At a party last weekend, someone asked me what I write about. I always struggle with this question.

 

Do I write about cars? Many of you reading this found me through the car community – car shows, online forums, my article in Hagerty Car Club Magazine.

 

Do I write about travel? Some of you have been with me since I posted my very first essay on my blog when I embarked on a 3-1/2-month cross-country road trip in 2023.

 

What about empty nester life? Loss and grieving? Parenthood? New chapters?

 

The Blue Car is a central character and inspiration in many of my stories. But I don’t consider myself a car writer. My articles aren’t about the latest Porsche or the engine specs of the early 911s. I don’t compare models, report back from car shows, or list my rankings at Autocross (Just assume I am always last, and you will be correct. Always.).

 

My writing from the road isn’t the typical travel essay. I don’t recommend hotels, describe the expensive and fussy meal I just enjoyed, or how to get a coveted reservation. I don’t have affiliate links on my website.

 

So, what do I write about? I thought a moment at that party last week, took a sip of wine, and gave a simple answer:

 

I write about the little moments that make up our days and how we make sense of it all to find meaning and joy in life. And I do it from my perspective behind the steering wheel of my 1970 911T Porsche.

 

I was pleased with myself and took another sip of wine (bigger than the first one). It sounded pithy to me, and I got a nod of the head and smile in response (always a good sign). But later, on my way home in the Blue Car, I wondered…what does it mean that I write from my perspective behind the wheel? And please note that I was careful to say “from my perspective” – I don’t actually write while I am driving, I promise! But my answer implies I am on the road all the time, and I am not.

 

The thing is, the Blue Car is a metaphor. It represents the travels we take through life: our individual journeys and the encounters we have along the way. I find it helpful to think about life as continuous movement and the Blue Car represents the desire to make the most of every step, every mile. And while I use the word “journey,” it implies there is a start, a planned route, and an end. But that’s not how things have gone for me. “Planned route” wouldn’t be the way I would ever describe my life, and I suspect you wouldn’t describe yours that way either.

 

So, it is also helpful that the Blue Car symbolizes the twists and turns of the road. It is a reminder that we all must navigate the changes we plan, as well as the ones thrust upon us. Like new jobs, health crises, changes in living situations, and finding and losing love and friendships. Sometimes we find detours and dead ends that stymy us, and other times we are lucky or better prepared, and we are on the Autobahn, speeding toward our goals.

 

And despite my love for a great winding road and taking those twists and turns at high speed, I love that the Blue Car represents reflection and contemplation. This is perhaps not what Ferry Porsche intended when he put pen to paper and designed the very first 356, but the Blue Car inspires slowing down, questioning things, reflecting, and dreaming in this ever-changing landscape we call life. There’s nothing like a good road trip to ground us and help us sort things out.

 

All of this gives me a pretty great vehicle (pun intended) to write about the wonderful messiness of life. It’s about confronting the fears that hold us back, the pain we inflict on ourselves by avoidance, and the new opportunities we have by embracing change. Because change is what life is all about; it’s the one thing we can depend on.

 

Maybe I am a car writer after all. Just not in the traditional sense. People love cars for many different reasons --design and engineering, speed and handling, working under the hood, and for the pure joy of driving. But perhaps best of all is the autonomy they provide. We only get that kind of autonomy of movement by walking or driving, and our range of possibilities is so much greater when we are behind the steering wheel. The Blue Car reminds us that we can choose our own journeys, connect with whom we like, explore back roads, take detours, and make pit stops.

 

Who doesn’t want to have autonomy? Who doesn’t want to steer into their own journey? To recover from a breakdown, a dead end, or a disappointment, and get back on the road? I have readers who don’t own a car or drive, those who live for cars, and the rest who are somewhere in the middle. I would guess we all have a common desire to control our own lives, to have autonomy and a wide range of possibilities, as much as we are able.

 

I feel fortunate to be steering my own life in new ways these days. My 34 years with the Blue Car have seen me through many changes: wife, mother, widow, single mom, architect, educator, city planner, Blue Car lover, road trip warrior, and now writer. I am officially retiring from city planning this week and focusing on so many other things I want to do, including writing full time.

 

As I write today’s essay, the changes in my own life cause me to think that maybe the right question to ask me is, “Why do I write?”

 

That’s an easy one to answer, even without a sip of wine. I write to understand my world. I write so that my readers and I can prepare as best we can for the sharp turns of life, planned and unplanned, and enter the curves with our foot steady on the gas, fully confident we are ready for the challenge.

 

And I write because I believe we all have agency in our lives no matter how elusive it may be sometimes. And every damn moment counts. I write so my readers and I see the joys and wonders of every experience. So that we don’t wait for the big trip, the next promotion, or the perfect relationship.

 

The Blue Car inspires me, and I hope I can inspire you, to be open to starting new chapters in your life, when it’s the right time and place.

 

And most of all, to see and feel the joy of the journey. Every day.

 

If you are reading me for the first time, I hope you join me for this new journey I am on –my writing, my road trips, my figuring out the messiness of life--and that you stick with me if you have been in the passenger seat for a while. I have lots to write about and an epic European road trip coming up that will be sure to meld Blue Car stories with my experiences and reflections. I promise to keep my gaze on the road ahead, limiting my glances at the rear and side view mirrors. We can’t change the past and I think it is best not to get too hung up with who may be overtaking us in the next lane.

 

Unless we are at Nürburgring. But that’s another story, and I’ll save it for when I get to the track in March.