Wanderlust
The tires grip the road, I’m behind the wheel. My car speeds up I-75 on its way to Gainesville. The thoughts cross my mind, “What would happen if I kept on going all the way to Canada? Where does I-75 end? Does it become another interstate in Canada? Would I wind up on the shores of Hudson Bay?” Then the more realistic questions begin to hit: “Would I be able to catch up in my classes? How much would it cost to do that? How long would it take?”
Recently, I have been overcome with a sense of wanderlust, I’m itching to get out and have an adventure. I tell my friends that I want to take a road trip to Zion National Park in Utah and I’m dead serious. Last summer my friend Greg and I went on a road trip starting in Orlando and making stops in Chattanooga, Knoxville, Lexington, Cincinnati, Lafayette, Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. We went all over the Midwest and then back again. It was amazing and I am yearning for another equally exciting adventure.
So far this summer I’ve traveled to Pensacola a few times and I’ve driven to Ruston, Louisiana (about 2 hours from the Texas border). On the last day of my trip I longed to hop in my car and head west instead of east. I have only been to Texas once before, and that was when I was a toddler. What’s Texas like? Where does I-20 stop? How big are the waves in Los Angeles? How long does it take to drive from San Diego to Seattle? My mouth salivates with the prospects.
Even as I write this, I feel an energy surge up inside of me: I want to travel. I want to travel big. I would love and devour the opportunity to outline the United States in my car one summer. To drive on I-10 or I-20 from Florida to California, then up the West Coast, through Canada, and then down the Eastern Seaboard to Florida. Some of my friends and I are talking about going to New York again this summer, and that sounds great, but I’m ready to do something new. I’m ready to go mountain biking in the Rockies, hang gliding in the Sierra Nevadas, or see a whale in Puget Sound. Maybe I could make an adventure out of our New York trip too. Maybe we could stop in Philadelphia, make our way to Boston, or see the CN Tower in Toronto… that’s an adventure.
At the same time that I’m filled with this wanderlust, it also has its limitations. While I’m ready to spread my wings and soar over the nation, I’m reluctant to travel long term. I’d love to go on an adventure, so long as I’m not away from the amenities of home too long. My friend Jodi is in England right now for 8 months. I was excited at the prospect of doing something like that too (going to China for a year or two), but then as I walked across campus today with my iPod, I realized how much I would miss things like my music, movies, friends, and the many other things I would have to leave behind. I’m ready for an adventure, so long as it doesn’t take me too far.
Actually, I can take most of that with me. Screw it, I’m going. I’m going where God wants me.
