Getaway Car : My Story

No, the title doesn't make sense, not unless you've read my friends' first. I recently have and this is the result. 

I have always been a bit of a drifter. My whole life people would assume I'm a bit lost and devoid of a direction. I don't mind it at all. Kind of fun actually when people always wonder what you're all about yet don't ask because they think they already know the answer. But that perception actually could not be further from the truth. 

I'm not at all directionless. In fact, for someone who never plans ahead, I seemed to have had my life planned out a bit too rigidly. The whole thing is actually the other way around. I have a yearning to always know what's going on later on. In other words, to be able to see the future. To actually enable me to get somewhat close to doing something like that, I like to plan the next few years ahead of me. So if it goes according to plan, I can look back and say, "I looked at the future and everything was fine" (No I'm not smoking anything or intoxicated in any way). Things are so rigidly planned for my future by myself and my parents, I realise within myself that I have a constant need for impulsive decisions. I always crave for free time devoid of any plans. Although I love them if they are flexible. It's not a hobby, it's a lifestyle. I hate planning for the near future and always leave it wide open. Of course, it means many lonely moments, but it also means a lot of out-worldly stories to tell. 

Which brings me to driving. Back when I was back in Malaysia, my favourite thing to do was drive. I love driving. I like to think that I do fine at it. I do it whenever I can. Whether it's just to take my mom to the shops, or for a night out. Whenever I have free time and a reason, I would drive. Sometimes I would even if I didn't have a reason. 

With driving, I could go anywhere I wanted. Just for that moment in time, I could feel like a superhero and drive on the highway, or pretend to be a KL boy and drive in the jam, or be a tourist and hold the traffic just to see the sights. It is a slice of freedom. Its a break from the reality you made for yourself, but need to see something else once in a while. As such, I find myself very, very liberated while driving. It isn't just driving, but any sort of activity I do that I'm allowed to be impulsive with.

I reciprocate in principle, those that have been stated in my friends' blog. I agree whole-heartedly with the fact that people seem more liberated to talk and share experiences while driving going nowhere. How a very difficult experience (like running out of fuel) could actually seem enjoyable along the whole journey. I find it especially true in himself although I'm not sure if he realises it or not (he should realise it now unless he's really stupid). You might never get to where you thought you might be, but you'd always have a good story to tell (for example, an accident). 

Unlike the friend of mine, I do not have a vast majority of friends who can talk rubbish for hours and switch back to being wise in a snap. I have a great variety of friends due to my constant travelling around the country. The ones I notice that I can really feel comfortable being around with are my friend from college. And there is a great number of them that I can honestly speak without filtering my words or ideas. As with the original blog that this entry has been made as a reflection to, I find it most easy while driving going nowhere. And yes, these people are witches. You find that, a dyslexic friend can be some of the most spiritually bright person you've ever met, or a middle-aged guitarist actually had big dreams that burned out way too soon. 

I have on the most part, been the driver, considering I know the road probably as well as any KLian around, and recognise the habits of the local drivers just as well as anyone from around KL. Since then, with the variety of friends I've driven around with, I've done so many things that I wouldn't have done under normal circumstances. Good examples would be the time where a lady poured out her heart and her life to me in a car, the time I drove like a madman and crashed, running out of fuel, and me myself exposing my personality in its' rawest to others (most often to my housemates and bandmates). 

I guess you could say my point right now is that, I've had some of my greatest experiences while driving going nowhere. I've ended up at Port Dickson once when I was supposed to just go to town, and I've trolled for "bapoks" with friends, even met a cab driver who offered weed as a friendly gesture. The element of unpredictability is the biggest factor that I'm trying to express here. I love impulsiveness and driving going nowhere is a perfect combination of things I love along with constantly producing great, unexpected experiences.

Even writing this right now makes me want to relive those times. And when I relive those driving times, I'd want to relive the stories that I'd be talking about while driving. All the crap that we went through after say, running out of fuel or cash.

But did we care? Of course not. Those were all great times. 

I whole-heartedly agree that sometimes, not knowing where you're going is a good thing. Not knowing what lies ahead of you. Not planning every detail.

Today however, was not one of those days.....