A Cross Country Road Trip
Many people made the decision to go home for what will be known as the longest Spring on record. 2020 is now known as the year of tragedy, lackluster, and uncertainty. With this I have come to realize that I am a wanderer: nomadic in nature.
The functionality of our lives was put on halt and we were all forced to find a new way to live. These months spent alone gave me time to center myself, and make friendships that were never expected based on divisions in age and social circles. I am forever grateful for that. I can look back on these times and cherish them for bringing light to the most grim point in life. The pinnacle of this six-month, structureless lifestyle was a five day memory that has already left an impression on my character, and desires for the next chapter of adulthood.
I decided that I would travel through a multitude of states on my trek from Santa Clara, CA to Boston, MA. I was lucky enough to have a friend join me on this trip a couple days before we left, and can confidently say that I couldn’t have made the trek without him. Locations aside, I would say the experiences we had on this trip brought me the most gratification.
Utah
The first stop we made was Five Guys, Utah. We were lucky enough to eat inside this spot, and joked about how this was the beginning of the country reopening. Little did we know.. We stayed in Park City which was cozy but foreign. The state reminded me of Tatooine on the planet Batuu except there was a hew of gray over the landscape, instead of orange.
Colorado
On the next day we made it to Boulder, Colorado. We sat out on the back porch of my friend's home howling at the moon to the neighbors, The Flatirons, and any grizzlies in the area. Little did we know that this was Boulder’s way of showing thy neighbor that the pandemic could not rattle the cages of these Coloradans. My traveling companion and I picked up one of my roommates that day. 3’s a crowd.. Enough to paint the town...
Kansas
In Kansas we surely painted the town. After traveling 13 hours we stumbled into some Floridians our age looking to play some Texas Hold ‘em. We ended up playing cards until we had to start driving to our next location. This was the first of several places where I gained a new appreciation for meeting new people with completely different backgrounds. Never take for granted getting out of your own bubble.
Indianapolis
Our stay in Indianapolis was with the uncle’s and aunt’s and cousin’s of my original driving companion. Let’s call him Paul. Paul kept explaining to us how much we were gonna love this part of his family, yet I was so sleep deprived that I could not imagine conversing for the next several hours with these Indies. After an 8 hour drive we arrived at their home. At first I was very aloof, “getting my homework done in the study” type of aloof. They served us an immaculate ‘feel good meal’ and at this point I was finally coming out of my shell. Before long we were trying all types of stouts from the area, and guzzling glass on glass of 100-proof whiskey. I bragged to my Grandpa about this moment this whole summer, rightfully so. I truly felt a part of this family and saw so many similarities between Paul and his uncles. This part of the trip taught me that hospitality is a key virtue wherever you are. Whether it be a frat house in Northern California or a quaint home tucked away in a private residence in east Indiana.
New Jersey
On the next day we travelled through Pittsburgh to drop off Paul and realized that we could travel through my hometown of Chatham, NJ on our way to Boston. At this point I’ve been away from home for six months. Six whole months of living on my own, and the most independent trip I’ve ever conquered. That’s a whole lot to talk about at a drive-by dinner with your family who has been quarantining together for that same amount of time. Yet it felt like I was once again that junior in high school who just got back from soccer practice and was craving a home cooked meal. Nothing had changed. I am forever grateful for the propensity of comfort that comes from being around family.
Massachusetts
The same night we had dinner was the night I showed my housemate the New York City skyline. Disbelief had overtaken him, especially when we ended up driving back and forth on the Tappan Zee bridge not once but twice. Maps man. We drove through the night in order to drop off our friend’s car the next morning, and we luckily made it to Tufts University to stay with one of my friends. We dropped off the car, and made our way to the airport in order to fly back to school. I rode my longboard through the sea of carpeted hallways using my walking stick as the perfect paddle, wading me through the memories I had made on this trip. As I walked onto my plane I couldn’t help but have a bit of nostalgia for what I had just gone through. A truly life-changing experience.
Looking back on this trip all this time later I have a few takeaways. For one, cherish the people around you because you never know how much longer they’re gonna be by your side. It is very easy to blame losing relationships with people in your life on the circumstance, but this trip taught me that people are a lot closer than it seems. Two, expanding your perspective through travel is something that should never be taken for granted. Especially in young age, the importance of exposing yourself to different places and people will help you gain wisdom for the future. Lastly, people are inherently good. Spanning from the random Floridian you might meet in Kansas to the people you’ve spent all of quarantine with, everyone deserves respect and love. No matter how much specific events impact your outlook on “how people are” it’s important to understand that this is not the case for everybody.