When I was young, my mom insisted that we all learn how to swim because she wasn’t a strong swimmer herself. She took us to lessons at the YMCA in the winter and local lakes and swimming pools in the summer. We all learned to love to swim and passed it down to our children. That confidence served us well.
A History of Road Trips
My mother was also never confident about her ability to drive long distances alone. To be honest, she never had to do it. My dad usually did most, if not all, of the driving on every trip we went on. I will always remember the first time Mom drove through Toronto. We were supposed to stop and switch drivers, but didn’t, and she passed with flying colors. It was just us girls and the kids–no men to do the driving for us.
Fortunately, Mom’s fear of driving long distances or in cities didn’t transfer to my brothers or me. I thought nothing of driving the 300 miles from home to Miami University or from Miami to Toledo or Toledo to Northeastern Ohio. I drove the kids and our golden retriever dog Montana 400 miles to Canada every summer and even took the kids on vacations to Quebec, the Statue of Liberty, Washington, D.C, and Virginia Beach by myself. That doesn’t even compare to my youngest brother who drove to Alaska for the summer when he was 18.
My parents instilled confidence in us. I’m not sure how they did it, but it worked.
Just Hop in the Car and Go
Two days ago, my twenty-five year old daughter left for on a 3000 mile road trip. It was a spur of the moment trip, one she planned the night before. Her only traveling companions are a yappy Dachshund and a three-year old. She plans to camp along the way as she travels to Denver, Colorado, to meet up with her husband. I wasn’t thrilled about the trip (especially since I had about half an hour’s notice before she left), mostly because J.R. and I had plans. Nothing major, just the library summer reading program and a zoo visit that could easily be rescheduled.
When Meg left, all she had was a short list of campgrounds where she planned to stay. She didn’t have much (if any) money, and planned to purchase a new tent at a Wal-mart along the road. She was confident that she could make it to Colorado with no problems.
I wasn’t thrilled, but I am proud. I’m proud that Meg has the confidence to tackle such a trip and not think anything about it. She knows she can make it to Colorado. She doesn’t have any doubts or fears. Meg comes from a long line of strong women and knows that she can do anything. If she hadn’t been living with us for the summer while Joe works in Denver, I probably wouldn’t have found out about the trip until after it was over.
Why Can’t I Go?
To be honest, I’m a little jealous of her road trip. And…I’m seriously thinking about flying out to meet her to drive back. Not because I don’t think Meg’s capable, but because it sounds like fun. Plus, I’ve never been to Colorado, I’m still trying to see all fifty states by the time I turn fifty. Time is ticking.
And my mom? I’m super proud of her. She drives all over now and is an avid hiker. She does things I don’t even dream of doing. She’s a great role model.
To learn more about our family, click here.
To read about my trip to Canada with my mom and aunts, click here. In this post, I reminisce about our trip from 20 years ago, the one where my mother drove home through Toronto.
Update:
Meghan did make it to Colorado safely and has had several adventures while she’s been there. Her biggest problems on the drive out were going into the store in 100 degree weather to buy the tent (without the dog) and trying to figure out how to take a shower with both the dog and her three-year-old. J.R. could go in the bath house, but Elliott couldn’t. He’s a yappy little dog, so leaving him in the tent wasn’t an option. Somehow, she managed.
She also decided to stay out there until she takes the California Bar Exam the end of July. They probably won’t be back until Christmas. And, while I miss my little J.R., I’m happy that they are having all sorts of adventures out west.
Your daughter sounds like a strong amazing young woman. Love her self-confidence but I totally get where you wished you could go with her! I would have felt the same way!
Wow! That took alot of bravery to travel with a toddler and a dog and then to camp the whole way?? She made it and so glad she did, in one piece. 🙂
Colorado is a great place to visit we have family out there so we have be a couple of times and it never disappoints, no matter the season.
I have always loved a good road trip! This sounds great!! You should also take the trip one of these fine days.
I’m planning to go out this summer—solo trip!
What an amazing adventure and a road trip. I am so glad that your daughter is so brave. I am not, I am so afraid to travel with my baby and I think that I need more confidence. I am sure your nephew will be brave too. It all stays in the family!
I thought I am more like your mum, I got my driving license at 34 years. I can’t imagine driving in overcrowded cities, but don’t want to pass this fear to my children. They see me driving everyday to pick them up and leaving in the kindergarten. Hope they get confidence as you and your daughter. Amazing trip!
I’ve never really been on a road trip actually. I’ve driven long distances, but never really considered them to be road trips, just us getting to our next destination. My mom always wanted my family to take a road trip across the country to see the Grand Canyon, so maybe that will still happen someday!
-Madi xo | http://www.everydaywithmadirae.com
This is so inspiring! I don’t know how she managed, just the thought of taking one of my toddlers and my dog on a trip like that is stressful. haha! Good for her, that is an amazing thing. 🙂
I just love a good road trip. I’ve been on several myself some I drove some I didn’t. Hopefully you’ll get to go with Meg on her next road trip.
This is amazing. So fortunate to be able to travel like you do and your family sounds very lovely and strong and independent ☺️
That sounds like an amazing trip to go on. All on the fly too. Which campgrounds did she stay at if you don’t mind me asking? and Do you know the websites so that I can look at them too.
Hey Mary!
We stayed at two different campgrounds, the KOA in Salina, KS, and one near St. Louis that I won’t name because it was absolutely dreadful. If you’re going to a specific destination and only planning on camping one night per location along the way, I recommend staying at KOAs. They’re pretty consistent and can be found at regular enough intervals to plan your trip around, and if you reserve them ahead of time, you always know you’ll have place to sleep. When staying at a KOA, especially if you’re in a tent, you sacrifice a little privacy, but you never need to worry about finding a place to shower (although truck stop showers are often pretty amazing and totally worth the money if you need to use them), flush toilets, or having access to potable water.
If you want to save your money and are okay with truly roughing it (i.e. digging catholes and sneakily refilling your water supply in public restrooms), I recommend using freecampsites.net, but there’s limited places to stay near urbanized areas. If you go the free route, reserve at least an hour to actually find an available campsite after arriving at the location because there’s usually a drive in between sites and they can fill up quick on weekends. That said, we’ve found some of the most amazing campsites through that website- we drove from Denver to California, then back by going north through Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming (adding at least ten hours), and only paid for a place to sleep when we stayed in San Francisco.
Hope this helps,
Meghan