The thrill of driving nowhere with a blanket of darkness surrounding you is like a rush of adrenaline. 

The satisfying feeling of the absence of light while driving is comforting. For a while, I never knew how it felt—until I met the experience. It has become one of my favorite pastimes, even with the inevitable lack of gas. I love holding hands with freedom as my feet and fingers guide me to my unknown destination. This destination of nowhere is a colorful mix of captivation and devastation. 

Captivation for the thrill of the concealed destination as pictures of unknown country roads pass you by. Devastation due to the shortage of gas as you find yourself encompassed into someone else’s town. The unknown end goal is like a painting that can give you two different emotions: scary and soothing. 

As I drive along in your painted ticket to orderly mayhem, the crisp cool wind of freedom is the only feeling. 

I have only recently found out how much this activity creates that surge of dopamine I was so unsure that I was searching for. I have found myself ignoring my responsibilities or worries while I am driving within the night. Once I am encapsulated within the flurry of thrill that I call nighttime driving, forgetting is my favorite thing to do. 

When I hang out with my friends, we never know what to do, and that is where this idea birthed from; you can just drive. There is no destination, which is perfect because we cannot even think of where to go in the first place. Our painted ticket to organized chaos can decide what we do and where we go. My feet and hands are just the helping hands to my colorful pass to freedom. 

The bustle of the car, the freedom of the wind, the electric buzz from the radio as we soar over the cracked and dirt-ridden roads bringing us closer to our end goal. The number of great experiences and good vibes that are shared between us strengthens our friendship. It is an activity that we all share and enjoy, and even better, neither of us has to decide what we are doing.

This year my mind has been wiped of fog as I realize that best friends are not the people you have been friends with the longest; they are the people you have shared the most memorable memories with.