No, we didn’t count how often we encountered it. But we did notice that people seem to see a sign beneath it reading, “Prizes awarded to those who get to the point of merging first!”
We are left to ponder the competitive nature of our society in general. A distant cousin in the Netherlands posted this morning about her son being bullied during his elementary school career. I think there’s a correlation here. (Not between road closings in the U.S. and schools in Holland, but between the constant competition and bullying.)
I might also be tired of driving. Today is our third day with a low goal of 250 miles. I can do this. I’m not excited about it but I can do this. Wait! Is that a form of competing with myself?
Life is not just about setting records.
As another example, I never intended to publish daily. (I did intend to keep a daily journal.) But here I am. I did look at today’s route and it does include some “non-Interestate” miles. Somehow, that’s a relief. Stopping for traffic lights seems better than being squeezed out by people who want to get there first.
I did need to refuel yesterday. The Ram has a range of 600 miles on a tank of gas! And we are averaging 20 MPG, even with all the merging and 10 MPH speeds.
But it would be nice to slow down because we want to and not because we have to!
I seem to recall describing Road Trip 2024 as a low-stress effort. Since the theory of relativity has also been mentioned, I should perhaps note that stress has value. In simplest terms, stress can increase performance and alertness. For more than a few hours yesterday (day one), I was very alert and performed well.
Nearly 400 miles of mostly Interstate Highway driving can become boring. It can also be exciting. I have never been a fan of I-495 in Massachusetts. There are simply too many cars (and trucks), and one accepts the idea that Interstate Highway is not synonymous with high-speed travel. In fact, one has an opportunity to consider how unskilled many drivers are when it comes to limited-access highway driving. The concepts of yielding when entering and choosing lanes based on speed seem to escape many.
As luck would have it, we ended up traveling through Hartford, Connecticut, during the beginning of evening rush hour. There isn’t a word to describe it. “Organized chaos” doesn’t do it justice.”
We noted the fact that the roadsides leaving the city are replete with huge billboards, most advertising personal injury attorneys. There might be a connection between those signs and the way traffic moves. In addition to the lack of yielding and unskilled lane changes, we also experienced drag racing. If several cars leave more than a car length between them, you get treated to watching other cars weave through the traffic at double the average rate of speed by taking advantage of those openings. And motorcycles! A car length is not required.
We took some relief in the fact that we weren’t traveling in a small vehicle, although we experienced a shot of adrenalin when a larger truck towing a trailer decided to move left, the trailer missing the front of our neighbor’s car by literally inches. This happened during a few moments of relatively high-speed travel. Seconds later, when our rate of travel dropped to almost zero, we noticed our neighbor hung back and left several car lengths between her and the truck/trailer. I suspect she was relieved when someone filled it.
We survived unscathed.
Maybe. Some research has suggested that stress actually encourages the growth of neurons and stem cells, improving memory.1 Maybe we were scathed, but in a positive way.
We’ve traveled this route before. When we leave here, we often stay off the highway for a few dozen miles, poking along at a more leisurely pace until we cross the Hudson River.
It’s just about a half-mile from our house to the paved road. As we settle in our seats, that half-mile is an opportunity for us to clear our heads and remember something we either forgot or didn’t do. At the risk of bragging, we rarely find it necessary to turn around and go back.
Our first break will likely be in Gardiner, where we’ll recycle some coffee. Following the wisdom of serious road trippers, our first day is our most ambitious with a goal of Danbury, CT. It’s all familiar territory, and if we get an early start, the traffic on 495 should be tolerable. Note that we didn’t plan to leave Maine on Sunday.
Are we ready? A common answer is, “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” So there might be a theory of relativity on readiness. I just remembered a few minutes ago that I need to pump up the EZ Pass. I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was! (Yes, it does so automatically. But depending on technology is not without hazards. A few years ago, I went through two tolls close together. The balance ran out after the first one, and I didn’t have time to replenish before the second. A $2 toll became $30.)
Have we left? Well, not physically. But in our minds…
So many things are relative. That might mean there are more processes than events, and that’s worth considering.
Many years ago, I attended Berkshire Community College. The first president, Tom O’Connell, was justifiably proud of our motto. “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.” I remember him talking about it during a “President’s Hour.” I think he planted the seeds of my belief that life is an “unfinishedness.” For that matter, arriving may be relative as well. While planning and goals are important, we live in present moments.
Simple. This trip started months ago. When will it end? Maybe, in the truest sense, it won’t. Those present moments create change.
This portion of life’s journey begins with rereading “The Brook” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river, For men may come and men may go, But I go on for ever.
I am rarely accused of being a spontaneous person. Bring on the spreadsheets and checklists! I like to think it makes me handy to have around. But I also have to be cautious that I’m not thinking so far ahead I forget what I’m doing today.
Since Road Trip 2024 is supposed to be about simplicity and tradition, it should also be “low-stress.” I’ve been working on what I call “positive apathy,” which I define (simply) as zero-based caring. It’s sort of like zero-based budgeting. You start with nothing (no worries) and selectively decide what to add. It helps to see it as having a worry box that is of limited size. You can only put so much in it.
There’s a lot of apathy these days, but who cares?”
“Mr. Boomsma”
Knowing the Amish has helped with this. They tend to be selective and deliberate. While we are worried that we don’t have the latest technology, the Amish think about whether or not it contributes to their lifestyle. I wonder how they pack and decide what to bring when they go on vacation? I may have to ask about that!
In my days as a road warrior, I was a bit of a minimalist but also thorough. I tend to be attracted to the travel size section in stores. While getting ready for this trip, I realized I’m still using the same toiletry bag I used decades ago. Back then, my goal was “what’s the smallest size suitcase I can get away with?” and I never checked luggage. Today, I remember our financial planner’s wisdom. “At this point in your life, the two most important words are comfort and fun.”
There are still a few nooks and crannies–one more bag to go!
The Ram 1500 with a cap affords a lot of opportunity to carry creature comforts. Totes are my friends. Age is not. In anticipation of this trip I bought a pill box that accommodates thirty days worth. A separate Ziplock bag carries the “just in case” stuff. My toiletry bag now goes in a bigger bag.
And I remind myself that I’m a problem-solver. Running out of shaving cream won’t constitute a crisis. (Did you know that shampoo or conditioner works for shaving in a pinch?)
“Getting ready” includes a bit more abstract mental preparation. It might be more important than packing enough shaving crema. In the past, when we’d rush around to pack and take care of things before leaving, I’d joke, “We have to hurry up so we can slow down and relax!”
It’s funny but also wrong, really. Steven Covey says, “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” A schedule is a bit like the worry box–you can only fit so much in it. My Amish friend Rachel has it figured out.
We leave tomorrow morning. I like that deadline! The truck will be pretty full. The worry box is almost empty. The schedule is relaxed and leisurely.
In the previous post, I mentioned the possibility of “coincidence or Karma” influencing some of our decisions. We were initially planning a “Road Trip 2025.” How that became “Road Trip 2024” might be a matter of coincidence or Karma.
My uncle was a dairy farmer. I blame him for my interest and love of all things cow. As a kid, I “helped” put up hay bales (rode on the baler), stood in the silo while it rained silage, helped with the milking… Our only difference was that he loved to watch horse pulling at fairs. I prefer ox draws. The competition is fun, but I just enjoy watching a good team being driven by a skilled teamster. Somewhere along the way, I realized I’d love to be “in the pit” and closer to the oxen.
For the uninitiated, an ox (singular) is a bovine trained and used as a draft animal. They are usually castrated bulls and fairly docile and safe to work with and are best trained starting as calves. The vocabulary is potentially confusing. In simple terms, oxen are castrated mature males. Cows are mature females that have been bred.
“The cow is of the bovine ilk; one end is moo, the other milk.”
Ogden Nash
I stumbled on to the Tillers International Website and learned they offer workshops (“hands on”) teaching how to train and drive oxen. It took some rationalizing, but I signed up, at first thinking it might be one of the most useless things I’ve done. It didn’t take long for this to morph into Road Trip 2024–visiting simplicity and tradition. The trip will include some time with Amish Communities and serve as research for a book on hope to write.
For a preview of “the show,” I can offer this video of a previous workshop held in June, 2024.
Can’t wait to smell some hay!
We’ll also spend a week in Holmes County, Ohio where the Amish flourish, visit a young Mennonite Friend in Indiana, and see some Amish friends in Pennysylvania. Three to get ready!
Walter Boomsma (“Mr. Boomsma”) writes on a wide array of topics including personal development, teaching and learning. Course information is also available here!
