Mountains and Magnets

Currently I am sitting in the backseat of a Nissan minivan watching the light brown Kansas landscape stretch as far as I can see until it gently blends into the dusty pale blue horizon. Next to me a coworker is working on his project on his laptop, while the front passenger is napping and snoring ever so slightly. Today is our third eight hour drive within the past week and while road tripping is a celebrated vacation tradition, I can tell the group is getting tired. While it's not the most intriguing route as a driver, as a passenger I find the rhythm of a consistent speed, static view, and straight road, rocking steadily back and forth, shifting from one lane to the other to be fairly calming. If I have enough room to get comfortable I don't mind long car rides, I actually enjoy them. They provide time to let my mind wander without limits, which in our busy day to day lives is a rarity. It's important to be bored sometimes.

With all of the traveling I've been blessed to do in my young life, I can't help but compare this trip to others. How similar is it to my trips abroad with new friends and the domestic trips I've taken with my family? The typically dirty rest stops are all the same, as well as the campy overpriced gift shops that smell like a Yankee Candle and sell trinkets you outwardly mock but then also say, "Oh (insert name here) would love this!" I can't see a magnet without thinking of my mom and how she would spend 10 minutes picking out the one that would best fit into the overflowing cluster of magnets from around the world that sit on our fridge at home. Meanwhile I'd hear my name from across the store only to see my dad trying on hats and asking my advice on which is best to add to his collection.

Of all the exciting places I am visiting in these three months road tripping the states, it is now, staring at the plain scenery out the dirty car window that I am realizing just how truly grateful I am to my parents for taking me on all those typical family road trip vacations when I was younger. Growing up on the west coast with adventurous parents meant summers in the Grand Canyon, weekend trips to Lake Havasu in Arizona, rafting the Colorado River, springtime in Yosemite and Yellowstone, and driving through the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains. It meant frightening adventures that turned into great stories - stories of getting caught in a huge storm on a boat in Lake Powell, coming face to face with a black bear outside our cabin door, dodging falling trees in a windy storm in a Canadian national park, getting a flat tire in the middle of an Indian Reservation in New Mexico, and sleeping in a tiny tent through a thunderstorm.

All of these experiences, whether I knew it or not at the time have taught me a lot; how to react in a stressful situation, how to navigate my way without Google maps, to pay attention to my surroundings and do my research, how to be adaptable to the situation and find the excitement in the dull times (like an 8 hour drive through Kansas), and to realize that some of the best memories can come from the most unexpected places.

Just like Rusty and Audrey Griswold rolled their eyes at Clark, I didn't always get excited about vacationing with my parents, especially as a young teenager, but now reliving so many of those trips, as well as venturing on to new ones, my heart is happy and grateful I had those experiences. Not only are they great memories, but they are a part of the person I am today.

When people talk about travel and the insight they hope to gain from it, they usually speak of going abroad, or traveling solo to an exotic locale. While I'm clearly a proponent of that, I also know exploring your own backyard shouldn't be any less worthwhile. And often the people you travel with or meet along the way teach you even more than the place itself. You really don't have to venture that far to have experiences that impact and enlighten, you just need the right mindset.

Grand Canyon, South Rim

#USA #travel