This I Believe

I believe in driving without directions. Last Thanksgiving, my best friend and I took a 45-minute ride to Taco Bell, only to discover that it was unfortunately closed for the holiday. We were in a highly developed industrial area, so I assumed that there must have been another one open somewhere. Three Taco Bells later, still none were open. We had another two hours to kill before our 10:30 movie began, so, we played a game called “Pick a Highway” which involved making a random last-minute decision every time the road split or an exit appeared in front of us. We still made it to our movie in perfect time. It was the most fun I’ve ever had on a holiday.
I have never in my life been lost while driving, nor have I ever been anxious over the thought of getting lost. I’ve taken roads that I’ve never even heard of, just because they seemed like the right way to go. But not once have I ever had to stop and ask for directions, nor pay the $2.99 for a 24-hour application of my Verizon Navigator GPS. Just this weekend, I went on a 4-hour long trip very far away from familiar roads. The person I brought with me, while preparing to leave their house, asked “Did you get the directions?” to which I replied “No. I’ll figure it out.” And this was entirely true. I had not gone to Mapquest and typed in my starting and ending points only to receive thirty steps of directions to blindly follow. I feel much more confident knowing that I’m reaching my destination on my own by trusting what I think is right, rather than obeying the (R) and (L) symbols and exit numbers spit out at me by internet directions, which, by the way, are often wrong.
If I happen to make a wrong turn or get off at the wrong exit, to me, this isn’t called “getting lost,” and it’s not a time to get nervous and ask someone to tell me where I am. I call this “exploring” or “going on an adventure,” and for me, it’s a time to see new things and learn alternate routes, for the next time I happen to find myself there. Sometimes I do this voluntarily. I purposely get lost… just for fun. I always end up in a familiar place, no matter how far away from home I venture. A few nights ago, I intentionally got myself lost in Bayonne, New Jersey after a long, horribly frustrating day. I made turns, went down one way streets, and got on and off of highways until I truly did not know where I was. Then I drove, and in less than an hour, using the glowing New York City skyline as my guide, I was in a perfectly familiar place, happily heading home, all my frustration lost on the roads behind me.
It has been said before that all roads lead to Rome. Well, that’s not true, because Rome is on a different continent. But all roads do lead to somewhere, even if they take us on routes we never knew existed. And just like the decisions we make in life, they are all interconnected somehow, no matter how far apart they may be. There is always a way to get back on the way to where we wanted to go, no matter how big of a mistake we may have made to get there. Even during the times where we feel lost and confused, if we just keep going and trust that we will soon figure it out, we will always end up somewhere that we want to be.