Road trips are a thing of beauty.

Since I was very young (I’m told my first sentence was, “I wanna go on a trip!”), I have felt the draw of the open road. I do like the actual physical part of the driving, the meditative quality of hours on the highway…stopping after a couple of hours to stretch, pee, get a snack, with the feeling of that many more miles under my belt.  I like seeing the scenery rolling by like the most epic film ever made, accompanied by my inevitable soundtrack blasting through the car audio system.

But more than that I like seeing the road stretched out in front of me…unexplored, unconquered…new territory.  I am an explorer at heart.

Dense fog in the early morning – western Mississippi.

And herein lay the more subtle (perhaps even spiritual) pleasures of the road trip.

The feeling of leaving behind what we know and striking out into something new.

The satisfaction of being on a journey…to what, we may not be certain…but the fact that we’re moving in a forward direction is exciting.  In some cases the journey is a willing foray into the unknown, such as those trips with no hotel reservations and no agenda (if you’ve never done this, I highly recommend it.)

This kind of journey tests the limits of our desire to be in control. it brings us quickly up against the wall of our fears, beliefs, attachments and aversion.  The goal is to stay fully present.  Remarkable things can happen when we choose to meet life with no conditions, no agenda.  Flexing and flowing with what I find has yielded such incredible experiences.  Moving forth into the world with faith is an ultimately freeing opportunity to learn to trust oneself and the universe …and to get very clear about what is really important.

I’m traveling now for my month-long Frontier Inside western tour to the southwest.  I write today from Fort Worth, TX, headed west into New Mexico to my next stop in Santa Fe.  I have been on the road for only 2 days and have already had beautiful insights and experiences, faithfully recorded in my travel journal, just as I do when I am traveling on the inside.

My travels in the outer frontier have mirrored my travels on the inner frontier…and the joy of discovery abounds.  More to come.  xo, Licia