Ghosts in The Attic

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

I can’t pick just one memorable road trip. Ever since I was little, we would pack up our suitcases and drive the two day drive to Florida or the Carolinas. Sure we flew sometimes, but my mom tended to get sick on planes, so we usually chose to stick with the car. I remember my first week with my drivers license I drove 10 hours to Minneapolis then on to Wisconsin Dells. The next month, 6 hours to Nashville—with my grandparents in the back complaining that I was going 5 miles over the speed limit..

I once drove 2400 miles in 12 days. From Illinois to Wyoming then through Colorado and back. That was both a wonderful and awful trip. It was the first time I had truly seen mountains (I don’t consider the Appalachians ‘true’ mountains) and it changed my life. I was also stuck with my annoying ex as a passenger who controlled all the money and spent his spare time arguing with me.

Me and him drove to Florida multiple times and Colorado multiple times. Each trip both memorable and chaotic. I can laugh now but man they were mayhem.

A few years ago I drove from south Florida to New Jersey which was a marathon run and was an amazing trip though my gallbladder was failing and I was in agony.

This past summer I drove around Spain and through the alps in Italy from Milano to Trentino to Sandrio and the Swiss border then back again. I can tell you as someone who has driven in most of the US states, it is a completely different animal driving in Europe and in mountains. I covered both the Spanish Pyrenees, the region of Aragon and the Italian alps all in vehicles that were normal sized in my eyes but absolute monstrosities on European roads. I put in 12 hours one day, making my way from Lago di Garda to Milano.

Wending and weaving through the mountains and past scenery the likes of which I was so fortunate to see, but also required my constant focus and attention, lest I look for too long at a glacier and drive us off a cliff. That night I drove through the closest thing I’ve seen to driving in a hurricane outside of actually driving through hurricanes here (I like to do that when the opportunity arises) past Lago di Como and into a very flooded Milan.

It’s safe to say I’ve traveled far and wide. I’ve been more places than anyone in my family ever has and seen more than most could hope in a lifetime. I’m incredibly lucky. I’m not rich, I am quite frankly a bum. And I have chosen travel over most things that people strive for in life. I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever pay off all the debt I’ve accrued from my travels. From the looks of it I don’t know if banks will be around long enough to even demand their money back.

One thing is for sure though, I will always choose travel over staying put, experiencing cultures over the comfort of my own home, reveling in the unknown and exploring rather than fading away into obscurity.

Hopefully other countries will still have us after all the bullshit that our leaders are pulling. Please don’t count all of us as being lumbering selfish oafs. There are plenty of Americans who still value culture and community.