The Road More Traveled
Lets see now. So far this year I’ve traveled by bus or minivan athletic trips consisting of 5-6 nine hour trips , one way. Several trips in the 3-4 hour range, one way. And two all day plane travel trips complete with an additional 6 hour bus trip to your final destination once the plane lands. At least those are the trips I can remember.
Notice I described the above trips as being one way. That’s right, after the game you have to turn around and log that 6-10 hour trip back home. Oh, and I mean immediately after the game ends! If the contest ends at 9:30 pm then it’s on the road again. Isn’t the life of a small college athletic trainer glamorous? We have a saying where I work, “just living the dream!”
You get to eat a lot of fast food and stop at every convenience store (I call them health food stores! There’s absolutely nothing healthy to eat in any of them!) in every small town along the way from here to Tim Buck Two and back. And every Super 8, Ramada, and Comfort Inn in “the loop” begins to feel like old friends. And after 10 hours on the road they are! One thing about this small college setting is you travel often and loooong! No plane charters here, no sir! Unless you make the playoffs or nationals. Otherwise, hit the road, Jack!
Now the minivan experience provides you with a comfortable seat and a much smaller number of traveling partners so this is the best way to endure 10 hours on the road. Just as long as you’re not the one driving. Especially on the 10 hour trip back home immediately after the athletic contest you just finished.
The 15 passenger school van would have to be the next best mode of transportation. It’s just like taking the old yellow school bus when I was a kid. Not terribly uncomfortable but absolutely no way to get comfortable either. At around 3:00 am you have the urge to just stretch out on the floor and try and get some sleep. Just 4 more hours until we get home.
If you’ve never ridden in one of those shuttle bus vehicles it takes you all of five minutes to realize they are not designed nor equipped to travel 60-65 student athletes, coaches, and staff to locations requiring anywhere from 6 to 12 hours of travel time. They were made to sit in for about 30 minutes tops which is a very complimentary assessment at best. It takes about an hour to numb yourself for the remaining 9 hours remaining until you arrive at your destination. Given the fact that my knees don’t tuck underneath my chin like they did 20 years ago and that I’m basically assless these shuttle buses are real man killers over a 10 hour stretch. And there’s a good chance the DVD doesn’t work, the heater is too hot in the winter, and the air conditioner is too cold in the summer. Hopefully the water pump on the cooling system doesn’t go out further delaying your arrival another 6 hours. Other than all that shuttle buses might be good for camping or a place to seek refuge from a lightning storm.
Flying the friendly skys is a travel mode I take usually 2-3 times per year. The older I get the less I’m enamored with jet planes. You have to show up at the airport early, go through all of the check in and security procedures, then wait another 2 hours for the plane to leave. It seems I’ve made a career out of waiting!
I also have a phobia about radical terrorists with names like Muhammad “got bomb” Abdullah. It seems they are everywhere and I know that’s stereotyping but I’m guilty of watching the nightly news so I’ve been conditioned to think that way. Had my eye on one of these guys on a 3 hour flight to Houston a couple of years ago. He was reading some Arabic literature and praying a lot so I was highly suspicious he might have some fatalistic intentions from orders on high. Forgive me Lord, but I kept my Acuforce 7.0 (about 7 lbs.) massage tool in my athletic training bag at the ready just in case.
So I can honestly say that the road through my athletic training career has been paved with good intentions alright. I’ve taken the road less traveled by taking the road more traveled more often than I’d like to admit.
Travel safe, kids! It’s a Win, Win!
Ike
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