School is cool and all, but the best lessons are learned when you’re arms are covered in goosebumps, your brow’s leaking sweat like a broken head gasket, your heart is hitting 150bpm and your mind is churning out uh-oh thoughts. That’s when life’s its best; when you’ve made it one big adventure -- and there’s no adventure more epic than a road trip.
Road trips are mana for thrillseekers that who a) don’t have a plan and b) don’t really want one (but thanks for asking). Simply grab your mates, pick a destination (or don’t), fill up on gas, press play on your tape deck and hit the freeway with your bare feet hanging out the window as you swap miles per gallon for smiles per gallon. Basically, road trips are the adventure for those that want something different. Something life-changing. Something that will shake you up, rattle your nerves, have you skidding broadside and leave you totally exhausted, full of wild stories and awesome life lessons.
Whether you chug smoothly from A to B, or you suffer a puncture, take a seriously wrong turn, see smoke rising from the hood and have to sleep on reclined chairs, you always learn something from a road trip, and these are the best lessons of ‘em all:
1. Being Spontaneous Feels Epic AF
Sunglasses - Ace Seafoam Mirror
Whatever you do, wherever you go, do not ignore this rule. Ever. Schedules are for Monday morning in the office. Spontaneity is for the rest of life. And you’re being spontaneous. You’re road-tripping cross-country, passing places and things and moments you may never have the opportunity to experience again. So repeat after us: if it catches your eye, give it a try. Do donuts in the desert. Go skinny dipping in that lake. Pull-on your Seafoam Cubanos and stick your face out of the window. Turn the stereo up to ouch. And stick it to those sand dunes. The world is yours to enjoy - and enjoying it right there, right then will feel badass.
2. Dirt Tracks Have More Fun
No one knows if blondes or brunettes party harder, but we can all agree on one thing: dirt tracks do it better. So toss your GPS in the glovie, tack a note to the screen that says “for emergencies only” and enjoy the thrill that is chasing the sunset with nothing more than an outdated map and a marker pen. That’s what road trips are all about. They’re about going where the wifi is weak, the service is lost and the unknown is unavoidable. They are about going a little bit off course to have the unmissable experiences most people miss. And if we’ve learned anything, it’s saying the words “I’m 98.2% sure I have no idea where we are” is good for the soul.
3. Material Things Don’t Matter
Road trips are all about less is more. They’re about you, your friends, a tank full of gas, open highways, the wind whipping through teeth and filling the trunk with random mementos you found at every middle-of-nowhere gas station you passed. Nothing else matters. Nothing. Nada.Zilch. And while everyone else is worried about looking like they have a great life, you’ll be out in the wild enjoying one - with the stories to prove it. Like the beat-badass Bukowski once said, “The less you need, the better you feel.”
4. Road Trips Are Epiphany Trips
Sunglasses: Alpine Dark Mirror
You don’t realize how diverse the world is until you’ve tried to drive across it and you won’t know who you are until you’ve burned rubber heading to the desert to find your spirit animal (*ours is definitely a camel). It’s a rite of passage everyone needs to enjoy. That feeling of putting on your out-of-office, leaving your responsibilities behind and charging into the wilderness with nothing but your gut and Orion’s belt to guide you. That’s when you learn most about who you are and what sort of life you want to rock out to because you’ve got nothing but hours, days and maybe weeks to think about anything and everything. The world calls them road trips, we call them epiphany trips.
5. Music Makes Everything Better
If you're ever wondering what the universe is about or where you fit in it, then it’s time for a road trip because, per tradition, this pursuit of happiness involves winding the windows down at full speed and jamming out to a road-trip mix of moment-makers. Picture this: you’re chugging through Joshua Tree, the yucca trees reflected in your Safari Sunrises as the sun sets behind the Old Woman Rock and - wham! - Heroes by David Bowie comes on. That’s a moment no one forgets and everyone with you shares. A moment that can’t be explained. A moment where music and driving changed your world. A moment that reminds you why they’re called “tracks.”
6. Get Lost And Share Stories
Sunglasses: Ace Dark Lenses and Cubano Seafoam Mirror
Wake up. Eat in a hurry. Sit in traffic. Work. Sleep. Repeat. That’s life’s fast-paced vibe and it can be kinda hard to justify leaving it behind so you can do sweet nothing. But that’s why going full-blown Thelma & Louise feels so cool. You’re road tripping, getting lost for the sake of getting lost and enjoying the rarity of it with a “Hell Yeah!” as your minds wander and your storytelling becomes uncensored. Everyone lost phone reception an hour ago, no one is going anywhere and all you can see is the awesome landscape dancing outside your window, which gives road-tripping a sort of reflective, time-traveling vibe - and what normally unfolds then is heartfelt, hilarious and epic stories.
7. Ride By Sunrise, Stare At The Sunset
The sun rising and setting is a phenomenon that’s pretty much overlooked by everyone, every day. But not when you’re road-tripping. They’re the moments you never miss because once you’ve watched the world waking up from the road once, you’ll make a pact to do it every day after. It’s life-affirming each time you see it. And it’s free. And it’s totally different each time. So grab a coffee, push your Venice shades up your nose, set off early and watch the shades and shadows change the world as you tear up the tarmac. Then pull over before evening falls, crack open a cold one, lay on the hood and stare up at the stars because, if there’s one thing we’ve learned, getting goosebumps never gets old. Never.Not when you’re in the middle of nowhere.
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