Today I drove about 9 hours from somewhere in East Louisiana to somewhere in East Florida. It was bumper to bumper traffic for about half of the drive. Sitting in traffic behind a semi track is not what I imagine when I imagine hitting the open road. However, we live in a world with an exponentially increasing population, so traffic is to be expected because almost every city's highway grid, in the world, is under construction to accommodate more cars. I drove all over Northern Germany once and it was the same construction site speckled reality.  

      I think I may have discovered a great secret today! I mean, I've done this before, but today I think I may have decided to do this trick for the rest of my life. The trick came upon me when I had given up fighting traffic. I didn't care to keep up with traffic anymore. Instead of following the car/truck in front of me as closely as prudently possible in a stop and go method so people wouldn't try to get in front of me, I decided to set my cruise control to 25 mph so I could be constantly moving, no matter how far I fell behind the car in front of me. The idea is that I'd rather drive at a constant slow speed than stop and go every 30 seconds. 25mph is like riding on a fast bike ride. Cars went around me, speeding up to the car in front until they had to stop, but I just maintained a constant speed with plenty of room in front of me to let any new cars enter the highway without a fight. It was almost as if I had my own road to drive on. It was as if I was in alternate reality as all the cars around me. I'm sure it pissed some people off, feeding into the stereotype that every Prius driver is annoying slow, but I imagined some people saw it and thought " Is should do that". I mean, would you rather drive for bursts of time at 45mph then stop to 0mph, or would you rather drive at a constant speed of 25mph? When you get down to it, I'll bet most people would rather drive a constant 25mph. 

      I think about speed limits a lot, actually. We live in a world where if the speed limit is 70mph, most people will drive 75mph. We also live in a world where the actual speed limit is about 5mph faster than the car in front of you. If the speed limit is 70mph and you are driving 80mph then the person behind you wants to go 85mph, but if you go 85mph they will want you to go 90mph. It's a never ending game of pushing and shoving. No one wants to be the slow poke. We are taught from an early age in our current education system to fall in line and follow the pack. Do not stick out or you will be ridiculed. 

      Don't get me wrong, if it's a mostly open highway, then go as fast as the speed limit will allow, but when in high traffic, stop and go situations, I think the constant slow speed method is the way to go. 

      Hurricane Elsa is brewing in and around Florida, so I'm not sure what to do. I have another 6 hour drive to Clearwater Florida for my gig tomorrow night. What miraculous timing I have to arrive in Florida just in time for their first hurricane of the season!