Some observations from driving around the northeast to visit my wife’s family and friends as someone accustomed to Texas- mostly in NJ/NY/Connecticut so far..

1. Cops lurking in the tall grass everywhere you go to give out tickets. Also so many stealthy police vehicles. Feels like a predator and prey dynamic

2. Abandoned houses, industrial buildings galore

3. Tolls everywhere you look- even on major interstate highways

4. So many low bridges. I heard in some cases they were put in on purpose to keep buses of undesirables from reaching places like the Hamptons

5. People definitely don’t “drive friendly y’all” like in tejas (besides the big sprawling cities like Houston & Dallas)

6. The highways are in rougher shape than some of the worst in Mississippi and Louisiana back in the days of growing up.

I remember one time in Mississippi catching air in our minivan from a bump. Now even those poorest of states have better road infrastructure.

7. Old rusty water towers converted into 5G towers. Ew

Not to be totally negative, there are some truly beautiful spots and resilient people/businesses that have put up with a lot of BS these past few years (and probably further back)

Bottom line if you made it this far.. I’m thankful to have these 50 different laboratories/states to test things out and see what does and doesn’t work. They can compete with each other for those who are willing to vote with their feet who generally bring a lot of value to the table

#travel #roadtrip #grownostr #showerthoughts