Take The Long Way Home

Image: Mechanix Illustrated 1973

When we were about ten years old, my next-door neighbor, Cathy, and I decided that the year we graduated from high school we were going to spend the summer traveling across the country in a Winnebago. Undoubtedly, the idea was prompted by hip ads such as the one above, where people are clearly having a lot of 1970s fun in their swimsuits, eating puffed Cheetos and drinking Coca-Cola out of glass bottles. That kind of glamour would turn any little girl's head.


Of course, it was a pipe dream. Cathy and I had no idea how much a Winnebago cost. We hadn't yet figured out that we were ill-suited to be neighbors and friends, let alone traveling companions for an entire summer. Eventually, we drifted apart and I don't think I ever gave the dream a second thought -- until today, when I started pricing flights to California in preparation for the drive back to the east coast with my friend Monica.


It's funny how, when I think about myself at the age of 22, I don't even know that person. But when I remember myself at age 10, I can see that girl in me. I know her. It's like I got lost somewhere around early adulthood and since then I've been trying to figure out what the hell happened.


I guess it doesn't really matter what happened. It doesn't matter that I got lost for a while. What does matter is that I am unearthing a dream I've had since I was 10 years old. And that's pretty cool.