Passing through the Florida swamps after staying the night in Tallahasse, I fell into the sweat-soaked Zen mode of the road. I’ve kept this blog pretty impersonal, but as I drove I realized there are several stories to tell here beyond my daily wanderings. This blog is also about what it is like to be young and lost in America - right now - in this digital, economic meltdown, post-9/11, Obama-era, apathetic, complicated time.

I am part of a generation caught in a crossroads. Pulled in one direction by tradition, the work ethic of our fathers, and the slow progress our world and economy was built on. We are also pulled in another direction by the hyperspeed world of rapidly evolving technology. Always outdated, constantly evolving, and impossible to keep up with.

That is the crossroads where I find myself. I am both “viral” and “van.” The world is spinning under my tires in the classic mini van and the real American air is in my lungs. All the while the viral world of instant information is at my finger tips, and the internet is floating in the air across America.

I am at the crossroads of deciding when to follow the metaphoric GPS’ plan, and when to just turn it off and wing it. As we found today, sometimes when you just try and wing it, you get lost trying to find food in Pensacola, Florida. But it is just my nature. I always want to see what’s over the next bridge, and I get tired of following the digital purple line to my destination at 70mph.

This trip is also my story. The story of feeling alone, and searching for my something. Feeling like I don’t fit in anywhere, and looking for a place to belong. I have been dropped out of every comfort zone I’ve ever known and now am venturing out into a world of so many choices and forks in the road. Even the freedom that a post college road trip is supposed to bring is anchored by my plans to firmly place my feet back on some unknown soil and make my own way in the world.

Driving across enormous bridges spanning rivers and lakes in the sweaty bayou, I felt like I was flying past the enormous pressure to succeed and to make my degree useful. On the road, life is simple. You have a destination, even if it is a vague one, and you do whatever you want to do in between. Driving is a time when I feel in control. I am moving with direction toward the next great something. I don’t know where I’m going but I know where I’ve been.