Yesterday I drove four hours from Johannesburg to Mbombela and today, after facilitating a workshop, I drove the fours back. I went from city to country, from highways to roads under construction, from farm fields stretching horizon to horizon to rolling hills and craggy cliffs folding one into the next.
Sheets of rain washed so relentlessly across my windscreen I had to pull over onto the side of the road because I was absolutely blinded. But then the way cleared and I was able to keep going.
From the cocoon of my car I travelled via podcast to Greenland, listening to their music and the striving of indigenous people to regain their identity but also embrace the changes of the 21st century. From there I journeyed to Argentina. A group of women who are daughters of men who tortured and killed tens of thousands of people in what was essentially genocide in the 1970s, are banding together to support each other through the shame and guilt. They are also standing alongside the victims to support their fathers remaining in prison for their crimes against humanity. Then it was off to Ireland learning how to disagree agreeably despite a troubled past.
All of this by way of saying that a short trip can take you a long way. We have the most incredible resources to go across seas, meet extraordinary people and explore different cultures and histories. You can face storms and come through them. You can go through busy and quiet, ups and downs. You can leave your home, do some work, and return.
Little road trips can be great adventures.