Road Trips

Where family memories are made

My best family car ever: a second hand Audi S8, with the V10 Lamborghini engine, 4WD, and air suspension

On September 11, 2001, David Collenette, Canadian Federal Minister for Transport was speaking at a meeting in Montreal, when he received a hand-written note. A plane had just flown into one of the Twin Towers in New York and he was to return to Ottawa immediately. He and his two colleagues rushed downstairs to their black SUV and began the drive back. Intense phone discussions with his officials filled all of the two hour drive back to Ottawa. More than 500 aircraft with 75,000 passengers on board were on route to North America across the Pacific or Atlantic. In that car, on that drive, on his blackberry, he decided that all aircraft beyond the point of no return should be forced to land in Vancouver, Newfoundland and Labrador, and other airports across Canada. He did this based on his sole best judgement, in motion, in the back of that car. Despite the terrible circumstances, the welcome passengers received from the people of Gander, Labrador was especially warm, and it was memorably captured in the Broadway musical “Come from Away”.

I like my journeys a little less stressful than that. My happiest moments have happened on the road with my family. Those journeys make lasting memories. Canada is the phenomenal country for road trips. Toronto to Montréal to Québec city is a one-day drive. Québec to Halifax is another day and half. The distances are amazing when I compare them to Ireland which is 120 x 180 miles in size. You can still be within the greater Toronto area with those numbers

The Audi S8 after a snowy family road trip from NYC to Toronto

All of us have had cars we loved that we would not let our children drive today. My cars have often been completely crap. My first car was a truly dreadful Vauxhall Chevette. The headlights went out every time I hit a bump. That’s a problem if you live in Ireland where roads are narrow, hedges are high and the sun sets early. My second car was a VW Golf convertible which I drove in upstate New York for three years. I was so proud of that car but in the winter, it was freezing inside. Ice would form on the inside of the windshield. Just about all cars have redeeming features, though. There’s always something memorable, however hopeless they are.

As we age, our cars evolve with our family needs. Over time the number of occupants goes from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 perhaps five and a dog. We get better cars that are safer and more reliable. Long journeys become synonymous with Harry Potter books on tape, Mars bars, and Tim Horton’s coffee. A correlation between bladder capacity and fuel tank size develops over time.

The right car is critical for a great drive. Because of our weather here, I am a fan of all-wheel-drive, snow tires, lots of wind shield washer fluid, cruise control, GPS, good coffee cups, and excellent sunglasses. Life is at its best when the whole family is in the car and we have a big drive ahead of us. Everyone takes turns, and at some point, I’ll be in the back seat on the passenger side while my daughter drives with her Spotify playlist and a laissez-faire attitude speed limit.

Cars are depreciating assets. I therefore buy them 2-3 years old, with warranties, and keep them for a long time. I see this as recycling and better for the earth than some electric thing with lithium mined from Chile and rare earth elements from the rain forests of Africa. In Canada we cover distances nonstop that would require two or three, 30-minute recharging efforts in a Tesla. That would drive me nuts. I’ve never heard anyone say they want to leap into their Tesla and go on a road trip. Also why do we worry about radiation from our cell phones, but we don’t worry about sitting on a huge battery, especially when we are charging it?

Road trips punctuate your life. The drive away the day after your wedding. The dash to the maternity hospital. Journeys to a rented house in the Outer Banks for spring break, with a Thule box on the roof. The college tour road trip around the Northeast to the Ivys, McGill University, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. The tradition of the college drop-off and the quiet drive home to an empty nest. Road trips to family weddings and later family funerals.

There is the first-time car buyer with their parents and the last-time car buyer with their children. Perhaps there is something even akin to a crop rotation with cars. We go from something small and unreliable, to something larger and more reliable, in which we put our most precious cargo, to something small and reliable again. Today, I drive a 13-year-old Mini Cooper S with a six-speed manual. It’s a happy car. It has the most phenomenal, heated seats. You can roast a chicken on them.

Cars are an interior space that is a continuum of our home and our work. The car, like walking the dog, creates a safe space, that allows important life moments to be discussed. We communicate life transitions in them. Over Tim Hortons coffee and breakfast sandwiches a daughter might say “hey Dad, Mum’s not available so I just want you to listen and don’t say anything”. Or, “Hey Dad so I’ve been thinking, and I am planning to go to.…: Or “Hey Dad I am going to move in with……” Or “Hey Dad we are going to have a…..”

There is no connection between the cost of the car and the enjoyment of it. Cars are family members and deserve to be named. We don’t do that enough. So, if you can, drive a car that represents your beliefs, your identity, your spirit, and your values. And, most of all, enjoy the ride and the memories you are making.