Why you should take a road trip

For me, I’ve always been in love with traveling. However at this time last year, traveling in my eyes meant getting on a plane and adventuring to lands far, far away. Looking back this was a very naive way to approach travel because there are plenty of places to explore right here in the U.S.

Lately, road tripping has become more popular. After seeing countless photos on Instagram dedicated to life on the road I fell in love with the freedom that they portrayed and after so many years of having a path to follow I wanted to get lost. So, my best friend and I made a promise. We would travel the U.S. by car for six weeks, we planned out the route, made sure we had most of what we needed, and we started driving. 

At 21, freshly graduated from college, with no immediate job or place to be the real question I asked myself was, “Why WOULDN”T I do this now?” I couldn’t come up with an answer that outweighed my reasons for going so off I went for 10,000 plus miles. 

Now, there are many practical reasons why taking a road trip is a good thing. For one, it teaches you how to read a map, (or if you use a GPS, you at least will stare at a map more.) If you are a broke- just out of- college person, like me then it forces you to learn how to be mindful of your budget, it even teaches you how to become a more confident driver. But, in the long run what really counts is that a road trip will teach you more about yourself and this world.  You’ll learn lessons that you probably never would have figured out otherwise. Or  if you did figure them out it would probably happen years later - (after you had taken that crappy paying job right out of college to make ends meet). Basically, consider yourself ahead of the game. 

So, why should you take a road trip? Here is my list. 

1. Because it teaches you how to find your way

 Life on the road made me realize exactly where I was going. Before I felt lost, confused, and overwhelmed with the world I was facing. Driving from one side of the country to the other gave me a literal sense of direction and a figurative one. I became more confident in starting my own path and traveling it. 

2. Because being on the road gives you a sense of freedom

For the most part everything is up to you. Where you go, how long you stay, where you sleep…There isn’t anyone or anything forcing you to follow that road. It’s purely you and your wanderlust that keeps you going. 

3. Because you stop fearing the unknown so much

Life is seriously full of unknown things. It’s human nature to be afraid of that. Sure, you typically know where you are going and you have expectations, but that’s all they are… expectations. You won’t know what something will really by like until you are there in that moment. Depending on your budget you won’t know where you will end up sleeping that night, or what your next meal will be. It’s both terrifying and exhilarating and overcoming such a fear will make you stronger. 

4. Because it teaches you how to appreciate the small things and live in the moment

How many times have you thought to yourself, “Only three more months until that awesome vacation.” or “150 days until graduation”? We tend to live of lives with countdowns measured using big or important events in our lives. On the road you live for the moments you create, the sunrises from the trunk of a car parked a top a mountain overlooking something amazing, the nights spent under the stars where a million wishes might come true and you realize how happiness can come even when you weren’t looking forward to anything. Life on the road will also place the value on things that once seemed insignificant.

 Say perhaps, a hot shower, or a shower at all. A nice home cooked meal, a familiar place. Things that often go unnoticed jump out. And the things you thought you couldn’t live without like, internet, social media, cell service, tv, a queen sized bed don’t seem to matter anymore, or maybe you don’t even notice their gone. Either way you find yourself becoming happier living a more simple life. 

5. Because you fall more in love with yourself and this world 

It’s a given that no matter where you end up you will be seeing beautiful places. You will realize just how big our world is, and how wonderful it can be. You will find a new love for your home, the place you came from. You will fall head over heels for many of the different places you see and immediately make plans to visit again soon. And you will realize that no matter where you are in this world any place can be seen as special, depending on how you are willing to look at it. But above everything, you will come back home with a greater love for yourself, the person you have become and the person you have the strength to be. It gives you a deep satisfaction that you can’t always get behind a desk, or even within the walls of a family. It comes from you and it makes your future feel bright. 

Well, you read my list. So, go! Get out there and see what you can find. I bet when you come home you will already be ready for road trip number two!. 

Please feel free to check out my Instagram for more road trip photos and adventures.

X.O.

Tava