As you can probably tell by now, I don't pass up any opportunity to travel - even if it includes a 16 hour round trip car ride in a 3 day period. My mom and brother officially moved to Germany last weekend, as I accompanied them in a rental car with all of their suitcases (which were stored in my apartment while they were house hunting the week prior). And I thus donned the role of being the dutiful daughter, while my own selfish desires loomed beneath the surface. I wasn't really going to Germany to help them move, I was going for the two extra days we'd have for exploration-- once all the suitcases were brought into their house, of course. 
The journey "home" in and of itself was quite the memorable experience. Leaving at 10:30 in the evening, traveling throughout the night on roads that were not lit in dense fog made for little sleep when it was my mom's turn to drive. Despite my love for her, her driving - especially at night- scares me and at some points along the way I feared for my life. The Tom-Tom, which we were so glad to have, wasn't always on our side. We were only 15 minutes away from her house when the it directed us to a road that was blocked. After requesting to change the route, we were directed down dirt roads made for tractors in never-ending fields. It was dark. Pitch dark. We could have hit a cow. Thankfully we didn't. But we did nearly end up in a ditch.
Right before I returned to Amsterdam the Tom-Tom stopped working. I was in a panic. Yes, it's not always accurate. Yes, it sometimes leads us onto dirt roads in never-ending fields. Yes, it sometimes shows us driving off the road, when in fact, there is asphalt under all 4 wheels. But I, for one, can't live without it. And to take it one step further, I haven't a clue how people managed driving on poorly identified roads before it was invented. There's no way I would have made it home if the Tom-Tom didn't miraculously started working in the brinks of my desperation... which, thankfully, is exactly what happened.
So, I drove home stress-free, while enjoying the autumn leaves on the trees which lined highways for hundreds of miles,... until I got closer to the Dutch border when all I saw was rain. At least, then, I knew I was nearly home - my home.
The journey "home" in and of itself was quite the memorable experience. Leaving at 10:30 in the evening, traveling throughout the night on roads that were not lit in dense fog made for little sleep when it was my mom's turn to drive. Despite my love for her, her driving - especially at night- scares me and at some points along the way I feared for my life. The Tom-Tom, which we were so glad to have, wasn't always on our side. We were only 15 minutes away from her house when the it directed us to a road that was blocked. After requesting to change the route, we were directed down dirt roads made for tractors in never-ending fields. It was dark. Pitch dark. We could have hit a cow. Thankfully we didn't. But we did nearly end up in a ditch. Right before I returned to Amsterdam the Tom-Tom stopped working. I was in a panic. Yes, it's not always accurate. Yes, it sometimes leads us onto dirt roads in never-ending fields. Yes, it sometimes shows us driving off the road, when in fact, there is asphalt under all 4 wheels. But I, for one, can't live without it. And to take it one step further, I haven't a clue how people managed driving on poorly identified roads before it was invented. There's no way I would have made it home if the Tom-Tom didn't miraculously started working in the brinks of my desperation... which, thankfully, is exactly what happened.
So, I drove home stress-free, while enjoying the autumn leaves on the trees which lined highways for hundreds of miles,... until I got closer to the Dutch border when all I saw was rain. At least, then, I knew I was nearly home - my home. 
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