Coronado Eagle, Volume 1, Number 25, 12 June 1991 — The Road Trip, [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Road Trip,

a commentary by Ewan Campbell Stoelting.

There is something exhilarating about being on the road, about breaking free, about leaving the safety and comfort of one’s insular home and hitting the highway. It is an inexplicable feeling, an experience that one must be a part of to truly understand. Nothing matches the power of the American highway, the mystery of its thousand destinations, the majesty of its expanse. Leaving home and seeing it unfold before us is a true pleasure, a spiritual indulgence. There is intense excitement before the trip begins. The unknown is before us and anything can happen. Home is small, constricting, its matters are insignificant, minor in comparison to what lies ahead. The flicker of our ancestor’s pioneering spirit appears within us. We are ready to light out, escape what is old and mundane, become one with the tar and the gravel, the horizon and the sky.

Going on a road trip is a means of education, a way of shattering the xenophobic images we hold intact by the hearthside. It destroys our conceptions of what the outside is like, what outsiders are like. The road reveals what is inside all of us; boundless freedom and energy, the joy of discovery, the thrill of breaking away. It enhances our senses and lifts our spirits to new levels. The camaraderie felt on a road trip is beyond measure, friends, familiar and good, sharing in a joyous experience, traveling, laughing, staring in wonder at

the new sights laid before them. Friends drawn closer by the hours of endless concrete, and the shared exhilaration of a fascinating adventure. Such a hip is necessary, once in a while, for it is a cleansing, healing experience. It relieves the maddening drudgery of everyday life, it is a thing that everyone should take part of, everyone should experience, simply to understand the true meaning of liberty and freedom. It is a chance for everyone to join the spirit as it soars across the vibrant land.