Vroom. Vroom. Zipping through the winding roads, cruising past beautiful scenery, and listening to the heart of the car fills the very moments I spend in my vehicle. I have taken many road trips with friends, with my boyfriend, and alone. Living three and half hours away from home, I have made the drive back and forth plenty of times. I pack my car the night before, and as soon as class lets out I hop in my car with my phone prepared with jams for the ride. I stick the key in the ignition and then I turn it to the right. The car starts, I pull out, and then I am off on my journey. Every car ride is a new adventure. Sometimes there are detours or traffic jams that vary from ride to ride. I can look up the map to see what might be ahead, but in driving you really have no clue of what might happen until it happens. That is so real in my own life.

The fear of the future is a very true thing to me. I absolutely hate not having everything mapped out, or being able to plan things ahead of time. With recent circumstances this has been something I have had to face time and time again, and I just cannot seem to figure it out. In driving I just dive right in, and I take it a mile at a time. I need to do the same with my life. I can only take it one day at a time. I need to attack the problems that arise head on, and approach any detours as they come. When driving, I have to strategically get through on going traffic to get to my destination. I have to circumnavigate around different vehicles and road blocks. In life, it is crucial for my well-being for me to go around all of the things that are trying to slow me down or distract me from getting to where I want to be.

When my boyfriend was granted leave before his deployment, he had asked me to come pick him up. Preparing for the trip, I packed food and clothes. I looked up any potential road problems. I changed my oil and checked my tires. I packed a tool kit and had emergency cash. I had enough music for a day’s worth of driving. I did everything in my power to be prepared for the worst. As I was driving the eleven-hour trip, I ran across a huge traffic jam that delayed me an hour. The drive to him was incredibly wavy on the mountains, and it was not what I was used to. However, I got to see some beautiful scenes I would not have seen if I did not take that route. I could not accelerate on the turn as much as I am use to, that delayed my time. Somehow on the trip, I ended up in a small town where the speed limit was 20 MPH versus being on the highway at 55 MPH. This delayed me. I felt frustration because I had gained more time than I could ever imagine. Lastly, I took a wrong turn and missed the NEX where I was supposed to meet my boyfriend. This delayed me fifth teen minutes. Why did I get so delayed when I had planned the whole thing out? Simply because in driving you have no clue what is going to happen just like in life. I eventually made it to my destination, and that was the most rewarding part of the entire drive. Of course it could have gone differently, and that is the funny thing about road trips.

Cross bridges when they come and do not fret if life takes you on a different journey than expected.