My Life on the Road

During my college life I have had many demands and opportunities to be on the road. I-5 is not unfamiliar to me. Living in a rural area the educational opportunities are limited. I have had 3 stages of education that required commuting from home to school in Monmouth. This was a 2+ hour commute.

Early in my college activities I chose to commute weekly and twice weekly. Every week I drove home to work. Since I grew up working in my parents’ store, getting a job away from home seemed silly.  I knew the family store and deli like the back of my hand and my parents didn’t want to have to train someone else who would only work half as hard. Socially I preferred being home. I didn’t feel a connection with the kids in my dorm. Many of them just wanted to party. At home I had many friends to hang out with.  I would visit friends and skate each weekend, and often during the week also. Many times I would run home in the middle of the week and stay with a friend to go skating. I knew my parents would never let me run back and forth in the middle of the week.

As an adult I decided to go back to college. This again required burning up and down the freeway. I was by then married and preferred being with my significant other. The home fires burn more comfortably than dorm or apartment fires. Since I already had jobs set up at home, I again needed, as well as wanted, to go home. This started out as summer courses and stretched into four years of schooling. Commuting in the summer wasn’t too bad but the winter weather was a little scary. I was able to stay with my sister for most of the week and then go home. I appreciate her help and support but I really needed to go home by the end of the week. As the courses and work got harder the trip became more crucial to my mental health. Struggling all week was relieved and minimized by my recuperation at home. My husband was and is my rock, my binky, and my boat in the sea of life.

My current 11/2 hour commute is not as far as previous trips, but still the road gets long. Being only 4 weeks the commute won’t seem as tedious. There will be light at the end of the tunnel and my own waterbed at the end of the road. At this stage in my life, time on my motorcycle with my tines is actually relaxing. I often spend half as much time on the road on the weekend as during the week.

I have to say the benefits of being home outweigh the length of the road. It’s definitely worth the trip.