Travel tips: Road trips and the art of finding good travel companions
Nostalgia week.
Started last Thursday with a message from Sean that he would be passing through on his road trip to or from Toronto.
Not sure when exactly.
I'm told I will be informed upon approach. One of those put-another-dog-on-the-barbie situations.
We met at work in Toronto. I was smitten and he was definitely not. I was basically smitten with anyone paying me the least amount of attention back then. I was boy crazy and single. He was single but not crazy. He had a wisdom I did not possess. He could see ahead when I couldn't see much further than my daydreams and fantasies.
Anyway, we both loved coffee break so we started going out together for coffee. Soon we were getting lunch together and eventually we went to the bar after work to watch the hockey game every other day. All this never turned into anything remotely romantic so simmer down if that's what you're thinking. But we talked a lot about photography, travel, and especially road trips.
When my contract in Toronto ended, I returned to Los Angeles and wrote for the Auto Club. Imagine my delight at being able to study road trips of the American West DURING my day job. I collected a lot of maps. Sean showed up whenever he had a week to fly down. I would fetch him at the airport and off we would go... anywhere between LA and Vegas. All that fantastic faded desert. Neon signs that hadn't been lit for decades, Joshua trees seemingly swaying and dancing on the horizon, and someone by my side who didn't great my nerves.
The art of finding a decent travel companion in this life is a gift.
The travel companion gets put into the same category as friends, but a decent travel companion requires a whole other skill set. Much needs to be either the same or at least compatible. The biggest factors are about how you both want to spend your time and money.
If we are staying at a fancy hotel and going to a fancy brunch after a long sleep in... go find yourself someone else.
A cheap motel that is basically a 5 star 3 star... clean, safe and close to the things... perfect. A diner for coffee and eggs, and fast so we can get seeing what we came to see. Now we are talking. Even bathroom breaks need to be somewhat compatible. If you can't pee... wherever... go to the resort without me.
So Sean. We are compatible in all these ways. I will put up with his fast food as long as he can deal with my need for a 5 star 3 star hotel... a shade below Best Western is fine. We went to the Salton Sea and took hundreds of photos. On TWO trips, he loaded the film wrong and had no shots to show for it. I was digital by then. Still only ever printed a few shots. Some places are gorgeous in their desolation and some places are just too ugly.
We had stopped at a beach. Looked like a fine dot on the map where we could stretch our legs and rest our driving eyes. Got out of the car, walked to the water, realized we were not walking on sand but on a foot-thick heap of dead fish at various stages of decay. Back in the car.
We couldn't speak for an hour.
Didn't get any shots either, for obvious reasons.
He likes to find old trucks in front of interesting buildings. I like the details... hood ornaments, shadows.
He takes forever to set up his shot. A tripod is involved. So I meander around, finding broken dishes in the nooks and crannies and wonder about who bought them and how the dishes came to be part of the detritus of desert towns.
He said once that he hoped heaven had good coffee and a lot of ugly places to photograph. He loves to take a beautiful photo of something that isn't considered beautiful... or even noticed by most people. He loves a parking lot. I love a tangle of telephone poles. It works. We seem to find what we are looking for. And sometimes, what we are not looking for.
He will be here next week. Surely, my small town is too pretty for his fickle needs. We will likely meander to the outer edges. I am sure we will find something, even if it is just good company.
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