Customer Reviews

Finding the Open Road: A Guide to Self-Construction Rather than Mass Production (Roadtrip Nation)

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On the first page of the book is the pencil-scrawled mantra:

"So, what do you want to do with your life? You should be a lawyer, a doctor, an accountant, a consultant," Blah Blah Blah... Everywhere you turn, people try to tell you who to be and what to do with your life. We call that "noise." Block it. Shed it. Leave it for the conformists. As a generation, we need to get back to focusing on individuality. Self-construction rather than mass production. Define your own road in life instead of traveling down somebody else's. Listen to yourself. Your road is the open road. Find it. FIND THE OPEN ROAD."

Rather than the three boys having "absolutely no idea what to do with their lives" as the reviewer stated, it was rather the boys realization that they had been following other's expectations and definition of success, to do A, B, and C so that "one day you can retire and THEN start to live your life." They thought `how can one think their path is "right" if they haven't been exposed to anything else?' They brainstormed and decided to take a roadtrip across the country and "talk to people about how they found their roads in life". It was a daunting task, but surprisingly, they obtained a number of interviews through cold-calling and perseverance.

The book is graphically minimal, mostly black and white with some RV-green sprinkled throughout. It is organized into five parts, beginning with "The Roadtrip Nation Story," an explanation of the start and inspiration of the project. It continues with "Themes From The Road," an inspiring section filled with great questions, thoughts, and selected interview quotes.

A couple of my favorite quotes:

"If everything in your life is characterized as `risk versus safety,' the human instinct is to choose safety. But what if you use a whole different standard for reevaluating your life, such as `necessary versus unnecessary.' Things like happiness, passion, and love are all necessary." From that perspective, the real risk would be not having happiness in our lives."

"Your life is now. Your life is not going to start when you graduate college. Your life is not going to start when you get married. Your life is now. You have to enjoy your life today...otherwise you're going to be miserable."

The third section discusses deciding if you personally need to "hit to road" or not and how to do so. 21 interviews follow, with such diverse people as Larry King, Hugh Hefner, the greenpeace USA director, a NASA astrophysicist, a cartoonist, the "Survivor"/"Apprentice" creator, editor of seventeen magazine, a radio DJ, a poet, and more. The book closes with a journal of their roadtrip.

I like this book because it is simple, straightforward, idealistic, and the interviews give it a `legitimateness' more than simply proposing theories and ideas would. The authors suggest that life is not predictable, that living is about the journey and not the destination, and that one needs a personal definition of success free from the influences of finances and prospects of fame. The most grounding and realistic message of the book is that "hitting the road is less about logging miles on your odometer, and more about changing the way you look at the world... being open to opportunities you wouldn't normally.." I liked this view, because as I read the book I stated to winder if I needed to do something of this magnitude to figure out my passion, like backpacking through Europe living in hostels or living like Thoreau once did. I had never thought that I could gain meaningful experience by simply changing the way I approach life in my hometown by talking to people I normally wouldn't, trying new experiences, etc.

I think this book is ideal for high school students and college/twenty-somethings like myself. It personally moved me and gave me the courage to consider choosing an alternative path in my life. Even though the authors are relatively young and the subject matter may seem simplistic to older readers, I think it speaks to all generations and reminds us to question our approach to life and to find our passions.

The insights were great, but could have been better organized. By the time I got to the end of the book I found myself struggling to get through "another interview." Would have liked extended comments beyond the insights, more on bios, and perhaps topical categorization.

Product was as I expected...in good condition and arrived in a timely manner. Thank you.