Road trips

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Taking a ride along roads to places new can be likened to roads of discovery in other areas of our life too. Having time to think as the world passes us - moving away from home, work – leaving our worries behind, allows new thoughts to open up and bring about a freer state of being. This was the idea behind the mind-altering trip that the Merry Pranksters took in their bus way back at the start of the hippy revolution in 1964. Those heady psychedelic days may now be gone, but the open road is still there for another kind of mind-altering trip.

Looking for any evidence to support the happiness I feel when I'm on the road, I can only find religious references. It's interesting that so much is put on discovery of religion but little comes up on self discovery through travel. The closest I have found is through reading The Art of Travel by Alain Botton - although, he ventures further afield to find himself through travel and art. Yet, simply whizzing along in a car is largely overlooked in this profound book for having any life epiphanies take place and it really can be that simple.

When those poor lost souls 'discover' religion, they are moving from their current 'place' or state of mind - where they are weighed down with all their life baggage - to a newer place in their minds where they feel the merits of discovery in the form of religion. It's all merely a state of mind - can't they see that? So, I'd concede that this same baggage-dropping state can equally be found by going on a journey to new places in a car.

The very act of driving means we are constantly in the moment - checking the road situation, reading signs, maps, gauges. It's a form of meditation in itself - especially so on those long trips that demand extended periods of concentration. For a passenger, it's a very confronting state as the responsibility for safety is on the driver. This allows all other thoughts to flow through the mind and this is where we can practice the art of observing these thoughts as they pass in front of us - choosing which ones to listen to and take action on.

This quality time can prove to be the best for making tough life decisions and is a place for coming to the realisation that whatever baggage we've 'left' behind, can even be left behind on our return from being on the road to discovery.