For this, my 50th blog post, I want to write about something very deep and very important. Something that we all experience at some point in our lives. For some people, these things are gentle and relaxing while for others, they’re arduous and painful. So what are these “things”?
ROAD TRIPS!
Yes, that’s right, those amazing, interminable voyages that we all experienced in our childhoods. To be fair, I tend to like road trips, especially when I’m with good friends. That makes the time go by so much faster! I got to take two road trips over the holidays – one to Chicago (for the final convention of my Doctor Who travel month – Chicago TARDIS) over Thanksgiving and another to Omaha (where my family is) for Christmas. I make both of these trips every year, so there’s nothing stand-out about them generally, but travel is travel, right?
For the Chicago trip, I traveled with my friend Bill. I always have at least one other person with me when I drive to Chicago (us Doctor Who fans travel in packs, or at least pairs!), which always makes the time fly by. It’s amazing the things that you come up with to chat about when you’re in a car for six hours! The convention was a great time, as always, though I must admit I was in a little bit of a daze considering I had just gotten back from London a couple of days before going. It was also my third convention in four weeks – that’s a lot of Who! I had even debated not doing Chicago this year, but I quickly realized that would never be an option. And of course, I had a great time seeing all of my friends and working with the fabulous Freema Agyeman throughout the weekend.
As for Omaha, that has always been a solo trip. So trust and believe there was a lot of car singing to pass the time! The route between Minneapolis and Omaha is very straightforward (south to Des Moines and east to Omaha), but not particularly interesting, but I always manage to make it there and back. It was great to see the fam, but I was particularly happy to come home from this trip knowing that I wouldn’t have to take another one for awhile!
How do you feel about road trips? Love them? Hate them? Do you like to cruise solo or travel with friends? How do you pass the time? Games? Movies? Sleeping? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
That One Guy Who Travels 
I have always been a fan of road trips–the sense of adventure and changing landscape is always exciting. I absolutely loathe being a passenger so I usually end of driving unless it is during really horrible weather and then sometimes I will give up the wheel lol. I love singing along to songs (especially Madonna). We also play games like 20 questions, etc. I have very fond memories of being on the road. Growing up my mom would basically toss a map at me and tell me to figure out our route. Thanks to her I have a great sense of direction and almost never get lost! Having lived and traveled all over the U.S. by the time I was a teenager road trips were a great way to see our beautiful country and connect with family. 🙂
For the past few summers I have made a 12-hour trip to Arkansas to visit my family. While the last few hours get to be long (an 8 hour road trip is my preferred upper limit), I do enjoy the chance to get away. I pack my iPhone and listen to lots of podcasts; but I also usually spend a sizable chunk of the time silent in my car, just being with myself. It’s rather nice.
I can relate to that. Sometimes I really enjoy the peacefulness of being in a car by myself. But sometimes it gets a little maddening. Depends on the moment. 😉
True, true. 🙂