When I was little and my parents decided to undergo the huge hassle that is a road trip with 12 kids ages seventeen and under there was a definite pecking order. Whoever had to sit in the very back seat of the van was both blessed and cursed, the air conditioning didn't really reach that far, but whoever was back there could hold up signs to the following semi trucks like "honk if you like broccoli" something that never failed to amuse for some reason. The next seat up was the best, right by the huge creaky air conditioning vent. Normally my older and younger sister and I sat there, keeping a bottle of water in the cool air and trying to ignore my brothers kicking the back of the seat. The next bench seat was full of car seats, with one small island of a seat for whoever was in charge of toys, teethers and random half gnawed graham crackers. Either my mother or one of us girls always sat here, and whenever my mother landed in the seat the best seat of all was up for grabs: the shotgun seat. Right by my fathers seat (of course, he was the only one to drive) high up and looking down on the road this seat boasted a great view, its own cup holder AND map reading privileges. My father hated asking for directions, which was one of the first things I learned about men. There was always a tidy heap of road maps, stretching from TN to MA piled on the floor by his seat. Whoever sat by him was always armed with one of these maps and had to be ready to predict upcoming exits, fish out change from the console for tolls, and help decide where to stop for dinner. Sitting in the front seat was an honor, and a terror. You never knew when my dad would decide to take a road or exit that just "looked intriguing" and then it was up to you to follow the little squiggly off road and try and figure out where we were going, and how to get back out.
I hadn't thought about these long summer road trips in years, until changes in my own life brought them up. My lease is almost up, my job is petering out, and I have to take a semester off school for reason upon reason. I started job hunting on Monster, Craigslist and the local Chattanooga Free Press classified ads. But then I started wondering, maybe it was time to take some back roads, or even hit the interstate. I started flicking through Craigslist in Toronto, Seattle, Isreal, Boston, DC. . . Craigslist offers the convenience of either google or yahoo mapping each posting, allowing you to look at street views, search nearby and get a general feel for the area. When I found myself traveling down a street in Boston with a click of my mouse, admiring an old stone wall I suddenly realized that I hadn't seen anything like this since those days in the big front seat. I went on search.twitter.com to see what people in each are were talking about, found some exciting jobs (grocery shopper? german bakery?) and imagined horizons expanding in front of me.
There are so many great programs and tools available on the internet today. In NY you can order groceries online, arrange to have laundry done online, hire a cleaning service, rent movies and meet potential loves online. The need to leave home isn't even there if you can work from home, get direct deposit and can handle never seeing the sky. This used to be something people branded the "nerd" or "geek" faction with, the ability to live all of life through something like a computer. I was thinking about all of this, and remembering how cramped and smelly that van got after a few hours. It would be safer to stay in and interact through the sheild of a screen. But as I moused further down that lovely Boston street I couldnt help but feel something like my father surely did when he saw an interesting back street.
Summer is a great time to branch out. Starting with something small, a student job just for experience, a road trip to some beautiful national monument or park (I suggest this http://tinyurl.com/qzmjg7) or even just a google "walk" down some distant street, but get out there! Try something new!
As for me, my lease is up in a month. My razzle-dazzle resume (see earlier post) is headed all over the country. Time for a change is here, and I will go with it.
I will keep you posted!
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