Five Days

My life friend and road warrior

Dear Readers, 

Remember the saying,” home is where the heart is?” This is what I was thinking during my five day tour across America.  Let me explain. I have two routines I am accustomed to performing in the morning and evening, the way I start and end my day truly makes a difference. I do not like chaos or noise to greet me in the morning.  I like taking my time sipping coffee,  reading a daily meditation and reviewing  my daily To Do List. In the evening I enjoy quiet time. I don’t talk on the phone, I am employed as an ESL teacher engaging in conversation throughout the day. I frown at loud music or playing the Television at a  volume that gives me a headache. I see evenings at home time to unwind and shake off the business of the day. I usually have a light dinner, maybe watch a movie,  look over my weekly calendar, and have a cup of my favorite tea Earl grey.  

During my five day drive across the country all of this changed and I found myself out of balance and becoming irritated by my road partner who interfered with my daily routines.

My journey across the country was an amazing adventure, but I didn’t  foresee  the clash of personalities. My road partner is a talented musician and actor who since the age of 17 have lived the lifestyle of a spoiled rock star. He knows nothing about  morning or evening rituals, he only knows one speed fast, and he likes everything  loud. His theory is if you can’t  feel it, what’s the point? 

On our second morning when I was taking longer than he thought was necessary to get back on the road he would pace the floor of our hotel room and repeatedly ask me if I was ready to go. His plan was to see as much as we could at each destination, and still cover 400 miles per day. At the end of each day he would throw himself in bed and turn on the Television blasting the volume disturbing my tea and quiet time. Once the volume  was so loud the front desk called to say that the other guests were complaining.  

By day four I was so frizzled because I was used to centering myself before each day and evening, and I found I wasn’t  enjoying being in his company, thus making the second half of our tour across America less enjoyable. Our final destination was his home in Southern California. During  the last 400 miles of our journey I began to feel uneasy about the plan to stay in California  for three days before returning to New York City. I  envisioned myself  there in his house, loud Tv and rock music banging in my head and he is a person who does not like to be asked to lower the volume. After crossing 10 states we arrived at his home. I immediately searched for a flight leaving early Friday morning, but no luck. I was trapped there until Saturday. When I told him that I planned to return home early he was shocked and When he asked why, I told him the truth.

He apologized and explained to me that he truly did not understand how important my morning and evening routine are to me. I decided to change my flight plans to stay longer. I do take some of the blame because I should have had a conversation with him before the journey. Although we have been friends for over twenty years, we have never been in such a close situation. I think we both learned something from this experience.

South Dakota