It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy a road trip.
I am in my 50s now, and the world is a very different place from when I grew up.
My friends and I used to love taking a weekend road trip, regardless of what the destination was. When we were out on the road, nobody could bother us. Back then there were no cell phones, so it was impossible to stay in contact with anyone. This made the road trip a liberating experience, where I felt completely free. This freedom cuts both ways, because once we had car trouble in Portland, and had to stay there for a week trying to find another way home. Luckily Portland is a very hospitable city, and the locals took good care of us during a bad time. My friends and I were able to find a series of day labor jobs in the Portland area, to quickly raise enough money to pay for the needed repairs. At this point in time, cannabis was not yet legal in Portland, although it was very common and generally accepted. One day the laws would catch up, but it seems that the people of Portland, Oregon have always been very accepting about marijuana. A few of my friends even scored day labor jobs helping to harvest a field of marijuana plants just outside Portland. Thanks to cell phones and modern technology, a situation like this probably would never happen today. I am just glad it happened to me in Portland, a friendly city that takes care of its visitors.