The Last Bus

I enjoy watching movies about road trips. I want to escape from daily life, see new things, meet new people, and feel new atmospheres.

I watched a movie called "The Last Bus." An ill old man, carrying his deceased wife's ashes, embarks on a journey from John o' Groats, a village at the northern tip of Scotland, to Land's End in southwestern England (850 miles). Although now an old man carrying his wife's ashes, in the 1950s this couple left their home in England to head to John o' Groats, as far away geographically as possible, to escape the painful memories of a tragic childhood.

I also had a reason for leaving Korea. After graduating from university, all my friends got married and were busy with their newlywed lives. I didn't even have a boyfriend. After becoming a teacher through the teacher certification exam, three or four men appeared who wanted to marry me. If I married a man who liked me, even though I couldn't adapt to the teaching profession, I would have to live as a slave to my job and husband. As a breakthrough for emancipation, I chose to study abroad.

Returning to the movie, the ill old man, carrying his wife's ashes along with a free bus pass and a map, travels with great difficulty by transferring buses multiple times, heading towards his hometown, or rather, not-hometown. During his journey, he becomes a nationwide story without even realizing it, by bravely standing up to a drunk racist who harasses a Muslim woman, among other incidents. By the end of the journey, he becomes a famous figure.

Watching road trip movies makes me want to get up and go somewhere, even if the journey is tough. I don't want to remain stagnant like still water. Just like waves crashing, foaming, and returning, I want to see the new world while my legs are still strong.

Perhaps because my entire family was born with DNA that makes them bad drivers, I too am a poor driver and have had many accidents. However, I am confident in my walking. Should I walk to Florida?

According to Google Maps, the walking route from New York City to Florida is 1,500 miles. I'm not sure if this is accurate, but if I walk at a pace of 2.5 miles per hour, it would take about 600 hours. If I walk six hours a day, it would take about four months. Adding rest time when I’m not walking, it would probably take a year. If it gets tough along the way, I can take a bus. If my clothes and shoes wear out and get dirty, I can buy new ones. When night falls, I can find a place to rest, and when I'm hungry, I can sit and rest at a restaurant. If I just start walking south right now, I feel like I could reach some cozy coastal town.

In the movie "The Last Bus," the old man's journey seems sentimentally simple and smooth. Unlike the movie, in reality, could I really make it to Florida without getting beaten up and dying on the roadside?