During a recent visit to the Winston Contemporary Art gallery, I was drawn into Abiola Wabara‘s painting titled, Are We There Yet? I chuckled to myself, because I saw Little Raquel in dozens of past scenarios asking the same question. I thought about this painting long after I left the gallery and it inspired me revisit my hatred for road trips. Good art will do that to you.
Photo by Raquel Seymone for Black Girl Meets World
My Worst, Memorable Road Trips
I took my first road trip 20 years ago when my family drove from Maryland to Florida to visit Disney World, and I hated every moment of the drive! Yes, every moment. As an adult, Houston to New Orleans (about 6 hours) is my road trip limit; anything beyond that and I want to fly.
The longest road trip I’ve ever been on was from Houston to Florida with multiple stops in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. It was a 10-day work trip with 4 male coworkers 30 years my senior. (Yes, that experience was as cringe-y as you’re imagining.) I survived the work road trip from hell by claiming the third row of the SUV to myself and keeping my headphones plugged in while pretending I was asleep. When I made it back to Houston, I swore I’d never road trip across the country again.
What was the point of road trips when I could fly?
Now, this pandemic has me reconsidering the role of road trips in my future travels.
I, like many others, had big travel plans for 2020. Then the world stopped, and I watched a lot of the destinations on my 2020 list close their borders to my lil’ blue passport – and rightfully so! I accepted that my airplane mode desires were likely a bust for the remainder of the year.
I decided to pivot and give road trips a second look. Honestly, I’m still not enthused by the thought of embracing road trips, but 2020 is the year of the next normal, so I’m open. I’m even headed on a road trip soon! I volunteered to help my friend relocate from Houston to Louisville, Kentucky. A 13+ hour road trip is one way to dive in, right?!
Do you like taking road trips?
Road trips have never been my preferred mode of travel, but hopefully I’ll come around to them soon. I’ll be sure to share my road trip when I return.
