On the road again. I enjoy hitting the interstate and just driving. Something about that wide open road is inviting to me. Watching the sun set or rise. Early mornings or late nights. It doesn’t really matter as long as there is music to accompany the journey.

Watching the trees go by is serene and offers the chance to clear your head or think things through. Shaking up the day to day routine can really bring new perspective. It’s surprising how much you can do or see in an afternoon or weekend.

Vicksburg is a beautifully, centrally located city in the south. Known as “the key to the south,” Vicksburg opens the door from Louisiana to Mississippi on I-20, which takes people east and west across the southern United States.

Southeastern Conference fans are in luck with four different SEC universities being located about three hours from Vicksburg. Large cities like Memphis, Tenn. and New Orleans are also only three hours from our doorsteps. The gulf coast can be found on the southern border of our state with quiet water and sandy beaches.

The Mississippi capital of Jackson is a mere 45 minutes east from our fair city, and Monroe, La., is about the same distance to the west. It was recommended to me to go both an hour north and an hour south on Highway 61 to explore the sites on those roads and through those cities, and one day I plan on pursuing that journey.

I believe travel impacts our lives more than material things and those who are able to invest in exploration can really find themselves and a little piece of happiness. Nature makes beautiful pictures and the sights and sounds of a different location can be fun to experience. One of my favorite quotes is from Hans Christian Andersen, “To move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote: To travel is to live.”

Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty going on in Vicksburg where no one ever really has to leave their home, but sometimes it is nice to look outside.

I hope the terrorist attacks in Paris don’t squash people’s will to explore. I hope fear doesn’t turn to hate and that we are only stronger from it. I’ve known people who were too scared to leave the comfort of their own home and having a terrorist take away people’s free will is a horrible power they have used to take control. We can’t control everything, but we can control ourselves. Try not to deny life for fear of the unknown because the fact is we’ll never know what is around that corner, even when we look.

 

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Alana Norris is a reporter for The Vicksburg Post. Send comments to alana.norris@vicksburgpost.com