And I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles... Thoughts in Praise of Gallivanting

This last weekend I made a long road trip. It was actually a touch over 1000 miles each way to Central, South Carolina, where my cousin's wedding was happening. Central, South Carolina, as it happens, is in northwestern corner of South Carolina.

(I can only imagine the Seuss/Ice Cube mashup:

She came from south-central
Central, South Carolina
Up in the Northwest corner
Where tha honeys is mo' finer.

Yeah, we rock it
South-central Central, northwest
South Carolina style.
Yeah. whaaaaaat!)

The wedding was good - my cousin Bobby successfully married a really cool girl named Heidi, which was the important part. My sister Karen played the piano magnificently - she's really good at preludes and postludes where you have to fill like an hour with appropriate music. I played and sang a song, and got through it with a satisfactorily low number of mistakes.

The road trip itself, though, was what got me thinking. I like long road trips. I love the changing terrain, the sense of freedom. I especially love long road trips where Cindy and I take off and just go, with only the essentials firmly planned and everything else flexible. This weekend, though, was a bit frustrating in some ways. I drove 2000 miles, and my only non-essential deviation from the route was to visit the REI store in Nashville. I saw some very beautiful country - we crossed the tail of the Appalachian alligator north of Chattanooga and the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers east of Sikeston, MO. But Cindy had to stay home. And besides that, when the trip odometer rolls back over to all zeros at least once in your journey, it's a little maddening to be forced to stay on target, with no leeway for gallivanting about the countryside.

Gallivanting is one of my favorite activities. Whether in a car or far out in the back country on foot, I recommend gallivanting highly to anyone. www.m-w.com gives two definitions for "gallivanting":

1 : to go about usually ostentatiously or indiscreetly with members of the opposite sex
2 : to travel, roam, or move about for pleasure

Now while I'm mostly referring to the latter definition here, my experience has certainly shown that the quality of my gallivanting has improved considerably if I take Cindy along and incorporate the former definition into the latter. She is an excellent traveling companion, despite the fact that she's absolute rubbish as a driver for more than about an hour or two at a time (car trips are her Ambien).

When gallivanting on foot, I've discovered many wonders. In the wilderness I've found hidden waterfalls, crazy rock formations, weird flora, rarely-viewed wildlife, and unexpectedly spectacular views. In cities I've found the best Bubble Tea and Bulgogi place ever; the hot-dog-stand guy in New York who piled the toppings higher than any other; a place in Naples, FL that served me a cheeseburger than can only be described as epic; and many small parks, pleasant nooks, and awesome used bookstores.

My car-borne gallivanting has been no less satisfying. Cindy and I were in California two summers ago and randomly decided to deviate from our plan and drive down the coast from Monterey to San Luis Obispo... gorgeous.


It was also while gallivanting about in the car that I discovered the best coffee shop in Topeka, the best Carne Asada burritos in Kansas City (warning: "colorful" use of language in this review), and a very cool little overlook just north of the Kansas City River Market.

My dad is also a talented gallivantist - once on vacation in a town where we'd never been before, we decided to eat supper at Applebee's. I offered to look it up in the phone book and get directions. He said, "Oh, let's just go see what we can find." Without benefit of a map, Yellow Pages, or any other navigation aid, he drove straight to Applebee's. He is also the master of finding the lowest gas price in six states, just before his tank runs dry.

So the moral of all this is, I think, that we all need to leave ourselves a little gallivanting room. Make your plans, but abandon them and gallivant a bit if the opportunity presents itself. Celebrate when the odometer reaches a pleasing symmetry or when you reach the top of a tough climb in the trail. Other advice I'll leave you to find for yourself. Get out there and gallivant, but don't run out of gas or drinking water.