Tuesday Treasures: Me, Beep & the Open Road

I figured it wasn’t fair to ask people to open up and share their treasures with me without sharing a few of my own. In the process, I realized it’s sometimes challenging to verbalize what’s truly important to us and why. Some things are obvious and universal (good friends, family, health), while defining what is uniquely important to us can be difficult to express.

Of the many things I treasure, Mr. Beep Beep is one of them. Beep, as he is affectionately referred to, is my MINI Cooper convertible. Yes, it makes me laugh (and a little self-conscious) to admit I treasure a hunk of metal painted British Racing Green. It’s not that I’m a car person. I walk and bike as many places I can. Cars have never been a status symbol for me as evidenced by the beat-up, rusted-out Toyota I drove for years….

But Beep is more than a car – he is my ticket to the open road, my ticket to freedom, my excuse to get out of town. But more important, he’s my excuse to get me out of my own daily routines, ruts and patterns. Suddenly, under the influence of the open road,  I can calm my mind, collect my thoughts and kindle new ideas…all while being frisked about twisty roads with the sun over head and faint smells of eucalyptus trees and ocean in the air.  A long weekend drive with the top down is a moving meditation through time, space and nature.  

The open road has been a source of many turning points for me. It’s provided perspective on where I’ve been and helped illuminate places I want to go.  

Six years ago, on a cold January afternoon, I took a solo road trip from Dallas to Austin. I was stuck in a job I didn’t enjoy, working 12 hour days with people I didn’t like, traveling weekly to places I’d rather not be. On that desolate drive, with the hum of the road under my feet and the music of Wilco blasting through the speakers,  I asked myself “How did my life become this? Was this what I imagined it would be?” The answer was simple. Five months later I had moved on.

Another time, I took the wrong exit from Newark Airport. Not knowing where I was or which exit I should take, I trusted my internal compass to put me back on track. There was an overwhelming sense of liberation accepting that I was lost and choosing to go with the flow instead of panicking. I was going through a break up at the time and it helped reassure me that feeling lost or confused did not need to be a defeating emotion.

When found out I was losing my current job, I took a road trip to Mendocino. The drive up Highway 1 among the wind-beaten rock formations made me appreciate the resilience of the natural world and its rugged beauty. It provided comfort that I would survive and reinforced that I was somehow bigger than this small wind storm in time. I returned from the excursion with the conviction that I was going on this trip.

Perhaps there are never more open roads available to me than at this point in time, as I prepare to embark on my around-the-world adventure. I can’t wait for the insights and new paths that may open up to me. In the meantime, me and Beep can be seen cruising down the 101, wind in our faces, singing and humming at the top of our lungs…