This isn’t just some nostalgic missing of the past where time was plenty and responsibilities were few, but a sadness the road trip is disappearing.

Between the rising cost of gas and the accelerated growth of urban, and suburban, areas with their overly congested traffic grids, it’s more pain than joy to drive. Even the minor roadways are filling with a rising population avoiding the major ones.

Tom Petty no longer has a choice about driving these highways all night long. It will take that long to get to where you’re going.

Considering the future we’re entering and assuming it all comes up in the utopia people are expecting, we’ll solve our fuel problem with some kind of electric hybrid that can charge in minutes and traffic problems will be solved through autonomous vehicles. However, an autonomous vehicle expects a destination and maneuvers the roads in the most efficient way possible.

I don’t expect the engineers to add an option that says, “Just Go Wherever,” or “Make Random Stops at Places I Would Find Interesting.”

It’s tough to say if there will still be a sweet spot where a self-directed road trip will still be possible. All I know is in the meantime, until that magical future hits, I miss them.