*Does something random in the background then turns to face the camera while smiling, name appears in yellow comic sans under myself while the camera pans closer to my face while a stereotypical 80’s sitcom music plays*

For a long time now we weren't happy with where we were living, but on one odd day excitement had been flowing through the household. My family has never owned a house, we had always jumped from house to house all over Battle Creek and even for some time, in  Wisconsin. I, of course, was only six at the time but I remember it like that day was yesterday living in the highway infested concrete jungle capital of Madison.

We would occasionally take walks to the downtown area whilst passing by various side shops filled with homemade goodies that were satisfying to the eyes and stomach. Living life as a six-year-old kid with an overactive imagination with ADHD this was quite a treat to get out of the confined space of the apartment and see the extraordinary massive capitol building reflecting the beams of white and yellow light.

My time in Wisconsin is one that I will never forget.

With the constant moving of equipment and changing rooms every two years or so. I thought we would never stay in one spot that we could actually call home, a place where our family could make memories that we can reminisce as a whole. A time to cherish one another. But that all changed when my mom called a family meeting to the dinner table, what followed suit was the most exciting news I had heard in a long time.We were looking at a nice 5 bedroom house with TWO bathrooms, this meant that everyone could have their own space. No one had to share rooms and we could live comfortably as a family, instead of being cramped in a four bedroom small house. The new home had changed me for the better. I have my own room to do whatever I want undisturbed like work on school work or study without distractions.

Now that we were no longer renting a space we can use the excess money for travel trips,  which is great because we can do more things together as a family and connect instead of doing nothing and being separated. This gave us opportunities to go up north, we had seen new things and experienced great places and had tons of fun. The drive, for the most part, was most uneventful, stopping at petrol stations every hour for the trip having to use the restrooms or even for a quick snack. Grabbing my favorite sour cream and cheddar ruffles™ chips and a ginger ale with the industrial smell of gasoline hitting my nostrils. Pizza vendors taunting me with the greasy delight of fluffy baked bread with thick crimson sauce and stretchy mozzarella. Alas, I was keeping true to my somewhat of a diet by sticking with the chips and root juice. After it was all said and done we headed back to the car to continue our extended journey.

Somber sleeping as I’m cramped in my seat with my special tiger blanket that is older than me draped over my stiff torso. To uncomfortable at times to sleep with the noisy highway beating on my eardrums, deafening loud wind seeping through the car windows. Keeping me awake with the chilling air on my face, and the thumping of the car on the railroad tracks. Snoring fills the car as my brothers are sound sleepers with the exception of my older brothers girlfriend coming along with us.

Three hours into our drive with no sleep, I’m starting to hallucinate, seeing things from the corner of my eyes. Things that seem unfathomable to the regular human mind, loose trees with a gelatinous moon that appear to warp and distort with my minds imagination as if they were intertwined in a physiological dance of dysphoria. Clear dark skies with countless stars in scintillation so amusing to the modern teenager that seems infatuated with astronomy as if a modern marvel of planetary exploration has become another trend that will soon die out just like the countless stars. I like to admire them with unspoken respect in the sense that not being one with the fad will make me stand out as an individual.

As my admiration for interstellar cosmological observation continues, it is abruptly interrupted by my urge to check my phone. Doing so resulted in the second most intense pain I have ever had the displeasure to feel, with the screen burning my eyes with the light of 10 trillion collapsing suns. Or at least that's what it felt like anyway. Driving for what felt like an eon I checked the time only to see that 4 hours of the six total had been complete. Slouching in my seat was the only comfortable/acceptable way towards getting the most sleep possible, for there was no other position that could appease my aching body.

As the last few grueling hours when by I had been sleeping peacefully when all of a sudden my parents had woke me, my brothers, and my older brothers girlfriend. This sent me into a small panic because of the lack of sleep prior to the situation. They had told us that we were close to Mackinac Bridge and didn’t want us to miss it, this of course caught all of our attention for we had never been on a bridge with the magnitude of this one before. As we sat silently we had seen passing signs that read: “Mackinac Bridge - 12 miles” and for every sign with fewer miles are anticipation had grown more eager.

Fourteen minutes passed, leaving me and my brothers in aw as we had approached the massive bridge with the top stops which required a small fee of four dollars to enter. Once that was said and done our focus was on the great lakes that were separated by the structure that connects two great pieces of land as well. We had never seen anything like it, our gazes completely fixated on looking over the horizon of the lakes while pointing out things that we see like boats and seagulls.

Never had I seen my family filled with such excitement. We had finally made it to our destination. It was a long travel that was worth every cramped and sleeps deprived minute.