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20,000 Mile Playlist

Posted By from July 12, 2009

I used to be not-a-great-driver, hiding in the ranks of those humble, honest few who rate themselves below average behind the wheel.  A Facebook quiz would show my driving style to be cowardly space cadet, because frankly, cars scare me.  All of them.*

Not any more.

Last year I drove more than three hours solo for the first time ever, from Seattle to Portland (with traffic of course). I stopped for free coffee in the rest area, sweating and hoping I wouldnt lose focus and total the car.  I was terrified the whole way.

Last week I completed a road trip that took three months, on which I averaged 1,666.7 miles and 3 packages of wasabi soy almonds per week.  I drove 85% of the time, and navigated in every major metropolitan area north and west of Texas, save Las Vegas, which you can keep.

(Road trip music playlist below.  Some of its life-changing.)

What do you learn from an experience like that?  A lot. I have aphorisms by the bundle if you dig those:  What others can do, I probably can too, given enough coffee. / Necessity is the mother of courage. / Growing up doesnt feel like being mature & in control, but rather like waking up to realize youve done things you thought you couldnt. / People are mostly gracious and kind in proportion to your own gratitude and kindness. / Road trips arent like the movies, except for when they are. / Even in new surroundings and among total strangers, you find a way to filter your company, and you mostly miss meeting truly different people. / Cars may or may not respond to verbal encouragement, but no one will ever convince me they dont. / You cant park for free. / This country is gorgeous all over, and not nearly as big as I thought.  Canada? Now thats big. (Listen when Im talking at you, Texas.)

Mostly I learned how deeply distance is mental, not physical.  I often covered 500 miles during the day to play a show the same night in, say, Denver (hypothetical).  And I had friends living on the other side of Denver, or 20 miles outside of it, who insisted it was a shame I couldnt come do a concert closer to them, and theyd catch me next time. I dont get bitter about a slight like that, but I do feel a little sorry when geography has such a hold on people.

So often folks got stars in their eyes when talking with me about doing all that traveling. Living the dream, theyd say, in every city. But I wondered: are you actually dreaming of traveling all over, or of rejecting the life youve built so far and leaving it behind? Because if its travel you dream of, nothings stopping you. Gas is not THAT expensive. Whats five hours from you thats interesting? Take a weekend and go see it, for goodness sakes. Its good for your soul, good for your love of home, good for your kids or parents.  I grew up road tripping with my family, and I suppose I took it for granted that you can fall asleep in Oregon and wake up in California without buying a plane ticket.  There are people everywhere who dont have faith in this simple physical fact.

How were the concerts? The concerts were concerts!  They were lots of fun.  A YouTube search will tell you more than I could, since some folks have posted video.  House concerts are nearly always the best if you ask me.  Even though I played some great venues, Poor Davids Pub in Dallas, Lestats in San Diego, the Chai House in Seattle, nothing compares to the fun of meeting people at home.  I played for tens and fifties and hundreds, and almost never had what Id count a bad or not worthwhile gig.  So  successful tour!  The second half of it was financially self-sustaining, too, thanks to all of you.

After seeing most every major city in the west (except Las Vegas), I can conclude with certainty that Im happiest in Anchorage.  Being home is so good. It took seven grueling days of driving to get back home, and itll be the same to escape again, but I have no interest in moving.  Alaska is home for now.  Im trying to pick up pieces of the tour, get some sleep, book new shows, and start scratches of the new album that will be my baby for the next 6-9 months.

My own personal Infinite Playlist was very important 0n this trip, because my car had no iPod input.  I revisited my CD collection, which I havent done in quite a long time.  And I listened to it for hundreds of hours.  So heres the list of albums that just would not leave the 6-CD rotation:

I listen to more hard rock and rap than you might expect, too, but it doesnt get put on repeatedly like this stuff.  Links will be up later.

Im trying to think of more to write about the trip, but I suppose I need some questions to answer, because I share my random thoughts about travel & geography on Twitter for the most part.  So ask away!  Blog entry on the new album coming soon.

All my best 

Marian

*Ex. 1: When my Mom drove with me to college in 2000, I happened to be behind the wheel when we first hit the freeway near Oakland (it was one of those freeways ending in -80, for you who will ask).   I saw six lanes going in one direction for the first time in my life, so I hyperventilated, pulled off into Hayward somewhere, and got lost in construction for an hour.  Mom took over.  Ex. 2: I walked and rode the bus in Alaskan winter for six months to avoid learning how to drive the manual car my husband bought.

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