It Itches! It Burns! I Need… A Road Trip.
April 6, 2009It’s been a while since I’ve taken a good road trip. I get fidgety if it’s been too long since I’ve hit the road. Personally, I prefer either coastal or desert. I feel the need for Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and West Texas surging through my veins. It is one of those activities that is more than just getting to a destination for me. The act of doing so is almost spiritual in execution.
I will definitely drive across the country a few more times in this lifetime, yet for now I need a little glimpse of that. Winnemucca, maybe. Oregon. Maybe Santa Barbara? I need to drive somewhere, just a little bit far.
I need to feel what is promised, or hinted at along the next turn. I crave the unfamiliarity. Strange signs. Delapidated buildings. Tourist traps. Truck stops. The smell of burning rubber. The friendly site of Waffle House, which I loathe yet is comforting. The feeling you get as you drive into western Arkansas, Southern Missouri, Amarillo Texas, Coos Bay Oregon, Carson City Nevada. None of these are particularly fabulous or exciting places, but they evoke a feel that is different due to the roads that run towards them and through them.
I’ll never fully be able to describe it, but I am missing it. Jack Kerouac isn’t the only guy who gets it, which is fortunate. I hope to get back on the road while a little bit of what I miss is still left, uncomplicated by stripmalls and housing developments.
The empty rows of foreclosed mini mansions kill me. But… if they stay empty… maybe they’ll be interesting in another twenty or thirty years.
I think I need a vacation.
A road trip would do me good too. Being a dad is non-stop work and I could use a few work free days to de-stress.
I never realized what drives me to take journeys but you actually described this feeling very well. It’s the promises of wonderful experiences and the need for unfamiliarity.
And btw, I heard Scandinavia is lovely at this time of year…. *hint hint*
Having to drive and fly all over the country for my job has rubbed some of the luster off of that ‘on the road’ feeling, but I definitely do get what you’re talking about.
I’m also long overedue for a real vacation (it’s been 11 years, after all) which is why I’m so thrilled about going to florida and cruising next week. I’m sure that me going on vacation will save not only my life, but those of many of my customers.
Hey, now that the wife finally has the ability to travel into the US and A, maybe we can do a Vegas thing in the nearish future (as soon as we get out of the hole this current vacation is putting us in, that is)
Or, if you’d rather, we could meet up in Reno!