Wait, how far is Amery, exactly? Oh no…

I was admittedly not looking forward to the two-hour drive to Amery. Nor the two-hour drive back. The prospect of the cumulative four-hour journey loomed over my Friday evening, the thought of it occasionally popping into my consciousness and bringing with it a sense of trepidation. It was a familiar feeling, one initially cultivated under the constant barrage of homework assignments, papers and exams of college life before being further developed in my professional life. Part of the territory, you might say, what with plans of what needs to be done next constantly poking away at the periphery of my mind at any given moment of supposed free time.

At any rate, I was not put in charge of which school gets to host wrestling sectional meets, nor which schools end up where, so there was nothing to be done about it. Pictures needed to be taken and stories needed to be written. So, regardless of any prior apprehension, I set out on Saturday morning with a sort of grim determination to make the most of the trip.

It’s not that I don’t like the act of driving. It’s perfectly fine; I don’t have some of the stronger feelings that others harbor towards it one way or the other. Which, now that I think about it, that apathy was perhaps part of the problem.

See, I was much more concerned with the potential state of boredom that I would likely find myself in. With no one to talk to or anything more interesting than the freeway in front of me to draw any sort of semblance of entertainment from, surely I was doomed to be bored out of my gourd.

I know, I know, oh so very scary. Poor boy, so dreadfully bored for two whole straight hours! However will you survive? Surely such a horrible fate should not be endured by anyone. Et cetera, et cetera.

I get it. Out of all the things to fear, boredom should be pretty low on the list (though I do think that it bears mentioning that, given the ever increasing value of one’s time in a world ever pushing towards becoming more and more efficient, it’s not one that should be entirely unexpected or even unwarranted). Unfortunately, logic seems to hold very little sway over the various subjects of my apprehensions.

Because, as it turns out, such apprehensions proved to be unnecessary.

I had no one to talk to for four hours. I couldn’t catch up on the latest sports scores, read any news articles, or watch the newest episodes of whatever TV shows I’m currently embroiled in. I was alone, with nothing but my thoughts and my Spotify playlist.

And it was great. I think I’ve talked before about the need to take some time to unwind, to unplug yourself from the system and its to do lists. It’s not a particularly deep thought, one that’s been echoed a countless number of times and one that continues to be brought up.

The thing is, this is something that is usually easier said than done. Even if you set out with the explicit goal of cutting yourself away from work for a moment or decide to take some time away from the multitude of screens and relationships we try to maximize our free time with, it’s not as if those things stop existing. They are still there, waiting for you, and often easier to access than ever before and that knowledge will continue to poke and prod at you even as you try to escape it.

But when you are trapped in a vehicle for four hours with literally no other choice but to put all those things aside, suddenly it’s much more attainable. The restriction was ironically freeing in a way, as I was free to ponder whatever random projects I’ve been putting on the back burner or sing along to whatever song my playlist randomly selected without subjecting anyone to the horrors of having to listen to me.

Was the car ride the most productive thing in the world? No. Was it mind-blowingly fun? Hardly.

But it also didn’t have the expectations of being either, and I think I needed a little of that. So I guess I should send a bit of thanks towards whoever decides which school gets to host sectional wrestling tournaments. Amery was an excellent choice, I’ve got to say.

A C ertain Point of V iew