My grandfather was a long-distance truck driver. He drove with Mason-Dixon
lines until he retired in the early 1980s. My dad buys and sells cars for a
living. He’s always driving to Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maryland or Virginia to
go to car Auctions. Once he even drove from Tennessee into North Dakota to pick
up a car he’d bought through an online auction. He loves to drive. He says a
good, long 8 hour drive allows him to think and gives him time to listen to
audio books. I think I inherited this love of driving--it's in my blood somehow.
Driving is therapeutic for me. If I need to think
through a big decision, pray to God about a problem, or mull over a plot line,
there is no better place for me to do it than behind the wheel of a car with a
good, straight stretch of road ahead of me. 
Like my dad, if I’m looking at 6-8 hours in a car by myself,
I’ll rent an audio book and catch up on a best seller I’ve been meaning to
read. Sometimes I just listen to music and ponder life. As long as there isn’t
a lot of traffic or bad weather, driving in a car is one of the most peaceful
places I know. Many of my
major life decisions have been made on Interstates 66, 81, and 64.
Where do you go to think, make decisions, or
experience a few moments of peace?
I find driving relaxing too. Recently I've done a lot of driving on Interstate 84 from PA to Boston. Driving to Colorado a few times in the last year was fun.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's very relaxing. I imagine driving in Colorado is extremely relaxing. Those mountains are stunning!
DeleteI like to drive too - most often with no radio on. The silence is healing somehow and I can think or pray without distraction.
ReplyDeleteLove your "on the road" picture!
Ha! Thanks, Jerralea. I wish I could claim it. It's a stock photo. :)
DeleteDriving is relaxing and is a nice spot to get away from distractions. If I'm home, I come upstairs because my office is up here and out of the frey of life going on. The problem is I get called downstairs all the time. The only quiet time at the house is late at night when everyone is sleeping.
ReplyDeleteSunni
http://sunni-survivinglife.blogspot.com/
I understand, Sunni. It's hard to find a quiet place.
DeleteI drove from Louisiana to California and then from California to South Carolina. I'll never do it again! Typically, I don't like drives longer than 4 or 5 hours. I do a lot of thinking in the car, though. I turn the radio off and can really get my thoughts together.
ReplyDeleteWhew! Those are long drives. That would be a little long for me. 5-6 hours is my sweet spot. 8 hours is my limit.
DeleteI feel the same way!!! But like Quanie said, long drives alone are very difficult. An hour or two is great. Audiobooks help with long drives but when I did a 4-hour drive to a writer's conference a few years ago, I found even listening to Chris Farley's life story wasn't enough to keep me from feeling really restless about two hours into the return trip. (I did the whole round-trip drive in one day!)
ReplyDeleteWhoa! That would be really, really tough. I like to break up my drives.
DeleteI like to be a passenger but I really don't prefer driving these days, especially long distances. Around town is fine. Poor hubby, that means when we take long car trips he's the one that does all the driving. I think part of the reason I am not that fond of driving is I really don't have to do that much these days with working at home as long as I've been working at home plus my son after he got his license that took away driving responsibilities for him, etc. In a quiet house is where I do my best thinking :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter!
betty
I like to ride also, Betty, but I find driving a stretch of road by myself nice. My husband gets too angry at other people when he's driving. :)
DeleteDriving with kids in the car is like a comical horror show. Anyway, I do enjoy driving by myself listening to music. I love audio books too:)
ReplyDeleteUgh. I would think so! I remember riding with my little sisters when they were young. It was wild!
DeleteWhen I take classes, I play audio books. I use drive time to pray and think about the most recent thing I'm writing.
ReplyDeleteTeresa
That's my favorite thing to do in the car too, Teresa.
DeleteDrive time is definitely think time for me!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com