On the Road

(via flickr)

I’m pretty sure I didn’t know about the existence of trains or planes until I was 10. Mine is an automobile-loving family. Of course, the earlier years of my life were spent within 100 square miles of Columbus, Ohio. But with the new millennium came new modes of transportation. The rest of the world was lamenting the non-existence of flying cars that could travel at the speed of light. I was celebrating them.

My family ventured eastward to a small New Jersey town, and in the summer of 2000, I took a train to New York City. The speed of the train amazed me. And when we arrived at our destination, the lights and noise and electricity left me momentarily stunned. The future had arrived. For about an hour.

Fast-forward nine years. My westward migration rivals that of Lewis and Clark, except for the fact that their voyage was a lot longer, and I often find myself returning to the idyllic pavement foothills of my childhood by automobile instead of horseback. From my current location, it’s about 800 miles to my family in Ohio. I have taken that trip at least 20 times in the past nine years.

To this day, I have never flown anywhere. Like I said, my family has a very healthy relationship with the automobile. All those hours in the car have allowed me to cultivate my own love. However, my love is more for the road than the car. I have always liked the idea of going on a road trip with one or two close friends, going where we may and seeing whatever sights we happen upon.

I’m sure this is not an uncommon desire. The United States is the third or fourth largest country in the world, and I’m pretty sure it’s an inborn trait to be fascinated with cars and driving and wide open spaces. It’s part of the American film and fiction canon, I think, so it’s really not surprising.

Anyway, while it did little to squelch my desire for an elaborate cross-country road trip à la Jack Kerouac, Mindy and I recently took a mini-trip halfway across our state. On the way there, nothing notable occurred. Just talk and driving, not that that's a bad thing. On the way back, however, a CD containing music suitable to both parties was proffered and some great sing-alongs occurred…


On an airplane you really can't really get the effect of having the wind blowing in your hair without being sucked out and dying. In a high-speed train, you can't view the passing landscape without feeling like you're in an impressionist painting. Traveling by car lends an atmosphere that simply can not be matched by newer, faster forms of transportation. Sometimes it's worth it to sacrifice time for something more aesthetically pleasing, don't you think?