Road Trip
As we crossed the state line between Connecticut and New York on I-95 last Saturday evening, I was suddenly seized by a memory of a New England road trip from my much younger days. In the fall of 1983, in the company of seven other students from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, I had traveled this same stretch of road on a Saturday night, ending up in Times Square at midnight.
What were eight UTK college students doing in the Big Apple on a Saturday night during football season? We were slowly making our way south after attending the National Orientation Directors Association conference at the University of Vermont. We had served as SOAs at UTK the previous summer - Student Orientation Assistants - and that year our fabulous Orientation Director, Debby Schriver, was chosen to serve as NODA’s president. Debby hoped a contingent of SOAs could join her at NODA’s annual meeting, and we were happy to oblige.
UTK SOAs ready for a road trip (I’m the one wearing the stylish cap.)
Stunningly, university administrators green-lighted our trip and paid a portion of our expenses, while also allowing us to drive one of the school’s vans on our 2,000-mile road trip. At the age of 19, I wasn’t old enough to rent a car, but I would be permitted to drive a van from the UTK fleet into another country. (Yes, we crossed the border into Canada.)
Prior to our trip, one SOA enlisted her mother’s help to provide us with navigational guidance. In those pre-GPS days, we needed paper road maps. Since her mom was a member of the American Automobile Association, she had access to the best guide available - the AAA TripTik.
Paper navigation at its finest - the AAA TripTik
For those of you who aren’t familiar with AAA’s TripTik, these spiral bound map books were custom-made for travelers, based on their desired route. Each page covered roughly 80 miles, with the preferred route highlighted by the travel agent in yellow. I had never seen a TripTik before that fateful journey, but I was instantly hooked.
Our TripTik was designed to guide us from Knoxville to Burlington along the most direct route. To ensure that we didn’t miss more days of classes than necessary, we would drive through the night to complete the 17-hour journey, rotating drivers along the way. We arrived safely at the University of Vermont in time for the conference, exhausted but excited.
After the conference concluded, we seized the opportunity to explore an unfamiliar part of the country. Since we needed to be back on campus in time for classes on Monday morning, we had less than 48 hours to accomplish our travel goals. A quick side-trip to Montreal on Saturday morning was first on our itinerary; then we headed to Boston for the afternoon.
Having crossed those two cities off of our list, we piled into the van and headed for the Big Apple. At least we thought we were heading to NYC. Why was it taking so long? Unfortunately, none of us had carefully examined the entire TripTik; after covering the distance mapped on a page, we simply flipped to the next page and followed the directions for the next 80 miles. Thus, we realized too late that the enthusiastic travel agent who had assembled our TripTik had decided to route our New England road trip through Cape Cod.
By the time we course-corrected, we were several hours behind schedule. And that is how eight college students from Tennessee found themselves in New York City on a Saturday night, peering slack-jawed out the windows of a white, university-owned van at the bright lights of Times Square. One anxious student - a small town girl - was overwhelmed by this uptown world. Certain we would be mobbed at any minute, she forcefully urged us to retreat from the city post-haste.
After passing through the City of Brotherly Love in the dark of night, we approached our nation’s Capital as the sun began to rise. Once again, our failure to preview the entire TripTik led to another navigational misstep. We had hoped to spend time in the heart of Washington admiring the city’s most famous memorials and monuments. Why couldn’t we see them yet? Thanks to our TripTik, we were encircling the city on the Beltway.
After a second course-correction, we finally (and somewhat miraculously) found our way downtown. But, once again, we were stymied. Everywhere we tried to turn, streets were closed. We realized too late that the annual Marine Corps Marathon was underway. Glimpses of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Jefferson Memorial would have to suffice. Time was running out, With nearly 500 more miles of driving ahead of us, we knew we needed to bring our road trip to a close.
In the years to come, I would have considerably more positive experiences using TripTiks for family vacations. Having learned the hard way, I knew I needed to be clear when I made my request to the AAA travel agent, laying out my route in great detail so as to avoid unexpected side trips. I also made sure to preview the finished product before hitting the road - no surprises!
Life is a highway, according to Rascal Flatts, but a TripTik created to expediently navigate the highway of life does not exist. Even when we think we know where we are going, we can’t envision all the twists and turns that lay ahead, the side trips and roadblocks that will force us to change course as we make our way toward our destination. Nevertheless, we must hit the road, confident that the Spirit accompanies us wherever we may go.
When I had the good fortune to travel to Israel in 2015 on an interfaith mission sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Nashville, each team member was given a card featuring The Traveler’s Prayer. My well-traveled card now resides in the console of my car, ready for the next road trip.
Tefilat Haderech - The Traveler’s Prayer
What have you learned from your road trips - literal and metaphorical? Wherever you are headed this summer, may God lead you on the path of peace.
