Road Trip Rituals

Ok, so for the record, I love taking road trips. I enjoy heading off to parts unknown with a small group of friends. But I enjoy driving by myself even more than taking trips with other people. To clarify a little, I don't necessarily enjoy being someplace by myself. The part I like about solo road trips is the time in the car itself. When I get wherever it is I am going, I would just as soon have good friends there waiting for me. But the time spent alone in the car serves its own purpose.

I think that this is because while driving you get an almost perfect sort of solitude. I've tried going on personal retreats -- off to the mountains, a park, or even a retreat center -- and somehow this sort of solitude is almost distracting. It is too broad. There are no constraints. I've brought reading materials and journals. I've spent time hiking, praying and even a walking a labyrinth. But I would find myself so overwhelmed by the fact that I could be spending my time doing anything that I found that I didn't know what do to.

But in the car, especially during highway driving in semi-desolate parts of the country, there is the perfect amount of structure. The fact that a portion of your mind has to stay focused on the task of actually driving provides just the right level of baseline mental engagement. Beyond that, your mind can float and wander seamlessly between a variety of other thoughts and activities, but keeping your car on the road and out of the ditch keeps you fully in the present moment and frees you from having to ask the question: "What should I do now?" Since you have to be driving, the question then becomes: "What else do I want to do while I am driving?" Maybe for you it sounds like there should be little to no difference between these two states of mind, but for me, the difference is sublime. The answer to this second question is not always even a conscious one. It usually just naturally happens. You are free to reminisce, ponder, meditate, pray, or just drop into a relaxed semi-daze.

Also, once you have had a vehicle for long enough, it becomes a comfortable environment -- indeed, almost an old friend or perhaps even an extension of yourself. Once you get yourself in the right mindset, few times that I remember are as relaxing and rejuvenating as the times I have spent traversing vast stretches of highway alone in my car.

Another thing that helps me get the most out of these driving trips is little rituals that I have developed. For example, on nearly every road trip that I have taken over the past several years I have started out by listening to Caedmon's Call's self titled album (1997). It is nowhere close to my favorite album, but I really like driving to this album. Interestingly enough I almost never listen to it when I am not driving. I think certain albums are just meant to be driven to. And for me, this one has now been permanently associated with starting a long journey. Lately, I have also taken to treating myself to a new CD when I go on a road trip. Before my summer '07 road trip, I bought the Blue Cowboy Bebop soundtrack CD. For my recent Spring Break trip back to Nebraska, I got They Might Be Giant's album "Flood" (which was a nice trip down memory lane for me. I had a tape of this back in my undergrad days that I pretty much wore out). I also have a habit of queuing up U2's wonderful album "The Joshua Tree" while I am driving on I-76 between Ogallala, NE and Sterling, CO.

I think that I will make this a tradition: taking at least one road trip a year and buying a new CD for the time in the car. Oh, and I like buying a new book to read sometime during the trip (NOT while driving!) [I don't mind listening to sermons in the car on a trip, but I don't think I'll even be a books on tape kind of guy. Books are meant to be READ not HEARD]. I bought a nice little book: "Penguins & Golden Calves" by Madeline L'Engle while I was in Nebraska, but discussing that will have to wait until a later post.

Well, this is getting quite long so I'd better sign off. I hope you enjoyed this little excursion into the mind of Justin.