Go.

Go.

Just do it. Go. Everyone has to do it sometime. Just get in your car and do it. Pick a destination. Who cares if you actually end up there or not, you'll end up somewhere, and somewhere is better than where you are right now. The hardest part is actually getting in your car, putting the key in the ignition, and firing that baby up. But once you've done that, you're golden. So go.

There is something special about road trips. There's something about getting into a car with a few of your closest friends and venturing out into the unknown. It's funny, because you start out with a couple destinations all map-quested out, but it never ends up that way. But that's the awesome part, because it doesn't matter. You might as well throw out all those map-quest directions and stop off at the BP and buy yourself a decent Atlas. The thing about road trips is this: no matter how long or how short, you will learn some life lessons.

You will learn more about yourself. You will learn that perhaps you aren't the incredibly patient, understanding person that you thought you were, and that even though you laugh when your friends make fun of your driving, deep down you really believe that you are a good driver. And it bothers you when they won't let you drive, especially when it's seven in the morning and you have yet to sleep.

You will learn more about the friends you are with. You will realize that even though they make fun of your driving and are hesitant to let you drive, you love them deeply and fiercely. You will learn that it is possible to be seething at them one minute, cracking up the next minute, and loving them through it all.

You will learn more about God. He will show you what it really means to experience life with other people, and He will show you what it looks like to live in community with other believers. He will unfold for you the beauty of His creation, the beauty that expands beyond the corn fields and prairie land of Illinois.

You will learn to take risks and fly by the seat of your pants. You will learn that it is possible to drive into a city and midnight, without knowing a single soul, and find a cheap room for the night. You will learn how to ask for directions, how to find good restaurants, and how to get a speeding ticket on a New York interstate.

I could go on for pages describing the lessons that you learn and the experiences that you have when you take a road trip, but I won't. You need to have your own experiences, your own trip. Make a plan. Then change it. Go to Canada. But beware, Canada stinks. But you need to experience it for yourself. And if you find the University of Toronto, call me and let me know what you think. And after you spend more time in the car than out of it, you've done it. You have road tripped. When you get back, everyone will ask you how it was. You'll look at them and want to explain how absolutely incredible it was. You'll try to describe the beauty of driving through the hills of Maryland as the sun comes up, you'll try to describe the fear that raced through your veins when you pulled into the abandoned parking lot in the middle of the night that you thought was an old gas station, you'll try to describe just how terrible Canada really is. But it's fruitless, because it is impossible to describe a road trip. Eventually, you'll just start to reply to all those that inquire about your voyage, "It was awesome."

So go. Just do it. I promise you won't regret it. And afterwards, when I ask you how it was, you'll look at me and say, "It was awesome." And we'll look at each other with knowing eyes, because we both know that it was far more than "awesome." It was indescribable.