The Reinvention of Highway Driving

There's something about driving on state highways and expressways that is relaxing. If traffic builds up, sure, it can be aggravating, but driving alone in the early morning as the earth begins to warm and fog settles or dusk, when the world slowly cools down, I find myself at peace. It's a time to be with thoughts and hundreds of miles of farmland and trees. I never find myself stuck staring at miles of concrete for long because we are a country a farmers. I've seen farmers tilling fields, hawks circling in the blue sky, car accidents, and billboard after billboard after billboard. I've listened to different radio stations and I'm pretty sure in northern Michigan every radio station is either called the "Moose," "Fox," or "Bear."

In my lifetime, 21 years, the highway hasn't changed. Speed limits fluctuate and the roads go under construction, but otherwise, everything is always the same. Is this a good or a bad thing? The well-known and unchanging parts of life are always the most reassuring. Yet, maybe something needs to be changed. Michigan never diversified the economy and now the state is in a black hole of unemployment. Maybe we need to change the way we view travel. We have become desensitized to the world around us while driving. Our concrete highways used to remind us there are actually farmers who grow food and animals and plants that thrive in areas humans develop the least as we drive across the state or country. But most of us don't even take the time to recognize what we are driving past. Driving has become so routine, so mind numbingly boring, we have nothing else to do besides think.

I have no grand ideas for the reinvention of highway driving. I don't know how to make driving any less boring or how to get people to appreciate the little towns that aren't known for anything more than being Exit #XXX. Maybe if state governments want to promote interstate travel or tourism, an unbiased team made up of out-of-staters should stop at every single city off the expressway and rank the scenery, restaurants, downtown appeal, etc. Then, that ranking is put on their respective highway exit so people know if Exit #XXX has more to offer besides a gas station and McDonalds. And rest stops, isolated pockets of toilets and vending machines, should be built and incorporated into the tiny cities scattered along an expressway. It gives travelers the option to go out to eat, rest at a park, or walk through a quaint downtown. Thus, stimulating the local economy. Why didn't the state think of this stuff sooner?

I know there are bigger ideas for the reinvention of highway driving. And I'm glad because it's time for a change. There should be strategically placed billboards that give off a wi-fi signal so navigators/co-captains/wingmen (AKA other passengers) can surf the web. Or, what if fast food chains developed a way to deliver food to a person driving without even having to turn off cruise control? A driver would simply call ahead to a McDonalds, make an order and a specially designed vehicle would deliver the meal. The opportunity to reinvent the highways are around, they're just hidden in between the acres of farmland, exit ramps and signs. These concrete veins that string the United States together are waiting to explode with innovation and it's just a matter of time.