Dreaming in the field
Field of Dreams is one of my favorite sports movies. In the film, Ray Kinsella, a farmer from Iowa played by Kevin Costner, is working in his fields when he hears a voice: “If you build it, he will come.”
This begins an adventure where he builds a baseball field, visits and kidnaps an author, goes to Fenway Park, searches for an obscure baseball player and then comes back to Iowa with the threat of a foreclosure on his house.
On the surface, this story sounds absurd, but in watching the film, there’s a deeper story happening. And the key is in the significance of the voices Kinsella hears. “If you build it, he will come.” “Ease his pain.” “Go the distance.”
I’ll leave you to watching the film to discover what those statements really mean. But the last one, “go the distance,” makes me think a lot about road trips and friendship.
Road trips: a vehicle to go the distance for friendships
In American life, and perhaps all over, friendship turnover happens. We make friends, then we move onto other jobs or other cities and lose touch with friends from the past. Yet, what is amazing about a road trip is people can rekindle friendship and revel in the symbiosis of common interests and experiences. All it takes is a willingness to Go the Distance.
On my New York road trip, I had the opportunity to visit a college friend who resides in New Jersey near New York City. In planning this trip, I had in mind to visit people, and such a opportunity arose with this trip with my friend, Josh.
After doing some work on Tuesday during the day, I traveled further south to meet with Josh for dinner.
Korean Barbecue: Bring it on!
We went to a Korean barbecue restaurant called Yea Jip in Fort Lee, NJ. While I’ve had Korean dishes like kim-chi, I don’t recall ever having Korean barbecue. Fortunately, this restaurant brought it hard with all-you-can-eat authentic Korean barbecue.
As our chef cooked in front of us, we began to chow down on an assortment of meats: brisket, rib, squid (no more cuddling with your cousin, the cuttlefish), chicken and egg. I’m not sure which came first, the chicken or the egg, but they both ended up in my belly. Of course, we ate vegetables, too, because life is about balance.
Last fall, Josh and I met up in Baltimore, and it was great for us to catch up again closer to his residence. We had some great conversations about life, careers, family and more. In between, we did some epic Instagram stories.
Some of them I can’t re-share because they use music, but I’ll share what I did for them. For one of them, I used the song “Circle of Life” to create energy around the circle of food before us. Weird Al Yankovich also made an appearance in an Instagram story with “Eat It,” a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It.”
After eating to our hearts’ delight, we grabbed some bubble tea, talked a bit more, and went our own ways. I’m so happy I got to meet up with Josh and use the road trip to grow our friendship.
Start your engine for road trips and friendship
Going on a road trip is a perfect opportunity to see not only places you haven’t seen, but also the perfect time to reconnect with friends you haven’t seen in a while. I encourage you to consider some of your close friendships from the past and do a road trip to visit them and sights close to their place of residence. It’s totally worth it!
Going the distance for friendship–it may not be Iowa, but it sure can feel like heaven.
In my next post, I cap off my New York road trip by visiting Yankee Stadium.