The “OPEN” road ( the one you should take more often)

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Argentina

We have all heard that life is a journey, right? Some people fly everywhere because it’s faster. You don’t see or learn much along the way but you do get to your destination faster and that is how the world in general seems to work nowadays, isn’t it? Quick, quick, quick; no time for anything or anyone.

I think we need to have more road trips in our lives. A long road trip gives you many options. You can go in style or you can hitchhike your way along in bare feet.  You can be the driver who is in control of everything or you could be the driver who wants to be in control but really isn’t. You could be a passenger who wants to be in control, aka the backseat driver, or one who wants to sleep. It’s up to you. There are so many variations and combinations. The other thing a road trip does is give you time to think; to ponder on all sorts of things that you may not have the opportunity to do when you are presented with so many distractions when travelling by air.

People that I road trip with have a love/hate relationship with me being their passenger. They hate it because I hate maps and spend most of my time as a passenger looking out the window at the scenery and turning up the volume of whatever music I happen to put on so that I can have my little in- car concert experience, yet they love it for the exact same reasons. Plus there is usually fun food involved.

Now on my own personal life journey, I just see what unfolds before me or better put, inside me.  Don’t get me wrong, I MAY have a  life map just to let me know that I am in the correct hemisphere but many times I just crumple it up and put it away for another time when I may really need it. I am open to the idea of planning something out and then at the last minute something happens and I end up somewhere completely different; a new adventure. That has happened to me a few times.

Many years ago I travelled to Paris by myself and one night I decided that the following day would be spent in another part of the country. When I woke up the next morning I decided to go somewhere completely different. That is one good thing about taking a journey alone sometimes; you can do whatever you want. By spontaneously changing my plan, I have no idea what I missed and had an amazing day where I ended up.

Last summer I was doing what I thought was going to be a quick walk with my dog before lunch; just a short one because I was getting hungry. I had 2 poo bags for her and my keys when I left. That’s it. My intended 15 minute walk turned into 3 hours because the two of us ran into a friend who owns a boat cruise company and he asked if we wanted to go on his boat with some tourists. Nice sunny day, why not?  I decided to get off at the halfway point and walk around for a bit before returning home. Luckily we caught the free ferry back and met a woman aboard who offered to share some strawberries with me after hearing my story about having nothing more than one poo  bag for my mutt and my keys. Ah, the kindness of strangers!

What a fun day. You never know where life will take you but it will take you somewhere and I have found that if you just stay open to the infinite possibilities and  opportunities when they present themselves it usually ends up being a pretty cool time.

What pleasant, unexpected detour did you take in your life and where did it take you?

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