It’s customary to kick off any endeavor with a bit of fanfare. When I kick off a road trip, I have a perfectly packed car, full tank of gas, and take a deep breath of fresh morning air as I queue up the perfect tunes and sip my hot (but not too hot) fresh coffee.

…in my dreams. More often than not I’m running late, tossing things into the car with reckless abandon, filling up the gas tank, grabbing gas station coffee and a gut bomb breakfast, and crushing a bag of ice with my snow brush in the grocery store parking lot to toss in the cooler.

Sometimes adventures start with a flourish, and sometimes you stumble out the door and make it up as you go. Since I plan on writing about the ups and downs of travel for business and pleasure, I’m playing the “adventure” card and saying

“Away we go!”

(We’ll figure out the details on the road)