Road Warriors. Taking time to see the little things.
I’ve found that when Chris and I go on road trips I’m always extremely focused on getting to our destination. I constantly look at the GPS to see if we’re making good time. I play the calculation game where I try to estimate exactly what time we’ll arrive at our destination. I like to be punctual, and I’m not a huge fan of arriving somewhere late at night.
Chris is the exact opposite. He’s the first one to pull over as soon as something catches his eye. Last year on our trip across the U.S. with Best of the Road, he had us stop all along Route 66. We saw the huge rocking chair, drank “route beer”, and even stopped in Metropolis to see the giant Superman. I would huff and puff as soon as he pulled over, reminding him that we were on a schedule. He would quite literally force me out of the car, or leave me there to wallow in my own grumpiness. Without fail, I would eventually pull myself out of the car. The thing is, our stop would always end the same. I’d end up really enjoying myself and not want to leave. These stops ended up being some of my fondest memories from the trip.
On this road trip I’ve been trying to make an effort to slow down and really take in my surroundings. This is our road trip. We are in charge of where we go, when we go, and how we want to get there. I still find myself in the habit of trying to get to our destination quickly. Today we were driving through the lonely California desert when we saw a cluster of rock formations. Chris swerved over to the side of the road, and this time I was ready. We were able to get some great shots and enjoy the beautiful (and extremely hot) surroundings.
Here’s to taking time to enjoy every aspect of our road trip, and many more stops like this along the way.
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This dynamic must be universal. I’m definitely on the stop-for-everything end of the spectrum most of the time. But, sometimes we get the most out of things when we get to our destination “on time”, so there has to be a balance. I think this is why slow, long-term travel is o appealing. It naturally lends itself to stopping to enjoy those roadside treasures…
Thats my beautiful Girl,glad your enjoying your trip.
I can be a little of both..depending on whether I have something important to do in the destination city or not. If there is nothing pressing on the schedule for a bit, I can move painfully slowly across a country.
Btw, there is a lot of really cool roadside rock art out in the cali desert!
Haha you sound like me! Adela is always going slow while I do the calculations in my head as well. I have got better for sure but it does annoy me when Google Maps tells me it will only take 5 hours to get somewhere and it ends up taking 8 hours because we stop so often!