When’s the last time you went on a road trip? Were you the driver? The passenger? Did you listen to the radio the whole time? An audiobook?
Recently, I took a road trip to St. Louis for the 2026 Realm Makers Writing Conference and Expo. I was the passenger. I could’ve read a book, played a hand held game, or worked on my writing. Rather, I enjoy the observations. The landscape, the drivers going by. It’s straight highway the whole time and there isn’t much to see in the flatlands of the Midwest, but it was still beautiful. Blue sky with white fluffy clouds spaced about. The sunshine dappled the green trees and crop fields with patches of shade. An occasional turkey vulture flies overhead and you catch people’s hideaways in the trees by the highway.
Then, there’s the other drivers. The lady trucker making her deliveries. The older couple likely traveling in their retirement years. The dance team going to nationals–good luck girls. You never know their stories. Sometimes I like to make some up. Maybe that lady trucker is the best of her company, delivering precious cargo of food and blankets to families recently suffering from a disaster? Maybe that older couple is chasing a lifelong dream of seeing every major city in the states? Maybe that dance team was the bottom of the barrel last year. No one thought they could make it, and now they’re going to gold at the championship.
Road trips are definitely what you make them. You could enjoy the scenery or complain about the whole way. Stay focused on your phone, the bad driving, or get lost in a good book. Just make sure you look up every now and again. You might see something that sparks the adventure in you.
nikki diekemper 