Long Drive

For most people, driving 260 miles in a day would be exhausting, painful, and miserable. Fortunately, I am not most people. Because my day today consisted of precisely 260 miles behind the wheel, with nothing but music keeping me company for the total almost six combined hours of my trip.

What's really awesome though, is that I've been awake since 5 am and am still averaging five hours of sleep per night. So yes, I felt exhausted when setting out to go one way, and exhausted when setting out to go back. But driving doesn't put me to sleep or fatigue me, not mentally at least. It energizes me. Because now, having come back to my current place of residence, I am awake, and alert, and largely satisfied despite the pain in my legs from walking, my back from sitting, and my head from dehydration...then again, I've gotten used to all of those.

So basically, I drove six hours today to spend about a third as much time with someone. Most people would be rather upset by this. I couldn't be happier, because that means that I got to see someone I miss, and I got to spend six hours driving. I've mentioned before how much I love driving for the sensation of going somewhere and accomplishing something without having to actually be concentrating too hard or working at anything in particular.

That's why I enjoyed today so much. Yes, I was exhausted most of it. And yes, I spent more time on the road than I did either at home or with the person I wanted to see. But the time I spent there was worthwhile, and the time I spent on the road was enjoyable. So really, I see pretty much no downsides to this entire day (with the exception of the fact that I now realize that I have work in two days, waking up for which is not going to be fun).

I need to take long trips like this more often. They rejuvenate me probably more than most other things I could do with my time, and they are a wonderful way to get out of a given place where I am currently trapped. I'm really liking this idea.