good thing i get 30 miles to the gallon.

song of the day: "on the road to find out" -- cat stevens

two days in a row now i've done something i haven't done in a really long time: i got lost. i'm usually not a fan of losing my way. i use mapquest or google maps whenever i need to go somewhere i've never been, even if i kind of know where it is, and especially if i have some type of appointment for which i shouldn't be late. i tend to arrive at least 15 minutes early for everything. i usually overestimate how much time most things will take. but i forgot that getting lost can be kind of fun.

yesterday, i kind of got lost on purpose. i was having my oil changed somewhere i've never been before. i checked on mapquest before i left for how to get there and how to get back, like i always do. on my way home, however, i missed my turn. i could have made a u-turn but i was on a really nasty road with a divider and i would have had to wait for a jug-handle so i just turned off the next road. i was just far enough from home to make it interesting but not scary. i made turns where i thought i should and eventually found a road i recognized. then, when i found out i was going the wrong way on that road (towards the town of elizabeth--no good), i made a u-turn and went home. today's adventure was not planned. the town of milburn planned it for me by deciding to repave part of my route home. but i did the same thing and eventually made it home.

although the rising price of gas will most likely decrease my chances of getting lost on purpose anytime in the near future, i realized that it definitely has its benefits. as lame as it may sound, it reminded me that i am more self-sufficient than i think i am, that getting lost both physically and figuratively can be the answer to that question i've been asking myself, and, perhaps most importantly, that i am my own tom-tom.

so my advice to you is this: get lost. you never know what you might find.