Thoughts from the Road PT. 3

So its official: The Trip is now over. I am writing this sitting in my room back at school, back in the dismal reality of New Jersey and College winter. What I would like is some time to reflect on this trip, and what I taught me and showed me. Unfortunately, I spent about a third of the drive doing hw, so that should give you an idea of what my schedule looks like now that I am back. So with the small amount of time that I do have, I’m going to kind of list observations/things I learned, and extrapolate them as time permits.

-Back to my first post on the trip, it is really cool how much smaller the world seems now. I mean, we drove across and back the United States in a week. Not easy, but very fun nonetheless.

-Its interesting that, where most people would have cabin fever from being in a dodge caravan that long, we grew into it. It was our home for 8 days, and we treated it like that (yes, right down to the fact that it was an absolute mess). But we had a routine in the van, it became a nice home away from home for us. We had a sleeping area, food, well, everywhere, a rotation on driving, it was nice. I am almost sad to see it go….almost. Its been a long, strange trip, and I am very happy for the way it played out. We toyed with many variations (number of people, whether or not to take an RV, etc.) but I think we accidentally stumbled upon the best one. Three guys, one van, 6 cities, 6500 miles of road.

-I was thinking the other night, and this in a way is very close to being just as large a culmination of my college career as I could get. Four years ago, driving to Philadelphia would have been taxing, and today, I organized and planned this trip. That’s pretty cool. I had to use a lot of the connections I have made over the years, as well as all of my social competence and ingenuity. Not to say that driving across the country is a laudable achievement, but its kind of cool to think of in the regard of the different skills I used.

-Seeing the evolution of our culture and its roots. Its odd, driving through an area, listening to the radio, etc., you can get a good general feel for an area. Also, if you know the history of an area, you can see how the different regional cultures shaped these cities. Its amazing how every city has such a distinct and unique inherent personality.

- In thinking about my future and where I want to move to, I gradually came to a conclusion as this went on. There is no right answer. I keep looking for the perfect fit and everything, when in reality, I could make any city a perfect fit. I met so many people from so many diverse backgrounds, that it was impossible to not realize that your experience is what you make of it, not what the area makes of it. I met:
-native Chicagoan in san fran
-native LA in san fran
-Native LA in Chicago
-etc.
and all of them were happy. The focus of their happiness wasn’t what their respective new home offered, because they could find what made them happy in any major city. What made them happy was the fact that they were experiencing it all in a new city. I also think that’s what allowed us to get along so well with everyone we hung out with: we shared that same adventurous spirit with them. In all our travels, we may have hung out with 1-3 people that were actually still in the place they grew up. This makes my decision easier (because now there is no pressure to find the perfect place) but harder at the same time (because now its harder to distinguish between which cities I think I will be happier in).

-Over the course of the trip, we hung out with a huge age range of people (19-28). Most of these people were working or going to school in locations that they were not raised in. It was interesting to see how different ages reacted to the shock of being in new areas. One couple we met in Chicago were in their late 20s and had moved there to go to grad school after working in the career world a couple years. They were acclimated so much quicker (it seems) than someone who did it younger. Then again, it could have been because they did the move as a couple, who knows. It was cool to see how different people react to the move that I am planning on doing, and seeing that more than one person goes through the same progression of dealing with it.

-All in all this was an awesomely fun trip. But I didn’t go on this trip to only have fun. I saw this as an amazing learning and maturation experience. I suggest it to anyone. In talking to people on our trip, I realize that I have very slowly and quietly done lots of awesome traveling in the last couple years. I have been to and partied in so many of the biggest cities in America. (LA, SF, Vegas, Memphis, NOLA, Austin, New York, Philly, Boston, Chicago, everywhere in between) and driven through dozens more. I have seen the natural climates and landscapes of deserts, mountains, forests, etc. I have seen the way that the entire country lives. And I am only 22. Granted, much of my experience in these cities is limited, but it is still experience. I believe that it is such an enlightening and enriching experience, I love it. I am hooked to the road. My traveling has given me a much wider window on the world, a stronger sense of confidence in myself to survive once I am independent, plus some really good stories.

- Its amazing the worlds you can travel to in a days time. Entire worlds that exist independently of each other. Each city is a microcosm society. It gives you a feeling the scale of things, that you can be somewhere else in a days time starting over.

Thoughts from the Road PT. 1

In looking at why I love road tripping so much, I think I may have stumbled upon it as we left. It makes the world seem smaller. When people talk about other areas of the country, its often with an air in their voices of them being a world away. And when we can say that we have driven to these places, its almost a power trip of sorts, being able to make this huge country that much smaller, just to us. Its very cool to do this, and see all these different places. Yes, I could have gone to a resort, but I don’t see much value in that. I can party and go to the beach for free in the summer, why spend all this money to go? When, on the flipside, I can spend half the money going to all these awesome places, and seeing what this country has to offer. On this trip alone, we plan to go through 20 states. I am going to get to watch the sun set on the pacific, experience St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago, South by Southwest in Austin, and driving from LA to San Fransisco along the PCH. For us as well, the driving is a huge part of the fun. The freedom of having nothing but open road in front of you, spending time with your bros, it’s a great feeling. To most sane people, that kind of a trip is not fun. But I don’t see this trip as brief periods of fun, with large blocks of boring driving in between. I see it as 9 days of a great time with the bros. I guess that’s where the disconnect is with people who don’t understand the trip. It seems like half don’t understand it, and half are jealous of it. Oh well. Right now its 7:30 (all times eastern) and we are driving on I-76 (the Pennsylvania Turnpike) between Philly and Lancaster. From here, we are driving out to Harrisburg to I-80, then down to Tennessee on that road. Not many stories to tell right now, both because we are only two hours out, and also because this particular stretch of road (Jersey to Tennessee) we have already driven two times before. When we went down to Texas, we drove to Memphis first, then south. And when we went to New Orleans, we drove down to the middle of Tennessee, then South through Alabama. So this is the boring part. In the coming days, as we cross every climate this country has to offer, I am sure there will be more to write. Check back periodically, because as the trip goes on, I will probably be posting 1-3 updates every time I can have internet access.