Thursday, April 29, 2010
I feel like my life can be defined as one constant roadtrip. What started off as venturing to surrounding Nebraska towns — York, Beatrice, Grand Island, Fairbury — for spirit soccer games on weekends turned into treks to legitimate cities — Denver and Chicago and Dallas — for club volleyball. I was constantly on the move, bustling from one soccer field or high school gym to another. I learned to do everything in the car, from gobbling down fast food (my metabolism was good to me back then) to studying for my AP world history test with only a booklight to fight against the endless darkened sky.
My road trips weren’t excitingly adventurous or filled with unique landmarks, but were comforting in their simplicity. The repetitive elements included my mom at the wheel of her white Chevy Malibu, John Mayer’s Any Given Thursday CD on repeat in the disc changer, and me in front, my right hand sandwiched between the glass window and my head.
Although I learned to be studious and do homework in the car, most of my time was spent endlessly thinking or daydreaming. My eyes glossed over as I stared out at the rolling landscape. I passed the time in a daze, the dry and dull Kansas prairie blending into the overwhelmingly tall cornstalks of Iowa.
There’s a calming factor I find in constantly being in motion. This summer I lived out of a suitcase, rolling it around Heathrow Airport, dragging it up six floors to my flat in London, and loading it on the coach for a tour through the Scottish Highlands. The majority of the time we were moving, always walking, hiking, or sight-seeing and never stopping. Some may call our whirlwind tour of Britain exhausting, but I found it exhilarating.
Maybe my constant need to move and explore diminishes the significance of all I’ve done and things I’ve seen. Maybe things do feel a little temporary because I’m always thinking about my next plane ticket or what possibilities lie at the end of a new city or country, but as you’ll read in Leslie’s story, you never know what’s out there until you go see for yourself. So load up the SUV, do some map-scanning, and hit the road. You may just find yourself along the way.
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Editor's note: April 29
These flowers are so beautiful and actually they look lot more than $19 also includes a free vase for mothers day! http://bit.ly/d9REnh
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