"Are we there yet?"

by Rebecca Holder Excerpt from work in progress There was so much more to the State of New York than New York City — rural areas with open land and rolling hills. The landscape reminded me of the Canadian countryside. We passed through several small towns like Watertown in New York and Jim Thorpe in Pennsylvania on our way to Williamstown, New Jersey. I enjoyed the majestic scenery for a couple of hours, but then it all seemed the same. The ten plus hour drive seemed to never end. On these road trips, my father always insisted on trying new routes for new sights. Armed with his big yellow atlas full of notes, he would keep track of the names of cities we drove through, the times and dates we passed through them, along with the mileage of the vehicle. But on this particular trip, we used a GPS which, unfortunately, led us astray and right into the middle of Bruce Springsteen concert traffic. And I had the great misfortune of being the driver for this frustrating, yet concluding segment. I walked away from this road trip realizing two things that my father and I have in common: we are both meticulous planners, and we are both speed demons on the open road. ** Rebecca Holder is a third year student majoring in Anthropology and Human Geography. Her interests include writing for publications such as The Underground and promoting social equality and inclusion for people of all genders, races, and sexualities. Rebecca enjoys dancing, exploring Toronto’s arts/culture scene, traveling, and trying different types of ethnic cuisine. Rebecca hopes to have a career in the field of journalism.]]>