trips, to uncertainty, to adventure. We all deserve a little bit of that from time to time.
