Driving Then and Now

There was a time when owning a car was a relatively new practice, when people routinely took their cars out for a leisurely turn around the park, going here and there simply for the sheer fun of the experience—riding along the streets and highways, cruising along slowly to take in the sights. These were the Sunday drivers whose automobiles were termed “pleasure cars.” For them, the point of the trips was not to reach any sort of place in particular but simply to take joy in the ride itself. During their time, being enticed into side trips and detours were common, even normal ways to pass the time, with the car braking to a stop in order to allow driver and passengers alike to admire the sight of dramatic cliffs or spectacular mountains.

Nowadays, you won’t find drivers like these any more. With the advent of technology, with society advancing forward in every conceivable field there is, people are turning more and more into urban creatures. Living in apartments furnished with glossy ergonomic furniture, hurrying along the sidewalks to their offices carrying their tumblers of caffeine to get them through the day, coming into the office to confront a deskful of work and stress and then rushing back to their apartments by end of shift just to repeat the same process all over again.

For people with this kind of lifestyle, the only thing driving will be good for is if it brings them from one place to another. Pleasure driving is now a mere memory. And whenever people take a trip, they remain oblivious to the wonderful sights, asking instead the question every traveler born of this generation now knows by heart “Are we there yet?”

Today, driving is no longer a pleasure—it has become a means to an end. A shame, to be certain.

Which must be why I'm still here, telling stories on how fun it is to be on the road.

Welcome to the New Year, everyone.