Small Travels

So today, I didn’t travel very far, but for me, it is still a journey worth writing about. I’m usually the one driving when I go on the 10 or the 101 or the 110 or the 405 or really any of the freeways in Los Angeles, because 1. I have a car and 2. I like to drive. I mean, my job for the past 2 and a half years has been driving people from one place to another place safely near campus. (Yes, for most of my college career, I was also basically a glorified taxi cab, who wasn’t allowed to take tips.) But today, today my friend drove us to the movie theater (we ended up seeing Pirates 4. Not bad, but not good either.) and I just looked at the view.

Sometimes, I forget just how lucky I am that my parents let me go to college (and an expensive one at that) all the way across the country. Right now, one of my younger cousins is fighting her parents just to be able to be more than an hour away.

Anyway, today is a beautiful, glorious, clear day full of sunshine and with barely a cloud in the sky. The palm trees are amazing, the hills are spectacular, and the buildings reflect the sunbeams in just a way that, to me, everything seems to sparkle. I love Southern California and I am sad that I will be leaving, maybe forever, at the end of the summer, but I’m also happy to be moving on to something that may be bigger and better for me.

These small car journeys, even when I am stuck in the terrible traffic that plagues LA, are fun for me, especially when I am alone. I blast my music, I talk to myself, I read the bumper stickers of the cars around, and I look at the license plates. I’m calm when I am on my own. I don’t have to keep someone else occupied. Although, I have to admit, on long car journeys, it is always very nice to have somebody with you. I’d say any journey over 2 hours qualifies as long, especially in a car. In a train, not so much, because you can get up and walk around, go to the bathroom without having to change course, you can read, and you can just be at peace. And airplanes, well, it is always nice to have company in an airport to watch you stuff when you need to go to the bathroom, but not always necessary. I have mastered the art of flying alone. Round-trip flying at least four times a year will do that to you.

So today, as we were cruising along the highway, I just felt right. I must admit, at times, I don’t feel like I am in the right place, or with the right people, or even that I am the person that is standing before me in the mirror, but sometimes, these crystal clear moments of bliss in a car, on the beach, sitting in my room reading, at work or talking to people remind me that I have made choices to be where I am and who I am. I guess what I am saying is that life is a journey. (Cliché, I know, but how else can it be said?)

I value the moments I am allowed to spend living the life I always dreamed when I was younger. I’m doing it now. And I am so proud.