Yes, we are! We left home via one highway and over seven thousand kilometers later came home via a different highway. Now that is one very big loop! We managed the great distances by staying at least two nights or longer in the same location so that in total, we only had a handful of “big driving days”.
On big driving days I’d whip out my list of “Road-trip Questions To Re-Connect With Your Spouse” (thank you Google) and that made for some interesting, funny, and sometimes deep conversations in between listening to podcasts or music. Other times we enjoyed musing in comfortable silence. I decided that when I got home I would attempt to condense seven weeks of road trip musings into “Ten Road-Trip Musings that can be Applied to Life”. You probably won’t find these on Google, so here they are!
#1: Any kind of journey is best taken with someone who loves you by your side.
#2: Simple living beats materialistic striving any day.
#3: Wives (or husbands) who are navigationally challenged should zip their lips and let their husband (or wife) give directions. 😉
#4: Politeness and a smile cost nothing and can travel with you anywhere.
#5: Appreciating God’s handiwork can be done anywhere because the handprint of God is everywhere.
#6: Every traveller has a story. When they share part of that story with you, that’s a gift. Listen well.
#7: Pray for impatient or reckless drivers you encounter. It could just save their life.
#8: God delights to turn unexpected obstacles into unexpected blessings.
#9: Take a little detour now and then, who knows what you’ll discover?
#10: It’s not so much the destination that matters, but how we travel. Our attitude determines our altitude!
Do you have any musings you would add, based on any of your own travel experiences? I’d love to hear them!
Jo 🙂
Quietly Roaring 
I love this, Jo! Thank you for sharing your travel musings. Let’s see, what is one of mine? Here goes.
Driving somewhere, on vacation, isn’t a contest to see how fast you can make it. (Inspired by my father, who hated to stop for anything).
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Oh yes, that’s a good one! My father also hated stopping once we were on our way, but he often had no choice because my sister and I were prone to car sickness!
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Agree with the musings Jo, smiled at number 3, I am directionally challenged and rely on my hubby to get us from point A to B. Glad you had a wonderful trip.
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Thanks Manu, I’m the directionally challenged one too! I got disorientated several times on our trip and could have sworn we were going the wrong way!
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I am glad you guys had a great trip. Thank you for sharing your musings. Although I must say if you take a road trip with someone who doesn’t love you, that will make your vacation seem like it lasts a lot longer! 😂 I especially like #2 and #10. My musings would be to be flexible and to be present. Those two things will make the journey much more enjoyable for all involved! 🦋
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Yes, it would make it a very long trip if that were the case Bridget!
I think your musings of being present and flexible are spot on, although I admit I can be a bit rigid about sticking to the plan because flexibility does not come as naturally to me as it does to my husband. Yet I’m always glad when I do step out of my comfort zone! 🙂
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What a fun post! We’re getting ready to go on a long camping trip to the Grand Tetons and then SW Colorado in a few weeks. I’ll have to google “Road-trip Questions To Re-Connect With Your Spouse”. 🙂 I love your “Top Ten” list, and agree with every one of them. My experience would add that you can’t always trust your GPS. Maybe trusting GPS in Australia is different than here in the States. Towing a fifth wheel, though, can present more than a few challenges when it comes to GPS. Oh the stories I could tell. The other thing about travel that I’ve learned is to welcome random encounters with people you’ve never met and will never see again. God can use those encounters for His glory, just a brief conversation and listening ears can minister to hearts. (Which really goes along with your #6 above.) Thanks for the good read on this Monday morning. Blessings to you, Jo!!
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this post Benita and your upcoming camping trip sounds amazing! I look forward to reading some of your stories! That’s a great point about not always trusting the GPS, and I can imagine turning a fifth wheeler around if you’re going the wrong way isn’t an easy manouevre! I really like how you describe those brief encounters as something God can use for His glory- that is certainly true and we need to keep our eyes and ears open. Have a wonderful day!
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That’s a great list, Jo! I traveled twice this summer. On each occasion, I was visiting a dear friend or family member. My addition would be:
Travel isn’t about seeing grand sights or tourist attractions, it’s about spending time with the people you care about. (We may or may not include such an activity the focus is to enjoy one another’s, fellowship in whatever we choose to do.)
Glad you had a good trip and made it back. God bless you.
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Hi Manette that is an excellent point you make! We got to spend a week with my husband’s brother and wife while we were up Cape York, and it was actually the highlight of our trip! I add that now as #11! 🙂
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Glad you had that blessing. You’ll treasure the memories of that time forever.
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We definitely will!
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‘The man’ and I both agree on #3!
‘The man’ considers flexibility as being a very major point. He likes to mix it up. On our recent trip we not only purposely changed our itinerary to avoid flooding and other events, but we had our itinerary changed due to needing to recover and isolate for 7 days. The key to the latter was choosing to be filled with gratitude that we were in the best place at the best time for that,
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts “someone”. 🙂 Great that you and the man are in agreement and sounds like you made the best of the changing situation! Praise God He had you covered with being exactly where it was best to be!
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Sounds like you all had a lot of fun! On road trips, I’ve learned to be willing to laugh at yourself and take along people who can do the same.😂😄
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That is so true! Travelling with someone you can share a good laugh with is totally therapeutic! Thanks for your thoughts. 🙂
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Welcome home, Jo! Than you for sharing these wonderful musings. As the navigationally challenged one, #3 made me laugh out loud. My husband would greatly appreciate if I’d follow that one to the letter. #7 definitely gave me pause to think. Loved your idea of bringing a list of reconnecting road trip questions.
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Thank you Beth! Ha ha yes I am still learning to zip my lips for #3 because my husband is always right when it comes to directions. #7 was because a road train overtook us, AND the truck in front of us over double lines. It was reckless driving that could have had a tragic end for us all. We were sure praying as that road-train went past!
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I love your road trip musings 🤗
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Thankyou Dawn 🙂
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Love the list of good ideas to talk about on any trip. My husband is goal orientated which is hard for him to not make our goal. At 75 we set more realistic goals than we use to. We traveled for years in our ministry but that came to an end when Covid and really it was not too hard to give up since at our age long trips with meeting with people can be stressful. Blessings on your travels.
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Thanks for stopping by Wise Hearted! It’s lovely that you got to travel for so many years doing ministry, what great memories for you! Covid sure did interrupt a lot of things, but as you say it was a natural stopping point for your many years of traveling.
We are home now and back to work and the usual every day. Blessings to you and yours.
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