Open Roads

Two days ago, I finally managed to overcome the fear of something that has been plaguing me for some time now. It has been 10 months since I started driving, and although in the presence of other passengers in my car, I was completely comfortable driving on the freeway, I was terrified to do so alone. Perhaps stories of the types of accidents that occur led to this fear, or simply the fact that in Los Angeles, people drive as though their foot is glued to the accelerator. But for a very long time, I would carefully avoid the 'endless' roads if my presence was required at a place other than my office, a grocery store or at the airport.

I had no idea what I had been missing.

The feeling of exhileration that traveling with little or no constraints affords is indescribable. For the first time in my life, I actually felt like I had the freedom to just keep going on and on. I might have had a destination, but I had forgotten it. I felt as though the wheels of my car were barely touching the ground, and that if I went any faster, it would turn into a plane and take off into the sky.

The fear was still there, of course. But it had mutated into a sort of thrill, as though it had been laced with excitement. I doubt it will be replaced by a sense of "been-there-done-that" or become a habit any time soon.

My white chariot flies like the wind, and I see rivers and mountains and open skies ahead of me. My hair stands on end, my heart beats rapidly. The world is my canvas, adventure my brush, excitement my colour and humanity my frame.