The Journey, not the Destination
Something that I have set out to do during my adult years is making road trips really about the journey and not the destination. I always heard others say, "Its about the journey, not the destination." But as often as it was quoted to me, I watched others around me seem to really act like the opposite. When I started taking road trips as an adult, I decided that I really wanted to explore what it looked like to make it about the journey.
Since I decided that, I learned that strategically planning out coffee shoppe stops, park breaks, and unique take out spots every time my love and I hit the road really changed the journey. That is not to say that it isn't hard. It is hard to force ourselves to stop when we have thirteen hours to drive in a day. It feels like, in those moments, that every minute should be allocated toward driving … and nothing more. Additionally, a lot of this planning is based on pictures and when we need to fill up for gas. So you really do not know what you are about to walk into, which can be hard. But, that is also half of the fun that we get to experience together.
This last road trip we stopped on our way through Nashville at Flora and Fauna. It is in the outskirts of the city, in an up-and-coming artsy district. It was one of the newer buildings scattered amongst construction and more seasoned buildings. Honestly we picked it because it was right off the highway. A quick stop so that we didn't waste too much time. A routine, MUNDANE stop.
We walked in and it was like many coffee shops I had been to before; beautifully decorated with wall art and plants complimenting the "flora and fauna" aesthetic, accompanied by clean wooden table settings and corked water pitchers at every table. Tucked in the corner was the shoppe's very own coffee bean roaster adding to the "we care about the coffee experience" vibe. We've stopped at so many coffee shoppes like this before, that this one was, on the outside, not that different from the rest. It was routine or MUNDANE to us.
But what made this stop different was the first sip. We ordered our coffee, grabbed them to go, and hopped back in the car to start our long day of driving. And then my love took his first sip. "Oh my goodness!" he shouted, startling me and exciting me all in one second. "This is amazing!" He was grinning from ear to ear. He looked so happy with his coffee that I immediately picked up my cup and took my first sip. Wow! It was so good. I was not expecting that. After all it was just our routine coffee shoppe stop. We both exchanged happy smiles that made the daunting drive disappear for just a moment, and then we went on our way, changed in how our day was going to go.
I cannot explain how such a MUNDANE experience as stopping on a road trip for routine morning coffee could be made into such a sweet and simple LOVE-filled moment between me and my love. That set the tone for our long driving day. And that made a difference.
You never know when something routine and MUNDANE will turn a moment into something sweet like LOVE. Do you stop to notice the sweet things in the routine and MUNDANE?
