Hit the Road - My American Life

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/102/road-trip

There are times that I think about doing a road trip, and there are some weird corners of it that seem amazing. Going to a place that I've never been before, getting lost, seeing things for the first time, all amazing things that I would love to do.

Last year we went to Boston so that I could walk for my graduation, and I loved it.

I love seeing a new city, I loved going out and seeing new places, and I loved the idea that no one in hundreds of miles knew who I was. I love that idea. I love that idea of a new start, of a new ability to do whatever I want and having no ties to whatever else is going on. I love that idea.

The thing I don't like, the thing that this episode is all about, is the travel between those points. I want a new start, I want to be able to be in a new place, experience new things, see new people, get a new start, I just don't want to have to drive there.

The problem with this is that up to this point in my life, I can easily say that I have stayed in the same corner of the United states my entire life. For every little bit of my life, for everything that makes me, me, I've been stuck to a few places. Even though I've been stuck in this little corner of the world, stuck to the same cities and same areas over and over again, I really want to see other places. I like having a house, and I like having jobs that are actually in my field that I care about, but at the same time, I would really like to set foot in a city that is new to me and my family. I really would love to be in a place that my sisters haven't lived in, my parents haven't lived in, or even a city that they have visited. I know that it's shallow to even think that way, but I really just want a city, an area, a corner of this world to myself. That's what makes me want to go on a road trip. Not the driving, not the endless road, I just want a place of my own that is fresh, and doesn't carry with it the history of me, my family, or anything else. It can be a huge city of millions of people, I just want a place that isn't tainted in my own family history.