This past weekend I had the opportunity to ski for the first time ever, but that’s a story for another time. Right after class on Friday, I packed as fast as I could, hopped into a car, and drove down to New York for the weekend. We planned certain stops for food, grabbing Chick-fil-A and aimlessly driving around for Scranton to find Krispy Kreme. We decided to give up however, because we wanted to get to the ski house we had booked as soon as possible. At the ski house, the 30-something of us stayed up until the early morning hanging out and having a good time.
I had originally planned on returning Sunday morning/afternoon, but a spurt of impulse guided me to drive back to campus Saturday evening. We dreaded the nearly 5 hour drive back and planned on stopping as little as possible so we could get in our comfortable beds immediately. About 2 hours into the drive, however, the fatigue built up from both the lack of sleep and skiing all day, meaning I had to stop to refresh myself. When we stopped for gas, we realized that we could make the drive more fun if we stopped trying to beat the ETA and looked for different places to explore. We finally made it to campus late at night; we were exhausted but our little road trip created fond memories.
By deciding to leave the evening after a long day, I had concerns over how tired I would be while driving and the risks we were making in driving through the pitch-black backwood roads. After having to stop and by talking to my friends, I realized that the fatigue I was faced with wasn’t from the lack of sleep or the exhaustion from skiing. Those factors definitely contributed, but what was really killing me was the anxiety and stress in getting home as soon as possible. Making an impulsive decision to leave the ski house in an exhausted state helped me gain a first-hand experience of the saying, “It’s not about the destination, but the journey.” As all good things take time, we meandered throughout New York and Pennsylvania taking weird routes and stopping at weirder places. Making this drive helped me realize that the best outcome isn’t rushed, but rather it takes time and a good attitude.
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