To call the seven-year-old me a troublemaker would not be an exaggeration. Being the rebellious third grader I was, the mischief I caused around the house gave my mom countless headaches. She still likes to tell people about the time I mimicked my dad and tried to shave my own chin.
I had watched him do it every morning and it seemed fun, so one day after he left for work, I picked up his shiny blue razor. But because I was seven and didn’t have the slightest bit of a beard, I ended up slicing off a sizeable chunk of skin. It bled and hurt a lot, but after a few weeks, I picked up my dad’s razor and did the exact same thing again. I thought that I’d get this shaving thing right the second time, so I obviously wasn’t a very smart kid. The point is that I liked to cause trouble.
After reading that, you’d probably think that the semi-annual road trips my family embarked on every year up until my sophomore year would spell disaster for this wild child and involve a lot of crying and general discomfort. But no, road trips were actually when I was at my calmest (before I matured into the intelligent, composed teenager I am today).
During these long car rides to various parts of northern California and Las Vegas, I was content with simply watching the scenery. Whether we were traveling through long stretches of the Mojave Desert or Malibu Beach, I would always be pressed up against the windows, marveling at one thing or another and quietly soaking in the land, people and nature. Every year while my brother slept next to me in the car, I would stay awake for the entire duration of the road trip, not wanting to miss seeing a single thing. My vigilance paid off.
I’ve seen mirages and passed by a number of interesting billboards, a staple of any good road trip, and witnessed so many simple yet dazzlingly beautiful things, like the Austrian Alps, just by staring through the car window in California, Taiwan and Germany. The journey is part of the adventure. While I’m usually the only one awake in a sea of sleepy passengers, watching landscapes slowly change still gives me a certain sense of calm and peace. Just for a few hours, I can escape to another world.
It’s amazing how often we drive hundreds of miles and never really stop to peer out at the changing scenes. So, the next time you’re stuck on a road trip, set aside your phone and ear buds and simply look out the window. Words can’t do what you’ll see justice, but it’ll be worth it, trust me.
TCHS School Newspaper