A Road Trip Alone is My Christmas Gift to Myself

"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig) 12/22/2016 at 08:55 • Filed to: None

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Last week GM CEO Mary Barra spoke with !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about GM’s projected autonomous technology, and how it could turn your car into a “second office,” so you won’t have to wait until you get to the office to start working. I understand this. An hour more each day to answer emails, do research, and have some digital face time with clients would be helpful, especially for a CEO like Barra. But I don’t want it. My commutes are a refuge for a primal, archaic part of my brain, a segment quickly rusting over with neglect. Nine hours alone in a car will have it in fighting spec again, and I need that desperately. Here’s what I mean.

Have you noticed that online movie trailers now have 2-3 second “micro-trailers” before them? Click play and you’ll get all the shots you would have otherwise been surprised by in the trailer, before the green MPAA screen. Hollywood does this to get viewers to stop scrolling and watch the rest. They grasp at the short threads of our rapidly dwindling attention span, hoping we’ll help them recoup their overbudget summer investments on release day.

Microtrailers are just another indicator of our shift into short-form information gathering. We read tweets instead of blog posts, headlines instead of articles. We scroll through Facebook and see short, silent, autoplaying videos of war crimes and atrocities, juxtaposed with birthday greetings, witty comics, baby news, and burnout compilations, all in a handful of seconds. Our minds are forced to ping-pong between emotions and reactions, never having time to process any of it on a meaningful level.

What does this have to do with a manually-driven solo trip across the bland and boring American Midwest?

It’s an escape for my mind, a long, solitary period when it can relax into one task: keep the car on the road at speed. It’s a return to the human brain’s roots, a chance for it to be itself again.

See, for the vast majority of human history, most of us worked at simple tasks for all of our lives. Run the plow, herd the sheep, turn the pots, forge the tools, copy the texts, clear the fields. We became accustomed to repetition and simplicity in our work. Many of us worked alone. We became experts at what we did, focused and specialized, proud of what we knew how to do well.

Does that sound like a contrast to what we do today? Now we must be experts on everything. We must be able to transition between very different tasks, many times a day, often with separate goals. For example, today I need to write this post, edit some photos, schedule out some social media, gather data, and work on a host of other ongoing projects. Our inputs, too, are wildly varied, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Even our relaxation is complex and arduous. How many movies are in your Netflix queue? How many services like Netflix do you have access to?

I’m not going to make statements about how good or bad this is. There’s no doubt that the more information we have, the more we can learn, the better off we’ll be. We’ll adapt as we always have, of course. But there’s a part of me that seems to lag behind the pack, that longs for the simple task, a job to focus on, all day, and do well.

Back when I bought my $760 Civic, I spent an afternoon polishing the valve cover. Just that. Just sanding and polishing from crusted grey to brilliant, silver aluminum. It was one of the most enjoyable times I’ve had in the garage. Many of our relaxing hobbies are in this category: simple, patient craftsmanship.

This is why I love my annual Christmas drive back to my home town. I can put a book on and just listen and drive. I know where I’m going, where I’ll stop for gas. I’m in no hurry. I can focus on doing one thing well, rather than one hundred things passably.

This isn’t quite relaxation. Barra’s full quote about autonomous GMs was, “Whether it’s a second office or entertainment, I think there is a lot of new opportunities when you have that person in the vehicle.” I don’t quite want that, either. As much as I love movies and TV, I don’t want to spend my road trip whittling away at that Netflix queue. Driving manually is just a different kind of work. A kind I don’t get to do often enough.

Road trips with people are fun, too, but different. Human interaction, especially over a period of several hours, can be far more complex than any day at the office. Each of us is an internet. That can be stressful. Driving alone all day seems to call up ancient, genetic memories of some unknown ancestor of mine guiding sheep across the green hills of Ireland, his only conversation with the livestock and the Almighty.

So I’m counting on those long, straight highways to keep the single-task lobes of my processor strong.

My new car, an ’06 Civic Si has a 6th gear, which should be great for low-RPM cruising, and seats just bolstered enough for spirited driving, but not enough to squeeze my titanic frame uncomfortably, as some bolstered seats have. As tempted as I am to turn it into a wannabe race car, it’s quiet right now. The muffler is aggressively so, which is annoying around town, but will probably come in handy for a full day out on the blacktop river. The stereo is even good, so I’ll have no trouble hearing my books, or switching out to the ’80s mainstream rock and ’90s Christian underground I seem to strangely favor on my road trips. The headlights are bright, the tires are good, the alignment is true.

All of this should make for the ultimate simple task in the modern age, and I can’t wait.

Merry Christmas.

What about your road trips? Do you prefer to drive alone, or would you rather the robots handled it?

This post originally appeared on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but I’m sharing it here, because it’s a season of giving, and I want you to give me your readership.

random001 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 09:09

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I can only see the “second office” as a good idea if it meant 2 hours less actually in the office a day...

Also, road trips for lyfe! Yo.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > random001 12/22/2016 at 09:17

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Yeah, but we both know that’s not going to happen.

random001 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 09:17

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It’s true, and that’s sad.

Mattbob > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 09:20

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tl;dr, but if I can work in my car, that means I get to leave work earlier, and the commute becomes work time, instead of cutting into my time. Also, the tl;dr is in direct response to your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs.

Chariotoflove > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 09:21

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My family road trips are now done in the Kia minivan, an ideal car for the purpose: a family adventure. However, my trips alone are a different animal entirely, and I enjoy being alone in my Mazda with some good music.

Merry Christmas, Andy. Safe travels.

190octane > Mattbob 12/22/2016 at 09:44

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The irony is that by doing the tl/dr, you pretty much proved his point.

functionoverfashion > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 09:48

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The whole premise of wanting a relatively simple task to focus on is why I continue to try and work on my own vehicles (besides saving money) even though it sometimes means doing so in the dark outdoors in the winter. I find it refreshing and energizing to work with my hands and not talk to anyone for an hour or more. 

My favorite mind-clearing activity right now is mountain biking, although in the winter I have to substitute cross-country skiing for that. However, the skiing takes place in the dark because it’s dark at 4:00. Being alone in the woods on a cold, dark night in the winter is a phenomenal mind-clearing exercise. Even if it’s 15 minutes I feel 100% better than I did when I went out. Plus it makes coming into my warm house and crawling into bed with my wife all that much better.

And to your first point, I don’t want my car to become even 1% more of an office that it might be right now (not at all).

Safe travels, happy holidays.

and 100 more > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 10:05

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This is good Oppo! Second great article I’ve read on here this morning!

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > functionoverfashion 12/22/2016 at 10:09

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I agree 100%. In preparation for this trip, I needed to change my oil, but didn’t have time to get to it until after 10pm last night. I was tired and sore and I just wanted to go to bed, but knew I needed to change the oil.

And afterwards, I felt pretty...great? It didn’t even take me that long. But I didn’t have to look at my phone once. Just a simple task that I didn’t screw up.

And I totally agree about being alone in the woods on a winter night. We don’t get enough snow here in KC for skiing, but I do enjoy a good night hike. Especially in the winter. It’s incredibly peaceful and quiet.

functionoverfashion > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 10:23

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Since my kids get most of my daytime attention, I even mountain bike at night in the summer. I was skeptical at first, but it really requires 100% of your attention and concentration, more so even than in the daytime. Especially down hill. That’s my new favorite thing.

I’m right there with you on 10pm oil changes in the dark. Totally worth it, every time.

DipodomysDeserti > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 10:28

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“Meditation is the concentrating the front of the mind on a mundane task 

so the rest of the mind can find peace.”

-Gene, Layer Cake

Mattbob > 190octane 12/22/2016 at 10:29

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Yes, I know.... that was the point.

190octane > Mattbob 12/22/2016 at 10:33

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shop-teacher > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 10:33

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Great post. Personally I prefer to drive with a person to talk to.

Thomas Donohue > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 10:55

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Nothing like a good road trip to clear the mind. In the car (and even on a plane) I prefer to just listen to music or watch a movie (that’s on the plane). While I could get a lot of work done in five hours in the the air, I prefer to spend the time not thinking about the three days of work I have ahead of me. It’s getting harder with WiFi, but I’m still able to dictate how I spend my travel hours. In the car, it’s music or the occasional phone call, but not so much when the top is down.

I just booked Amelia Island for March to see the concours, auctions, and Porsche Werks reunion. It will be a NJ to FLA road trip, and I can’t wait.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > shop-teacher 12/22/2016 at 11:04

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That sounds like it would be really great!

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Thomas Donohue 12/22/2016 at 11:05

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Yeah, that sounds completely fantastic. Someday I will get to Amelia.

Pickup_man > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 12:50

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This is the thing I love about motorcycling as well, total solitude. Riding a motorcycle forces (or at least it should) you to focus solely on one thing, riding. Even when relaxed on a motorcycle you have to be constantly alert and doesn’t let you mind wander and become distracted. I don’t worry about phone calls, even though I may feel my phone ringing I can’t answer it anyway. When I’m on my bike the only person that matters is me. You get this in a car as well, but there’s just... more, of that feeling on a motorcycle IMO.

I would love to take more solo road trips, but I feel bad leaving my wife at home, and the car I would really love to take a trip in, (my 924) she refuses to even ride in (calls it a death trap). I’m still going to try and take a short trip this summer with it, but I would love to find a car that we both enjoy.

Like others have mentioned wrenching is another great way to get this feeling, which is why I should get a better heater in my garage, because I start getting depressed if I sit in the house and watch TV every night.

So no, I do not want my car to become some mobile office or entertainment center. Sure there are times where driving gets to be boring or monotonous, but the right car can make a big difference and overall I genuinely enjoy driving and never want to give it up.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Pickup_man 12/22/2016 at 13:00

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Now I want to start shopping for motorcycles again.

Pickup_man > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/22/2016 at 13:15

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#sorrynotsorry

StarFuryOmega > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 12/23/2016 at 14:20

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A great, big *THIS* for the whole article. The *last* thing I really need is to have more work time pushed into my commute thanks to tech. Really, no thanks. I don’t really have many long drives to myself, but it’s nice to disengage for awhile when I do have to make the occasional road trip. I don’t mean disengage from driving , but disengage from having to make decisions and talk to people, etc. Just listen to music or podcasts, or even just have silence and focus on the road.

I don’t really make my own repairs much, but one “simple” task I enjoy related to my cars is washing/detailing them. It usually takes me a few hours on a weekend afternoon but I do take pride in having a clean, nice-looking vehicle and doing the work myself as opposed to paying someone else.