A week from today unofficially marks the beginning of summer. It snuck up this year, did it not? With the kids now going different directions as well as our house demo (and preemptive move-out) about to begin, the possibility of a vacation is remote, and more realistically, ain't gonna happen. But what about the annual road trip???
The new issue of Garden & Gun came this past weekend, so last night I cleared the evening to curl up and savor it. My favorite article was 'The Art of the Road Trip' by Daniel Wallace. Read it here. It's a delightful read that outlines the criteria for a successful road trip. In short, it's not about the destination, but how you get there. I love a good metaphor. My two cents to add to that (having several stalwart roadtrips under my belt) make sure the person/people you are riding with have the same 'je ne sais quoi' attitude. Otherwise your curious, adventuresome self will be deflecting a barrage of commentary along the lines of "where are we???", "it's NOT on the map!", "we're going to get shot out here in the middle-of-nowhere-Texas driving on some dirt road in a hybrid." Just sayin.
Anyway, the best line in the article in case you don't have time to click over...
"A road trip wherein one does not get lost is not a road trip, it’s something else, the same way Pringles aren’t really potato chips. If you don’t get lost, you’ll miss all the best yard art, the secret quarries, all the little timeless towns secreted away on the other side of that mysterious hill, sweet towns same as they were fifty years ago, towns where evolution hasn’t happened because most of the people there don’t believe in it. And three-legged dogs—you’ll miss them too."
Some of the highlights from my road trip past, err past road trips...
Perhaps this summer, I will just have to be spontaneous and hop in the car without a set destination or plan....and as a card carrying 'planner', maybe that's the best metaphor of all.
