Road Trip!

Currently, my best friend and I are planning a road trip across Canada for the summer after we graduate. Although our grad is a year and a half away, with our lack of money we felt it best to get started on saving up sooner rather than later. Especially since the whole trip is going to cost us about 10 grand.

The planning process was (and is) exciting. The way the ideas flood into the brain and merge together is an amazing feeling, and when their on paper it fills you to the brim with the feeling of accomplishment. However, the real reward will come when my best friend and myself actually go on this road trip. Her and I together in the small confinement of her Prius on the highway for a month. What could possibly go wrong?

It is scary to think about, I admit. However I believe that every teenager should have the experience of going on a trip after they graduate. By themselves or (preferably) with their best friends throughout high school. It doesn’t have to be overly extravagant. It could be a small weekend camping trip alone with friends. The point of the trip is to find yourself. Get a feel for independence with friends. Sure, parents, it will be scary, but the experience is worth it. It will teach lessons that could never be taught in a classroom or by anyone other than themselves.

My hopes for our road trip is that it bonds my friend and I in a way that will keep us together forever, even after we inevitably marry and find jobs that pull us apart. I want it to leave us with memories that we will stick with us well into adulthood. I want to learn how to take care of myself while caring for somebody else and having them take care of me. I want to end up on the side of the highway with no service and a flat tire so I can learn how to deal with catastrophic situations. I want to learn how to find and apply my independence.

I have never been so excited for a trip in my life. The summer after grad can’t come soon enough!