There is no such thing as a really original road-trip story. It doesn’t matter whether the road you set out on is the QEW or Route 66 or a dirt road leading from the Tabard Inn in London to Canterbury Cathedral—if you’re telling a story about a road trip, there is going to be something familiar about it, a certain inevitability of shape. You will tell us why and when and from where you left. You will tell us about getting there, and turning around. You’ll tell us how you got lost and how you wondered if you’d ever get home again. Finally, you’ll tell us how you did make it home after all, and how you distributed the smokes and beer you got at the duty-free to everyone (if you are Orpheus, or Christ, what you divvy up is your torn body among your followers).
This sameness of story is, of course, a good thing. No matter where you live, there is a road there, and you’ve gone down it (or thought about it). Which is a way of saying that road-trip stories are not so much...
Steven Hayward teaches in the English Department of Colorado College. His most recent book is the bestselling novel and Globe 100 selection, Don’t Be Afraid. He is also the creator and host of the NPR radio program Off Topic.
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