Introduction

I cannot sit still. I am restless and bored. It’s an affliction. I see age and death waiting in still and silent corners. I have tried to change my attitude, to meditate, to apply gratitude. I have switched careers, addresses, relationships. All have a sedative effect. These solutions ease my anxiety momentarily, but eventually, a familiar disease gnaws at my gut. I start noting the exits, eyeing calendars, and tracing interstates in Atlases. I have recently come to understand and to accept the solution to my affliction is not singular change, but permanent exploration. “The Road” calls to me. If you don’t already know the sensation I’m describing, I’m not sure I can explain it, but I'll try: I imagine blacktop segmented by hypnotic yellow lines. I imagine loud music through car speakers, open windows and fresh air. I imagine imagining the place I might land next, if the people are friendly, if the food is interesting, what the weather might be. Through all of this I am afloat on anticipation. And I am aware of the power that lies in the temporary things, of the freedom. Jack Kerouac put it a little differently:

"What is that feeling when you're driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks disappearing? -it's the too-huge world vaulting us, and it's good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy adventure beneath the skies." - On the Road. 

Let me be clear, I have a good life, filled with honorable and generous people whom I appreciate and adore. I am not in search of a relaxing vacation where I might sprawl out on a beach with a book simply to get away from it all. I am not running away, but rather toward: adventure, exploration, and possibility. And I will take advantage of every opportunity I get to ramble.