“Life’s like a road that you travel on, when there’s one day here and the next day gone. Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand, sometimes you turn your back to the wind. There’s a world outside every darkened door, where blues won’t haunt you anymore. Where the brave are free and lovers soar, come ride with me to the distant shore. Life is a highway, I want to ride it all night long. If you’re going my way, well I want to drive it all night long.” Definitely one of my favorite things to do in life, and that’s road-tripping it. Sure nothing beats taking a plane to your designation, and getting there in a matter of a couple of hours (if not sooner?). But when you’re by yourself, and all your problems, issues, pain and torment is racing thru your mind, nothing beats the open road. With nothing but miles ahead of you, the blurred scenery as you pass by, and of course music blaring from your favorite satellite radio station (most times mine would either be yacht rock or 70’s & 80’s).
And this year will be no exception. Case in point, I just booked a trip that’s been on my bucket list for many years – Key West. I first fell in love with the idea of vacationing in Key West when my own grandparents would ‘snowbird’ down there every year during the winter, right after the holidays were all wrapped up. And they would stay there for 6 to 8 weeks each time. Now don’t get me wrong, I won’t be driving all the way there myself, but rather renting a car at the Fort Lauderdale airport for 5 days, then hitting the Overseas Highway from Miami to the Keys (all 120 miles of it). If that drive doesn’t make one forget all about their current struggles in life at least temporarily, then I’m not really sure what will? And what’s my plans while I’m there? – nothing really, no set plans at all. Drink, walk the streets, hit the pubs and restaurants, and, well, probably drink some more (yea you’re right, there’s no “probably” to it). Call it what you will – an escape from reality, running away from my problems, or just a man who is still trying to find himself once again?, I can’t disagree with any of those analogies. All I know is that the open road and the adventures that it promises always has a positive effect on me. And right now in my life, I could use all the positivity I can get!
And if that mini-vacation of mine wasn’t enough, I will also be traveling cross-country near the end of June, for the birth of my youngest daughter’s first child (and my first grandchild). From Little Rock to San Diego, with maybe as many as a total of 3 weeks on the open road. As of right now the only plans that I definitely have are to stay in Flagstaff one night, hit the Grand Canyon, and then on from there to be present for the birth over the next several days (they’ll be so much family there during that time, I’ll get lost in the shuffle), then possibly driving up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco and then back to San Diego before the drive home and to the routine of my life. So by the time that trip’s over and the miles totaled up, my car warranty will probably be up as well. I’m looking forward to all of it, the memories that will be made, the welcoming of my grandson to this world, and of course the time spent with my daughters. And hopefully, with any good fortune at all, a changed attitude on my part, and me finally looking forward to my future instead of backwards at the past. To see the joy of what life can yet still be, instead of the pain and emptiness that it has recently dealt me. Because as the song goes, life is a highway and I want to ride it all night long.