Just Cruisin

My Miata on a lonely back road

Today was one of those utterly free days where I could actually do whatever I wanted, so I decided, having just gotten my Miata back from a long stint at the shop, that I would take it out and just go on an aimless cruise to wherever the road took me.  

Me behind the wheel, lookin all "bad" in my Aviators

There is something distinctly liberating about going out for a drive just for the hell of it. It becomes a time of living completely in the moment, without any worries creeping in from elsewhere in your life. This is especially so if you go out with the intent to get lost and take every road that you have never been down before. Eventually, you string such roads together until you have completely lost your bearings–it becomes just you, the car, and the open road. There is a level of excitement present both from the drive itself, and because you are constantly taking in new scenery, the more uncharted the territory, the better.

The road ahead

There is also something even slightly romantic about this experience if you are driving a car that you truly enjoy. During the cruise I came across someone else driving a pristine Chevy Chevelle SS. He cruised behind me for a few minutes and I realized that he and I were both doing similar things despite our vastly different cars. You see, during this I looked at the normal Honda in front of me, the Toyota Yaris behind the Chevelle and all the other cars passing us in the opposite direction, and I realized that everyone else was just using their cars to get somewhere, whereas I and the Chevelle driver (presumably) were out in our cars because that is where we wanted to be. In a car you truly enjoy, the destination is secondary to the drive, and in this instance I hadn’t even had a destination to begin with.

Miata chillin in the woods

New Jersey is an interesting place to drive because there are so many different types of areas sprinkled all over the place. I began in urban areas and then went through a mix of urban and country before I wound up out near Mendham, NJ, a mountainous and extremely wealthy area with many exceptional driving roads as it turned out. I spent a while just finding the smallest, most out-there roads in the middle of nowhere and having a blast. The Miata was truly in its element here, and I could not wipe the grin off my face if I tried. Eventually I was hungry and stopped at a local pizza place for a bite and I thought back on how my aimless cruise had gone. Then it was time to head back. I had spent the whole afternoon being lost and having fun doing it, but when I needed to head home I was able to find Route 202 with ease. That’s the beauty of cruising like this, you can get lost and have all the fun that comes with that, but if you know your area then you will easily be able to find yourself once you want to.

She's crude in many ways, but thats part of the appeal

All in all I thoroughly enjoy just cruising around when I have a free afternoon, anyone who likes driving would say the same. It is an interesting and exciting experience and removes you from the norm of routine, everyday life. I encourage anyone to try it, especially if you feel like you need a break from life for a bit.

-Nick