The Side of the Road

I've always loved physical activity. Growing up, I played soccer, basketball, and baseball each season. I also loved riding my bike and scooter, jumping on the trampoline, and climbing trees. For my eighth birthday, my parents bought me a Wave Board. I got the hang of it within a couple days and was soon tearing up the cul-de-sac. Before I knew it, other kids in the neighborhood had acquired similar boards, and we all rode together. Those were good days.

As I grew older, I began to go through semi-obsessive “phases,” as I called them. I'd watch a few YouTube videos about flatground skateboarding, and I'd be completely focused on that activity for a month or more. Then, through my YouTube algorithm, I'd come across a freestyle BMX riding video, and I'd immediately switch over. I got into longboard dancing and sliding, parkour, freestyle scooter riding, and other things.

One time, when my family lived in Newport, Rhode Island, I was out skateboarding on the basketball court at the park next to our home. A couple of older guys came out, too, and they began doing freestyle skateboard tricks, something which I had never seen before. Walking the dog, pogo, primo flips – it was all so awesome. They showed me how to do a few tricks, and thus a new genre of riding was introduced to my life.

My family has always taken a lot of long road trips. Today, I have seven younger siblings, but even when I only had four, it would still have been quite expensive to frequently buy plane tickets for seven people (including my parents). My mom loves to travel, though, so we've gotten very used to 12- or 14-hour car trips. Europe, Asia, Canada, the continental United States – we've seen so many wonderful things together.

To pass the time in the car, I tend to read books or listen to music and podcasts. Before I had my own devices, though, I was required to more expansively activate my imagination. My favorite way to pass the time back in those days was to imagine a guy riding some vehicle – a skateboard, a bicycle, a snowboard – tracking along the side of the road next to our car. He would execute all sorts of stunts, grinding on guardrails, weaving in and out of cones, or navigating around boulders.

I've had the privilege of accompanying my family to Vail, Colorado for a ski trip over the last several days. As I write, we're on the drive home, and I'm imagining a snowboarder tracking along the side of our car. I haven't done this in years, to be honest, but I'm glad I remembered. As adults, we don't get too many opportunities to use our imaginations in an unstructured or unproductive way. We would be wise to fill times of emptiness like this. It brings a special nourishment.