Who here likes car trips?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Ok, look–I’ve gotta level with you. I love long car rides. I don’t think they’re boring and I don’t think they’re tedious. I mean, they can be, but it’s mostly up to you.

This blog is for the passenger princesses out there. Drivers–you can do most of this stuff too, but only while your car isn’t moving. Safety first, kids.

There’s basic stuff that everybody does: listen to music or podcasts, pop on an audiobook, chat with the fellow passengers.

But…what about the little worlds?

Little worlds.

There are lots of wonderful little worlds outside a car window. Especially on a long drive–even more especially if you’ve never been to that area before.

If you’re not the one driving, you get to see most of them.

There’s a simple pleasure derived from watching strangers’ lives move around you. From watching people cross the street while you wait at the light; people chat at a coffee shop while you take a righthand turn; people look into the windows of an abandoned storefront as they pass by on the sidewalk.

That’s when you ponder.

Pondering is underrated, I think. People too often ponder in terms that ground them to reality.

Ponder outside reason.

Make up stories about the strangers that pass by your car–that sit at the bus stops and stand on the street corners.

Maybe one of them is looking for her birth parents. That’s a story right there. Maybe the guy standing next to her is CIA. Maybe the two of them are the next Mulder and Scully.

If you’re asking “what’s the point,” then don’t worry. The point is to get your brain moving.

When you’re sitting in traffic (in the passenger’s seat), we all know what the gut reaction is: glue those eyes to a screen.

Hop on Twitter. Scroll through Instagram. Drown in YouTube shorts. It’s easy. It’s ready. It’s waiting.

But I’ve found that it only makes me more irritable, more drowsy, and less aware. My brain goops into chunky soup. I don’t want that. By the time I get to my destination, I want to pass out. Or throw hands. Not necessarily in that order.

That’s the power of make-believe. It’s actually exercise. Just because you’re sitting still for a seven hour drive doesn’t mean your brain can’t get swole.

…

Or, alternatively, you can nap. I napped a lot on my cross-country drive (when I wasn’t the one driving, of course). Daydream. Breathe. You don’t always have to be doing something.

Realm Makers?

Realm Makers is a Christian writing conference, and I’m going to be there with The Company crew!

Does anybody want to guess (roughly) how long the drive is?

Did you say seven?

If you didn’t say seven, I don’t know what to tell you, man.

But it’s probably a little less than that, depending on traffic.

But that’s not the point. The point is this: If you’re going to Realm Makers–or if you find yourself in Grand Rapids, Michigan–then come say hi! We have our own booth and everything–#313! We’ll be there Friday-Sunday.

I’ll tell you about all the backstories I invented on the drive over. It’ll be great!

(And you didn’t hear this from me, but I hear someone will be handing out balloon swords…)