The Road Less Traveled Makes the Journey Quicker

Alas! It has been far too long since my last post, I am sad to say. Unfortunately little travelling has been happening to talk about. The last trip I went on was a few weeks ago.

My boyfriend and I drove up to Wesleyan University to visit his friend from high school. I hesitated when he first asked me if I wanted to go -- first of all, it was super short notice (as in, like, a day) and I'm the type of person who has to plan everything. Everything. I hate going somewhere without having a plan. I'm okay with departing from the plan in certain circumstances or if I'm in a particularly whimsical mood, but I need that safety net of having a plan. Second of all, it's a looooooong car ride.

So I had had the idea in my head to enjoy a nice long weekend of nothingness, a plan which my boyfriend was suddenly challenging with his whole concept of getting out of the house and having a life. Psh. What foolishness! ;)

Seeing my hesitation, he said he was going anyways and could just take the train.

And I thought of him sitting on the train lonely and bored, and then having to deal with the hassle of several transfers along the way. I couldn't let him do that! I'd feel too guilty.

I had to admit, getting out of the house would be a fun thing to do. Probably my hesitation was due to the fear of meeting The Best Friend. I've only met my boyfriend's brother, and none of the rest of his family, since they all live out in Ohio and there's never been any opportunities for that. So the next thing is The Best Friend, which is intimidating if you're a shy person like me.

So we drove.

Hopefully this long, roundabout way of getting to that point can help you sense the length of a carride up to Wesleyan. Granted, it's nowhere near as long as the car ride to Boston, which we did back in March, but 3 hours each way in one day is a lot of time on the road.

The Alphabet Game
The Alphabet Game is a game my family (along with many others, I'm sure) likes to play on long car rides.
How to play:

• Find a word on a sign that begins with the letter A
• Can look at anything: a road sign, a billboard, even a bumper sticker
• Once you find a word that begins with "A", move on to the letter "B"
• Can be collaborative or competitive
• Can use "Exit" for a word that starts with "x", but in this case, cannot use "Exit" for "e". This is to prevent the game from stalling

If you're going to be spending that much time on the road, and if you're going to be leaving New Jersey, then you'll inevitably be passing through a toll. You better have your EZ-Pass ready! Fortunately we did have our EZ-Pass all set up and it was our first chance to use it. We cruised through the EZ-Pass lane without having to stop to toss some change into a basket. Yay!

The next thing you need if you're going to be spending that much time on the road is entertainment. Whether it's the Alphabet Game, a good conversation, or awesome music, you need something to keep your mind occupied. It just so happened that we chose The Scenic Route.

Our decision to take Connecticut Route 15 was mainly to avoid 95, but it turned out to go through a park. Blah blah blah, road less travelled. So glad we took it because it was beautiful. Specifically, the Merritt Parkway section. A gorgeous spring day, with the sunlight streaming through the tree canopy as we sped along. It’s a 3 hour road trip for us up to Wesleyan, so anything that can make the time pass a little quicker is welcomed. Sometimes you can find little treasures on your journey in unexpected places. The road can be long and tedious, but finding ways to break it up and make the trip less monotonous can make the time pass all that much quicker.

Sometimes part of the fun is in the journey, and keeping these things in mind when planning a day trip or even a long road trip can make hard car rides a little bit more bearable. We certainly enjoyed our venture and I would definitely encourage people to take the road less traveled. You never know what you'll find. :)