How Are You Doing?

Things are, phew boy, really something else out there. The chaos only seems set to continue. So as we watch our economy, potentially our democracy, and the entirety of our fragile world burn down, my question this week is, how are you doing? 

I don't know about you, but I could use a vacation just as vacations are getting farther and farther out of reach. You could risk flying, but no, the airports are a chaotic mess without Transportation Security Administration funding agents, and you could get ICE'd in a way that is somehow more unpleasant than chugging an entire bottle of Smirnoff Ice in one go. Then there's the perpetually underfunded and understaffed air traffic control to worry about. If you did manage to go somewhere nice outside of the U.S., the State Department is currently warning Americans that we could be in danger pretty much anywhere thanks to the latest pointless war.

Maybe you could take a nice road trip to ease your troubles... but no, gas is already over $4 in much of the country, and if it isn't where you are, just wait a bit. Plus everything else is expensive, with inflation turning road trips snacks and drive-thru trips into larger and larger financial burdens. God help you if you need something like new tires or brakes before setting out. 

Like you, I had big plans and schemes to get out and explore the world this summer. I'm probably still going to try to go wilderness backpacking on Isle Royale National Park this spring, and I will be spending my big 4-0 in my favorite town of New Orleans this fall come hell or high water (considering this is New Orleans we're talking about, probably both). 

But I'm looking at these semi-distance plans and keep wondering if they'll happen. It's a long, gas-hungry drive just to get to the shores of Lake Superior, and who knows how much my middling bucks will buy in New Orleans once autumn rolls around. I'm sure the airports will be fixed by then (...right?) but what if the now-uncontrolled climate change makes the entire experience a miserable humid mess? 

What I'm not planning on are the occasional spur of the moment road trips or international travel that used to spring up in my blessedly child-free existence. I can't justify a weekend trip down to Nashville or a sudden $500 ticket to see friends in Germany right now. Another fatality to my summer plans due economic uncertainty is sacrificing my hope of buying a fun little classic car for tooling around Detroit. I had to spend all my car buying funds on some adult stuff for my house, which has also become criminally expensive. So long, Corvair with an egregiously annoying purple sparkle wrap. 

The dream of a summer cruiser (with its classic car gas mileage) is dead, but the hope for a good summer is still very much alive. Luckily there's a lot of fun stuff in the city to do, and cheap too, but not everyone is lucky enough to live in a place where people know how to be both broke and have a good time. I legitimately want to know how you, our dearest readers, are coping, what travel plans and summertime car dreams you've had to change, and what good stuff you're doing for yourself to keep your chin up. 

Stay safe out there. We love you.