Life Is Like Off-Roading

I went off-roading for the first time yesterday. Kinda weird to think I’m 40 and somehow managed to live without finding myself strapped to an engine in the dirt for so long.

My neighbor has a Kawasaki Side-X-Side and invited me to get a better idea of what desert living is all about.

As I strapped into this thing, all I could think was “this is what I wish golf carts were like.” I remember being a kid playing golf and getting a thrill by driving the cart before I was legally allowed. This was back when gas carts still existed and rumor had it you could bend the governors to get more torque and top end.

Well my friends, this simple little two-seater with no room for my clubs has all the torque and top-end you could want in a golf cart. Then trade the cart path and finely manicured grass for a dirt trail and you’ve got my first off-roading experience.

We take off down the trail and away from civilization.

The first stop was an overlook that lets you see for miles... like many many miles. It was stunning. And what took us probably 10 minutes would have been an hour-long hike. The amount of ground you can cover in this thing off a gallon of gas is astounding.

After a while longer of tearing through the desert, he asks if I want to drive.

Obviously, yes.

He gave me one basic rule to follow. Don’t hit big rocks (seemed pretty self-explanatory). There are two main avoidance techniques. First, you can go directly over a big rock if it’s not *too* big; otherwise, you can go to the side of the rock. However, be sure not to scrape the side of the tires against the rock. That’s where the most damage can be done.

And oh yeah, don’t gun it in a valley or you’ll bottom out.

Foot, meet accelerator. We take off. I’m tentative at first, learning the machine. But as I begin to understand how this beast gallops, I get more adventurous.

Settling into the ride, it didn’t take long for me to realize the beautiful parallels between off-roading and life.

For starters, let’s look at the activity as a whole. Like most activities, you end where you start. But this time that simple fact really struck me. Here we were, exploring the desert, finding trails, but all the while knowing we were going to end up back in the same place.

It’s mind-boggling how many trails there are in the Vegas desert, and they’re all neatly marked and numbered to minimize your risk of getting lost. You could easily spend days exploring all the possibilities of just this one stretch of earth, but no one has the time to explore them all.

Life isn’t much different. We all end where we started—connected to the source. There is no other destination. It’s just about the trails we explore.

At top speed, we hit around 50-55mph. Fast for sure, but nothing like the Can-Ams we’d occasionally see... capable of 80mph in this treacherous terrain.

It’s fun to go fast... but in off-roading that’s about the only thing speed has to offer. The rest is exploring, climbing, and spinning out. Doesn’t matter quite so much what kind of vehicle you’re in. That’s just personal preference for how you like to ride.

It’s all too easy for me to forget that life has no destination. I have big goals. Big dreams. But they’re not destinations. They’re simply points on a trail. Places to explore. “Ooh, I bet the view from that mountain is amazing, how do we get there?” That’s it.

It’s not a race. And the faster you try and get to the top of that mountain, the more you miss all the cool points along the way. The view is great once you get there, but after about 5 minutes you’ve soaked it up and head off to explore something new.

The other thing I noticed while off-roading was that the faster you go, the more you must focus. Losing focus at 50mph on rocky terrain is a recipe for disaster—and your conscious brain knows this, so it shuts up. It’s a beautiful place in life. Lost in focus. There’s a peace that comes with that freedom from our otherwise obnoxiously chatty brains.

When you’re moving slow, you don’t need as much focus. You can take in more of the sites. But to truly appreciate what’s around you, or to find a new area to explore, you typically have to stop.

As I continue to explore the trails of life, I’m comforted by remembering that just like off-roading, there’s nowhere I *have* to go. It’s just about having fun on the trails. Exploring new areas. Checking out the sites. Avoiding big rocks.

Then returning to where I started—dusty, a little sunburned, and grinning from ear to ear.