Thoughts about the drive to GYC
GYC was in Houston this year. We made the drive from California to Texas. The beginning part of our trip went by so quickly because California to the western tip of Texas actually isn’t that terrible of a drive. The dreadful part is once we get to western Texas (El Paso), because it seemed like it took the same amount of time to get from El Paso, TX to Houston, TX as it did for us to get from CA to TX. Driving is insane. Especially when you drive through the night. We didn’t stop at all. Drove for a straight 20 hours. After being in Korea for 5 months, driving was something that I actually missed. We passed so much of our time in the car by listening to The Chronicles of Narnia audiobooks. It was really fun getting acquainted with the Narnia stories again. I particularly enjoyed The Magician’s Nephew with Polly and Digory. The drive was reminiscent of several other road trips I have taken in the past, such as the drive from LA to Berrien Springs in 2012, the drive from LA to Seattle and back for GYC 2012, the drive from LA to Orlando for GYC 2013, the drive from Berrien Springs to Orlando in 2013, and the drive from Berrien Springs to LA in 2016 after graduation. I guess I like driving.
Imagine being a truck driver as a job. I heard they make a lot of money, but think of how mundane and dry things must get being on the road all the time. Nobody to talk to. Music also gets boring after several hours. I also heard that they have a small bed and a few things to get cleaned up when they spend the night at those truck stops in the middle of the freeways.
Imagine having to travel without technology. How long it would take us to get from one place to another. It would be pretty much impossible for Koreans to be living in America unless they crossed while the Bering Strait was frozen. The likelihood is slim. Imagine how Jesus and his disciples got around Israel. A ton of walking. I like walking, but I don’t know how I would feel about walking more than a few miles.
When we have technology, it’s really hard for me to do a task without using the available technology. For example, because we have cars, why would anyone want to ride a buggy to work, or even walk to work if it’s less efficient? Also, when I had my first flip phone, I didn’t have a ton of complaints about it not being high tech enough. I was glad to have a device that could call and text. But after switching to a smart phone, it would be so uncomfortable to switch back to a basic phone.
When we’ve experienced something that is advanced, it is difficult to return to a basic form of it, but we do this in our lives. We experience great spiritual lessons and are inspired by sermons and the effect stays for a while, but then we fall into a mentality of laxity after a few weeks or months.