Three guys. One decrepit ‘91 Honda Civic. 9,000 miles. 14 days. This past summer, two of my younger brothers and I left New York for vacation in Michigan, then continued to San Diego, east to Virginia, and home to West Point. It was a blast. We beheld the Grand Canyon, hiked Half Dome in Yosemite, rafted in Colorado, and chilled at beaches on both coasts.
Tyler, Baker, and I spent most of the summer renovating a house—hard, dirty work, decent money, and great bonding. We knew a trip over the last weeks of break would complement the aching drudgery of digging out a basement floor. The job wasn’t actually miserable. In fact, shared sweat enabled laughter and learning. But there was something incredibly exciting about the idea of exploration, just the three of us cruising across the country. The roadtrip delivered a new self-made challenge of independence, discomfort, and adventure…plus more sweat and laughter.
The roadtrip stands for all the things we dream about and plan together. It fulfilled longings and aspirations. Instead of just talking and thinking about something, we did it. Now, we have a precedent. One dreamed-up adventure became a reality, so perhaps other ambitions can follow suit. Is this an overly romantic outlook? Perhaps. But that doesn’t make it any less valuable. This was a celebration of challenge, community, and love. Here’s my advice: insert something extraordinary into your life. Avoid the predictable “learn-earn-yearn” path through high school, college, grad school, internship, job, family, money-making, retirement, and The End. We plot our lives along paths paved with counterfeit securities that are a luxury afforded by our affluence. We must keep growing. Some script-defying adventure may be at once frightening and still vital to being and becoming our best. What’s stopping you? If you’re graduating with a dormant dream to do something crazy, do it. If there’s a lingering desire to backpack across Europe, hike the Appalachian Trail, or live in Africa, go. Now. There will be no better, more fitting time. College summers and that period after graduation are ideal. Live your dreams rather regret your over calculation.
Embrace challenge, identify and confront fear, and choose healthy aspirations even if they don’t fit a clear-cut career plan. At least once, we did. It meant so much that Tyler and I are going cross-country again this summer—on a tandem bicycle.
