Transience explores why so many find the lure of the road irresistible. This sociological theory suggests that we are not allured to the road, but all the small gaps between. Those little flashes of memory imprinted upon us along the way collectively evoke an idea that we attribute to being on the road. Transience is an exploration of this idea through personal reflection on the mood and emotions conjured up through my travels.
From our country’s inception and early drive for westward expansion, a certain romanticism of the road has been deeply ingrained into our collective psyche. These ideas have thrived in our literature from classic tales like Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to modern day incarnations like Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, instilling the idea that the journey will inevitably bring with it excitement and self discovery.
I meander through the roadside oases across the US that cater to the transient lifestyle of the trucker and the traveler. However, it’s not the obvious representations of this lifestyle that I hope to capture along this journey, but the feeling that the sights, sounds and experiences collectively leave. These sensory moments take a firmer hold than the trip as a whole; the shifty eyes of a chance encounter, the pattern on the motel room blanket, the warm glow inside of a closed carnival ride.
The harsh reality of the road is often in contradiction with our ideals. Travel costs, long hours, aching bones and lack of a place to call home takes a toll. I drive for 12 hours, straight across the Arizona desert, my eyes burning and straining to stay open, only to find myself without dinner in a room that smells like stale cigarettes. Yet, despite all this, the lure of the road continues to call and we continue to come searching.
