By Kaylee Johnson
Campus News
Like an elusive debutante literary character, I spent holiday break exploring Historic Route 66 and the Nevada dessert after getting my heart broken and experiencing a creative awakening. The empty roads and dry air acted as a sort of temporary wound sealant. For nine days I was completely carefree; the epitome of a twenty-year-old artist. There was a sense of clarity in my eyes during that trip that had disappeared for four dark months.
This trip would not have been possible without a rental car, and my family members’ off-color commentary. In nine days, we explored the Las Vegas Strip, Red Rock Canyon, Seven Magic Mountains, Disneyland, Disney’s California Adventure, Santa Monica Pier, Oatman Ghost Town, Arizona, Route 66, and Henderson. With enough careful planning you can pack all of this into one week, but first you must be willing to drive and embrace spontaneity.
I could not imagine spending a week on the Las Vegas Strip walking through hotels and watching drunken cowboy-hat wearing frat boys dance to the soulless live performers that sing the same three songs every night and then go home, look in the mirror and feel nothing but numb; pulseless. The real fun is outside of Las Vegas, and none of it is expensive. Most shows in Las Vegas are pricey and overrated, but a hike around Red Rock Canyon costs fifteen dollars per car, and a parking spot at Santa Monica Pier is only five dollars per hour.
Perhaps the key to feeling freedom run through one’s coarse ashy veins is to break every unspoken rule of travel. Talk to the locals, they have stories too; find out about the façade of harmony they lust over or are drowning in. Venture far away from the resort areas and stand with someone you love for a while, looking at a rusted abandoned diner on a road that used to be something. Think about the squeaky-clean honeymooners of the past who loaded up their trunks with picnic baskets, swim caps, and camera film before embarking on a passionate three-week journey across the country. To them every seedy rest stop, empty gas tank, and scorching summer day was dreamlike; nuances of marriage. Focus less on menial travel planning and more on the direction your instincts are telling you to go.
Spring break is quickly approaching and if you don’t have any definite plans, I strongly suggest gathering a few people you love and driving somewhere new and interesting; anywhere. If you can’t think of a destination, let the destination choose you; get in your car and let your psyche do all the work. You will get wherever you are meant to go, eventually.
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