New Places

This weekend I went on a road trip to visit a friend of mine in Savannah, Georgia. I drove fourteen hours there and back—alone—in my little Honda Civic. I think I got less sleep this weekend than the time I spent driving, now that I think about it.

However, not only did I get to see one of my closest friends at her college, but I also got to visit a place I’d never been to before. I’ve been all over the east coast—as north as New York and as south as Florida, but Florida had always been our destination when my family and I were heading there. I’d never actually stayed anywhere in Georgia before, and Savannah was beautiful. It was fascinating to me to see how my friend lived in a city so much different than Blacksburg (especially because Blacksburg is a tiny little town with a giant campus and Savannah is a city with some college buildings interspersed all throughout it), with Spanish moss, trams, and a river.

Savannah is also a “haunted city,” founded in 1733, so there are graveyard tours where actors wander and tell facts to passerby's, as well as ghost tours where tourists ride around in hearses. I never would’ve experienced it if I hadn’t had the courage to drive all the way, and back, to see my friend. It made me realize how easy it can be to travel, but how sometimes I get too nervous and decide against it. It made me realize that if I have the means, next weekend I could drive somewhere else and see another new place (though, I’d run out of money after a while).

I urge you to seek the same emotions I felt on Friday when I got off the highway in Georgia and saw palm trees—This is a brand new place to me, and I just drove all the way here!